Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe gets ready for the UNWTO general assembly

VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe (eTN) – I went over to Victoria Falls Town during the week and had a look around to see how things were going on in preparation for the UNWTO. The town was still rather tatty round the edges and it appeared that not much work had been going on to clean up the town. I did see some street lights being fixed and the Conference Facility at Elephant Hills was just being started. This facility is to the right as you enter Ele Hills. I think it used to be tennis courts(?) I am sure it will be up in time as it is one of those “flat pack” varieties of construction.

On the way to the airport I found the road was being worked on. It has been widened and resurfaced. That too will be finished. The airport itself was still boarded up so I didn’t see much except that the lounge/concourse had been extended by covering part of the front.

Zimbabwe, of course, has had its mind on elections for the past few weeks. Robert Mugabe was complacent about the outcome stating that he would step down if he was beaten in the polls. It was no surprise to anyone that the results stated that he had won.

Now, I am sure that the town of Victoria Falls will be cleaned up. It is only a small town and was not in such a state as Livingstone, so it shouldn’t take time. Robert Mugabe is sure to be at the UNWTO conference and he will make sure that he shows a side of Zimbabwe which is rarely seen in other towns of the country.

Meanwhile…

At the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe the trucks continue to block the roads. I thought we had a system that the trucks were not supposed to come to the border until their loads were cleared through Customs????

Obviously that system has stopped working.