Being a journalist can be fun and exciting at times as when I got an invitation to attend a media conference in Livingstone in Zambia, the home of the famous Victoria Falls named after Queen Victoria of Britain.
The junket, a free round trip ticket, and accommodation paid by a sponsor were courtesy to a South African-based Non-Governmental Organisation. It was so uncomplicated. I received the official letter of invitation through my employer, African Woman and Child (AWC) Feature Service, and a round trip air ticket.
It was on a Monday morning and I was instructed to visit the Zambian Embassy, along Nyerere Road, overlooking Serena Hotel and Central Park, in Nairobi, and apply for a visa. Getting the visa was stress-free and literally a walk in the park. I was armed with a valid passport, Yellow Fever Certificate, and letter from my employer confirming that I was one of their employees and that they had no objection and would give me time off to attend the media training.
Indeed, within less than 30 minutes I was among the handful of visa applicants who were served and issued with a visa. That was a big contrast to some of the Western Embassies and High Commissions like of the United States and the United Kingdom.
From the Zambian Embassy, my next stop was to my house off Ngong Road to pack my luggage and prepare for the dawn flight aboard South African Airways from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Livingstone through Oliver Tambo (earlier called Johannesburg until 1992) International Airport, in South Africa. Tambo was an anti-apartheid politician and first President of the African National Congress (ANC).
The five-hour flight from JKIA was relaxing and uneventful. The service, meals, and entertainment on radio and videos were top-notch. We had a two-hour stopover in Johannesburg, one of the biggest airports I had ever visited in Africa by then with kilometers on the end of shopping malls and restaurants. I was spoilt for choice at the biggest music store I had even patronized, and it was even more overwhelming entering a mega book store.
O.R. Tambo International Airport is Africa’s busiest, serving over 20 million passengers annually. It had direct flights to all the five starting with Africa: others are North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
My next cultural shock was that suddenly I was a minority as I saw the big crowds of white-skinned passengers arriving or departing to different destinations from around the world and Africa.
It was like I was in Europe or America
I took advantage of the time to walk along the sparkling walkways, as I did ‘window shopping' and visited several bookshops and music shops to sample and preview one of the biggest selections of music and books I had ever seen.
In fact, I was so engrossed at one of the music shops that I almost missed my connecting flight to Zambia. I was saved by the powerful public address system when I heard my name being called repeatedly by the SAA ground crew who reminded me to go to the departure lounge immediately.
I abandoned the headphone and sped off to hand in my gate pass and passport as the smiling airline ground hostesses ushered me to board the smaller plane. Most of the hundreds of passengers were white and were tourists heading to enjoy their holiday in Livingstone town, which is on the banks of the majestic Zambezi River, the fourth largest in Africa.
The Livingstone city reminded me of Kilifi and Malindi, in the Coast region, which is the most popular local tourist destination. It is on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe which are former British colonies and were originally called North and South Rhodesia, respectively.
Our two-hour flight to Victoria Falls Airport was relaxing and exciting as I looked forward more to see one of the world’s Seven Wonders, rather than the media forum I had been invited to.
Once we landed at the small but ultra-modern airport that has a capacity of handling between 500,000 to 1.7 million passengers annually, we were welcomed by a team from our hosts who welcomed and ensured we collected our luggage and were driven to our five-star hotel, some 15 minutes away.
Mosi-Oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders
Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world and was named by British Missionary, David Livingstone, in 1985 for the then reigning monarch, Queen Victoria. Its local name is “Mosi-Oa-Tunya,” the smoke that thunders.
During our brief visit to Livingstone, we were taken to watch other tourists being taken on a treat of a lifetime across the majestic Zambezi River on a steam train that crossed from the Zambian side to the Zimbabwean side as they photographed and videoed the awesome natural phenomena.
The fall is 108 meters tall and 1,708 meters, the size of 200 Olympic-size swimming pools, and is one of the world’s seven natural wonders.
The other six are Aurora Borealis, the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Mount Everest, and Paricutin. The breathtaking view of Victoria Falls can be seen from the two Southern African countries; 75 percent from the Zimbabwean side and 25 percent from the Zambian side.
An estimated 500 million liters of water cascade every minute, according to a tour guide who took us on a tour of the natural wonder that attracts an average of tourists annually
The Nairobi-Johannesburg five-hour flight was relaxed and enjoyable thanks to the refreshments, meals, and audio and video channel at our disposal.
The Johannesburg-Livingstone flight to cover 960 Km took us 1.45 hours and was the most exciting of my trip as I enjoyed the view of the suburbs of Johannesburg, the commercial capital of South Africa, and had a bird’s eye view of the biggest tourist attraction in Zambia.
By then, most tourists preferred to give Zimbabwe, then led by Robert Mugabe, a wide berth, and instead patronize Zambian hotels and tourist facilities.nWe landed at the airport which was a beehive of activities as customs and immigration officials cleared passengers, like us, arriving and more departing.
After being cleared by the efficient and smiling officials who welcomed us, we met our hosts who carried a placard with our names on them. They introduced themselves and then gathered us together next to tour vans ready to ferry us to our five-star hotel by the banks of the great Zambezi River.
Each guest had the privilege of being housed in a villa and enjoyed the royal service and accommodation for the next four days. My villa had a Jacuzzi next to the sitting room and the open bedroom. Kinds of Stuff we are used to seeing in magazines and in movies where celebrities, royalties, and elite feature!
The architectural design of the villas and restaurant was very unique; it had an African theme with roofs shaped like African huts and was covered with grass. The interior was something else, opulence was in the air. It had an open floor style spacious sitting room with a king-size bedroom and a Jacuzzi.
We were 25 journalists attending the media training on environment, gender strategic communication from some of the 15 SADAC member states. I was privileged to be the only one from outside Southern Africa Development Cooperation member-states. South African Development Cooperation member states are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Tanzania.
I was an exception because of the good working relations between our organization, AWC, and a South African NGO partner, Gems, headed by Mrs. Colleen Lowe-Morna, based in Johannesburg. Out of the 25, I could only recognize one fellow journalist whom I had met while she was working for South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as its Nairobi Bureau Chief.
According to our tour guide, the famous Victoria Falls provides a habitat for several unique species of plants and animals in the two National Parks in the two neighboring countries. It was refreshing to see some of the wild animals during our visit.
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