I read a post recently something about bad news for Zim's .... It reminds me of the many detractors saying DONT invest or buy a ranch in South Africa and/or Southern Africa ...

As I have said before, and I say again, there are those whom only see doom and gloom and there are those whom see opportunities, if thecap fits wear it

Cheers, Peter (God bless America & their investors)
------------------------------------

US investor to develop holiday resort in Kariba, Zimbabwe People's Daily

Zimbabwe's National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has reached an agreement worth 400 million U.S. dollars with a U.S. investor to develop a holiday resort in Kariba, north Zimbabwe, the authority's finance director Thomas Meke said on Tuesday.

Meke said they were in the last stage of negotiations with the American investor to make Kariba more attractive to tourists. The work
should be kicked off in September or early October.

The resort center would include a hotel on an island close to the Chirara National Park, a golf course, a museum and a casino. It was expected to create more than 5,000 jobs in the catering, hotel and entertainment industries, Meke said.

He said the project was expected to boost the country's international image and increase revenues for the authority as the American partner would market the area in Western countries.

Kariba, a district bordering Zambia, has the world-famous man- made lake Kariba dotted with several beautiful safari parks.

Zimbabwe's tourism sector has been in depression in the past six years due to negative sentiment from the West after the government started an agrarian reform program aimed at resettling the landless majority.

Source: Xinhua

I agree with you that there are those who love gloom and doom. There are also those who see the world through a filter that takes out all the bad they could see. Somewhere in between the two are us realists who see things as they actually are. Being a realist, I would not invest in any venture in Zimbabwe given the present government, but if someone wants to do so, it is their money. At my age, I have little capital to use in undertaking such a degree of risk. I hope that Mugabe disease does not infect the government of the Republic of South Africa, but recent developments are a bit on the scarey side.

I wonder if the hotel will have a special viewing site where guests can watch sunbathers being dragged off the beach (little drinks with umbrellas and all) by 15 foot crocs?

Hot Damn! now that would be cool... Sunbather roulet ( spelling). Now if you realy want to show how/cool/brave /tough you are you sun right at the waters edge with your yippy french poodle leashed to your leg. Wow what a sport!!!!

Hang in there guys, Zim's is OK ... things were tough when I was young in Zimbabwe

Video Songs - speakers on

Cheers, Peter

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
Hang in there guys, Zim's is OK ... things were tough when I was young in Zimbabwe
Cheers, Peter

Zim is okay? Inflation in quadruple digits, the once breadbasket of Africa can't feed its own people, what were commercial farms are lying fallow, now the government is telling small family farms that their produce belongs to the government, and it's okay?

The government owning and regulating all the news media in the country, elections are rigged, no petrol to speak, store shelves are empty in many places, and Zim is okay?

Maybe someone can make some money in tourism, until Mad Bob sees it as a cash cow and appropriates it the way he did the farms. After all, what recourse does a foreign investor have? Maybe the tourism sector will continue to hang on (let's hope the safari industry does), but saying Zim is okay is stretching the truth a bit, don't you think?

quote:

Zimbabwe's tourism sector has been in depression in the past six years due to negative sentiment from the West after the government started an agrarian reform program aimed at resettling the landless majority.

What? Is this suggesting that there is some misconception in the world at large about what is happening there? "resettling the landless majority?" Whatever happened to willing seller willing buyer? What of the hapless white landowners who's families had been on that land for generations? There is nothing benign about the land-grab policies of the Zim government!

Basically what is going on in Zim's is just a re arranging of the deck chairs, I was going to say on the TITANIC but Zim's will nor sink, believe me it will float again in the not tooooooo distant future.

WE all know that comrade Mugabe is going to eventually pass on to much greener pastures, maybe somewhere in some friendly African country, or even in other parts of the world, just like has happined with most of the dictators, and then when he goes other benevolent countries ( whom shall remain nameless) will pour our taxpayers good money into the place like is being done all over the world when countries hit rock bottom, someone with more money than brains comes along and bails out the place and puts fresh blood in again.

Traditionally the Zim's Tourism sector was in the main from traditional Western countries BUT the rules are changing and the tourism gap is now being filled predominantly from the East and Arabian countries whom dont seem to put toooooo many pre-conditions on their associations, and they dont really give a rats tail on if a government is semi-dictatorship or not, they go in with blindfolds on to the political situation.

So the future IMHO is rosy ( given time & money ) and the write off of the debts which will eventually come.

Remember in Zambia their debt has been written off completely and there are big investments into the tourism and mining sectors, the currency has appreciated against the US dollar and the Worlbank IMF and others are spending your our tax money like water, it is a bottomless pit seemingly this money supply coming into Africa to help bail out the countries whom we all knmow have been subjudicated by their corrupt leaders

Goood Hunting & good Investment in Zimbabwe Zambia and Southern Africa in general

Cheers, Peter

Dankie Peter! Least we forget!

Your post would have more credibility if you weren't a Real Estate Agent.

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:
Your post would have more credibility if you weren't a Real Estate Agent.

Spot on Mickey1

Mick & Mike //

Have a nice day

Cheers ... Peter

Zimbabwe is a land of oportunity for those willing to take the risks. Just before everything here went pear shaped a local consortium started building 4 hotels and golf cources just to cater to the Japanese market. My understanding of this new project is to tie in golf , game viewing and site seeing. Vic falls (world famous Elephant Hills golf cource + all the usual attractions) Vumba - the mountains in the east ( Nick price rates it the best golf cource in the world), and this new development on the island at Kariba, golf, shifing, big game viewing. As an added bonus, you can fly the tourists into Zambia and still use the island resort, and then take your clients up to the zambian side of the falls if necessary.

quote:

Zimbabwe's tourism sector has been in depression in the past six years due to negative sentiment from the West after the government started an agrarian reform program aimed at resettling the landless majority.

Source: Xinhua

I guess the "West" should view that as no big deal.

Anyone wish to speculate what will happen when ole Bob finally cashes in? Prosperity/reform or further degradation?

Whenwe and Green Leader was so fine that i nearly started to cry!!!!!!!!!

If you build it,They will take it.
Would love to see Rhodesia restored back to how
it was.But, fat chance of that happening with
mugabe in office.Seems much the same as people waiting for Castro to die so that they can run in and start developing Cuba.

LONG LIVE RHODESIA
and GOD BLESS IAN SMITH

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:
Your post would have more credibility if you weren't a Real Estate Agent.

Peter,

Mickey is simply stating the obvious. Only a fool, or someone who doesn't mind loosing their money, would invest in Zim or RSA at the moment, or near future IMO.

Perhaps you should listen more to yourself:

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
if thecap fits wear it

When ole Bob finally passes on, hopefully sooner than later, what is stop someone just like him to take his place now that he has shown them the way. All ready hearing rumors that Nambia and South Africa like they way he did his land reform and I guess that includes how he got rich from it.

Hi Eric ..

Well if we all listined to the armchair critics we would NOT leave our homes at all, we would all sit and watch TV and vegitate, and proberbly the roof would fall in.

There are those whom will chance their arm and make things happen, and there are those whom will offer all the advice but do nothing themselves

If you take the advice of truly experienced experts whom have been there and dome that you will find they will tell you to INVEST when things are rock bottom or the shares are cheap as it always goes in a cycle these things, from rock bottom there is only one way and that is UP

I will take my own advice and invest not only in Zimbabwe but in Zambia as well

Cheers, Peter

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
If you take the advice of truly experienced experts whom have been there and dome that you will find they will tell you to INVEST when things are rock bottom or the shares are cheap as it always goes in a cycle these things, from rock bottom there is only one way and that is UP
Cheers, Peter

That's just the thing, Peter, some of us don't think Zim has hit rock bottom yet. It's bad, but can get worse very easily...

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
Hi Eric ..

Well if we all listined to the armchair critics we would NOT leave our homes at all, we would all sit and watch TV and vegitate, and proberbly ...

Cheers, Peter

Dear Peter,
I have read your posts for the last 6 years or so and always wondered why you consistently spell the word "probably" like this:

proberbly

This sounds like the phonetic spelling of a drunkard mumbling the word. Is this an inside joke or is this an alternate accepted spelling in your part of the English speaking world?

quote:

Originally posted by DPhillips:

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
If you take the advice of truly experienced experts whom have been there and dome that you will find they will tell you to INVEST when things are rock bottom or the shares are cheap as it always goes in a cycle these things, from rock bottom there is only one way and that is UP
Cheers, Peter

That's just the thing, Peter, some of us don't think Zim has hit rock bottom yet. It's bad, but can get worse very easily...

Exactly. With Mugabe soon dead (the bastard's gotta die eventually!), we could well be facing a new and worse Mugabe#2. Not to mention that the cancer of his politics appears to be spreading to the nabouring countries.

And Peter, I doubt many people can accuse me in general of being an armchair critic, and not taking chances...

quote:

Originally posted by ErikD:

quote:

Originally posted by DPhillips:

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
If you take the advice of truly experienced experts whom have been there and dome that you will find they will tell you to INVEST when things are rock bottom or the shares are cheap as it always goes in a cycle these things, from rock bottom there is only one way and that is UP
Cheers, Peter

That's just the thing, Peter, some of us don't think Zim has hit rock bottom yet. It's bad, but can get worse very easily...

Exactly. With Mugabe soon dead (the bastard's gotta die eventually!), we could well be facing a new and worse Mugabe#2. Not to mention that the cancer of his politics appears to be spreading to the nabouring countries.

And Peter, I doubt many people can accuse me in general of being an armchair critic, and not taking chances...

And what of revolution or civil war? That ought to bring in lots of tourists.

Erik is the adventurous sort, no question about that.

Yes, Eric is the adventurous type. He even took the training wheels off his bike.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeh375:
Yes, Eric is the adventurous type. He even took the training wheels off his bike.

Ouch, that was COLD!!! Fer shame, fer shame!

quote:

Originally posted by DPhillips:

quote:

Originally posted by mikeh375:
Yes, Eric is the adventurous type. He even took the training wheels off his bike.

Ouch, that was COLD!!! Fer shame, fer shame!

Sorry Eric, but I couldn't pass up an opening like that. My bad!

Mike,

You can be glad that I'm stuck here in bed with my ancle held together with scrap metal. Or else I'd be forced to fly over to open a can of wupp ass on you!

Ps. Did I mention that my bicycle was luckily undamaged? I would have preferred to have to fix it up, instead of me needing the fixing...

I met a father and son at a shooting range in Redlands,CA and let them try my Sig P220 45acp loaded with PMP ball ammo & S&W Mod 19 357 target, they told me they were run out of their home in Zimbabawe by the gov't about 6 yrs ago.

quote:

Originally posted by ErikD:
Mike,

You can be glad that I'm stuck here in bed with my ancle held together with scrap metal. Or else I'd be forced to fly over to open a can of wupp ass on you!

Ps. Did I mention that my bicycle was luckily undamaged? I would have preferred to have to fix it up, instead of me needing the fixing...

I just hope you saved the training wheels.

quote:

Originally posted by scr83jp:
I met a father and son at a shooting range in Redlands,CA and let them try my Sig P220 45acp loaded with PMP ball ammo & S&W Mod 19 357 target, they told me they were run out of their home in Zimbabawe by the gov't about 6 yrs ago.

The well known PHs from the Broom family had their farm taken by the government in Zimbabwe. I was told that on their way out, they blew up every building, dam, and piece of equipment those bastard "war vets" thought they were going to get. By the way, the Brooms were either 3rd or 4th generation on the farm.

Thiose of youwho live there know better than me, but I saw most all the whole country on my last Safari.

Zimbabwe is in bad shape.
The economy is in the toilet.
When Robber Bob is gone the two people in line to take his place will be worse than him.

I commend the white people who have stayed. Without you the Safari industry would be nonexhistant.
I support you 100% and plan to return in Oct 2006.
Ya'll are truely rugged pioneers.

While in big cities we [the PH and I] were armed and ready for car jacking..etc. In the "country" there were no worries, the villagers were great people.

While anything can develop/happen I am planning on going back to Zimbabwe in Oct 2006, taking my wife. My biggest conscern is loosing my baggage/rifles on the plane.
I am not worried about our security.

quote:

Posted 28 July 2006 10:21
I met a father and son at a shooting range in Redlands,CA and let them try my Sig P220 45acp loaded

AND THEY MOVED TO CALIFORNIA??? Poor bastards are gluttons for punishment aren't they?

Balla,

Pls enlighten us: in practical terms, what investments can a foreigner make in Zimbabwe right now? Surely not farm or hunting land, that all belongs to the state right now, not so? Maybe residential or comml property? Business investments? I can't see how one could make a hunting-related investment.

Russ ..

I am not a professional property magnate or high flying business venture capitalist, but I have some very good knowledge of Southern Africa in particular and my immediate family are all born bred and have lived in South Africa Zimbabwe and Zambia for many years from the colonial times to present day.

From reading the tea leaves and using both the family and other local Africa personal contacts IMHO I believe what you are saying about Zim's is essentially true in that I dont believe that hunting investment per se is the way to go at this point in time .. BUT I do believe the time is well nigh ripe to consider further the commercial tourist accommodation business area of investment within Zim's.

I am in any event still keeping my ear to the ground on possibilities that might come up or look viable.

BUT I still truly believe Zambia is the better bet (at this point in time) for outdoor entreprenuer investments, particularily in the Safari Hunting VIP tourist scenario

Just remember that nothing in life is guaranteed and that goes for property investment as well, we must do what we want to do, as I say time passes us by ALL too quickly and there are so many in thos world that only dream and kick tires and dont act, I dont want to be one of them as we all have freedom to choose dont we

Cheers, Peter

Peter

When or if your family ever sells those three properties you have for sale and have been touting for three years, are you going to invest the money in Zimbabwe?

Has the "time-share" or whatever it was scheme worked to flog them off?

Hi NitroX

Nice to hear from you again.

You must know that in Africa things sometimes take a little longer than in the developed world, the infrastructure is a bit run down to say the least.

Now specifically on the properties in question ...

WE dont want to just sell any of the properties just for the sake of it, we will only sell if the price and circumstances are suitable to our developement plans.

As (I have said before) the one property in SA is under government BEE aquisition, but we just carry on as per normal and hunt and live on the property untill the government comes up with the $$$$, so it suits us if they pay that is fine if they dont pay we carry on as per normal, no worries at all.

The other ranch in the mountains is just carrying on as per normal, we hunt we enjoy and if the right investor comes along we sell, if not no worries at all.

The main project we are developing is the Zambia multi-million dollar project, it is not a time share, it is a (fractional share investment) which is different from a time share. All over the world if you want to check the buzz fractional share luxury properties investments are being developed and are the flavour of the times for those people mainly VIP'S with should we say disposable income.

QWE are still in the final stages of the promotional filming project on the fractional share investment project, and hope to have the DVD avilable by late September

So in summary things do take time especially big ventures and when the cash flow is right we will look at the commercial Zimbabwe investment which is on the books

All questions welcome

Cheers ... Peter

Safari Parliament
Dear Family and Friends, Parliament re-opened on Tuesday this week but all
attempts to watch the full event on state run TV were in vain. There was a
power cut just a few minutes after the special repeat broadcast began and
the night went dark and quiet - again. Those few brief minutes however had
been more than enough to raise eyebrows. A number of "cultural reforms"
have been undertaken by Zimbabwe's parliament which now resembles a safari
lodge. A stuffed leopard and two antelope heads hang on the walls and a
leopard skin adorns the ceremonial chair used by Mr Mugabe. Two enormous
elephant tusks now frame the Presidential chair and it was between these
two great teeth that Mr Mugabe stood to address the House. Near him sat
Mrs Mugabe on a high backed green leather chair which had been carefully
placed on a striking zebra skin. Hardly had these images registered and
before the speech began, the electricity went off.

The images of our leaders sitting amongst elephants and kudu, zebra and
leopard are particularly ironic now as the country plunges back in time
and people ravage the environment in order to survive.Our lavishly
decorated safari parliament is about as far away from the reality of life
in Zimbabwe as you can possibly imagine.

Every morning the sound in urban and rural Zimbabwe is that of wood
chopping. All day every day you see lines of women walking with bundles of
great long tree branches balanced on their heads and men with hand carts
and wheel barrows piled high with newly chopped indigenous wood. All day,
every day and in every direction you see smoke. Some is from urban
householders cooking outside on open fires. More is from incessant
uncontrolled fires streaming across the horizon, consuming everything in
their path. Seeing the massive amount of wood collecting and looking at
horizons permanently smudged with smoke, you cannot help but wonder how
Zimbabwe's wildlife can possibly survive this unrelenting attack on the
environment. Grass for grazers is reduced to ash, leaves for browsers is
burnt out and trees for shade, shelter and habitat are felled. Undoubtedly
the abundance and variety of birds, reptiles, mammals and insects is under
severe threat as the assault on our envirnoment continues unchecked.

The reality of life in Zimbabwe has been shocking in the last week. In my
home area the electricity was cut for over 29 working hours during the
week. The price of a loaf of bread shot up from one to two hundred
thousand dollars overnight. The foreign currency rate soared on the black
market with one British Pound selling for one million Zimbabwe dollars.

Appreciating cultural reforms of elephant tusks and leopard skins is a
world away from bread we can't afford, bills we can't pay and hours and
hours on end when we cannot work or conduct our business as the
electricity is off. Reality in Zimbabwe draws ever further away. Until
next week, thanks for reading, love cathy 29 July 2006 Copyright cathy
buckle http://africantears.netfirms.com

good post

No one seems to listen to me when I say Zim's is coming right and a good place to invest.

I told you things will improve ...

They have just knocked (3 zero's) fropm their currency so it IMMEDIATELY revalues it to the US dollar, also remember Mugabe just rollls out the printing press when he needs mor disposable income to pay the debt and government workers

Cheers Peter

Zimbabwe's central bank devalued its dollar by 60% on Monday after announcing it had decided to knock three zeros off all banknotes to help consumers cope with hyperinflation of nearly 1 200%.

"With immediate effect the inter-bank exchange rate has been adjusted to the trading level, after the removal of the three zeroes ... to 250 Zimbabwe dollars to one United States dollar," central bank head Gideon Gono said in a televised address.

Based on the currency's old official exchange rate of $1 to Z$101 195 after knocking off three zeros the new rate amounts to a 60% devaluation, based on International Monetary Fund methods.

"Our currency is in trouble. Our people are experiencing incredible hardships and inconveniences associated with too many zeros," Gono said.

"All monetary values ... have been re-based by striking out three zeroes," he said in a televised monetary policy review.

Gono said the change to new currency denominations will take effect on Tuesday and Zimbabweans had to phase out old banknotes within three weeks.

Zimbabwe's sliding dollar has been officially devalued several times over the past few years, helping to fuel four-digit inflation, which is currently the highest in the world.

The economy of the Southern African country -- once a regional breadbasket -- has shrunk by more than a third during the past eight years of recession, while unemployment is estimated at between 70% and 80%.

Gono also slashed the country's main lending rate by 550 percentage points to 300% on Monday as part of efforts to kick-start the ailing economy.

Analysts say very little lending has been taking place in Zimbabwe, where the local currency has been trading at a fraction of the official exchange rate on an illegal parallel market. -- Reuters