Zimbabwe Safari Holiday

A Zimbabwe safari holiday evokes images of huge, game- rich plateaus such as the majestic Hwange National Park, and the heart-stopping raw power of Victoria Falls – the widest curtain of falling water in the world.

Then there’s the mighty Zambezi River which, after crashing over the Falls, winds through deep gorges over world-renowned whitewater rafting rapids; flows into the massive Lake Kariba; then continues its path east through Mana Pools National Park – an incredible wilderness area and World Heritage Site.
Zimbabwe’s Current Situation

Zim also evokes images of social and political chaos, which lead most potential visitors to think a Zimbabwe safari holiday is unsafe. The reality is quite different – although the country’s cities are unstable, Zimbabwe’s parks and reserves are perfectly safe to visit, as they are located far away from the sites of the instability.

Private concessions have been well-maintained and have high concentrations of game. Also, due to Zim’s negative news coverage, the low lodge occupancy means you’ll have thousands of hectares of pristine game country virtually all to yourself.

Although Zimbabwe safari holidays are extremely competitive in price, Zim is by no means a second-rate destination. Zimbabwe accommodation is luxurious, and lodge locations afford excellent game viewing amid some of the most breathtaking scenery in Africa.
Planning Your Zimbabwe Holiday

Choose from luxury breaks like the Zimbabwe Lodge Safari, which whisks visitors from the mighty Victoria Falls to Zimbabwe’s premier wildlife reserves, while those with a more adventurous streak may prefer the unique Mana Pools Canoe & Walking Safari.

These are just a couple of tour options to whet your appetite. To help plan your perfect safari holiday, read more about the best time to visit Zimbabwe or talk to someone who’s been there – our southern Africa safari experts can offer expert, firsthand advice.

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Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

Zimbabwe Safari Lodge Accommodation

The Hide is a Zimbabwe safari lodge with a difference, a comfortable, tented safari camp inside the majestic surroundings of the Hwange National Park.

Hwange is a haven for wildlife and one of Africa’s premier game parks. Hwange National Park Info.

The Hide is an experience that combines the best game viewing in Zimbabwe with a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere.

It’s a combination that seems to work – and one that has earned us the vote for “Best Safari Camp in Zimbabwe” more often than any other camp in the country.

Game Viewing Safari in Zimbabwe

In addition to this, our professional guides will take you on a game drive through the national park, where you will come face to face with lions, elephants and giraffes, amongst a host of other game. More Info.

The greatest compliment any guest can pay us is to come and stay again, and our guests certainly do return frequently! Join them, and spend your African safari holiday with us.

What our guests say:
“Second time back to the Hide and equally as awesome, great staff, great facilities and of course the animals. Saw 4 of the “Big Five” this trip and the elusive leopard was seen on our last trip, so very happy. Hope to be back in the future, thank you again”
~MICHAEL, VICK & LINDA, AUSTRALIA~ 2006

“A cracking time – saw Eles, Lions, Sable, Cheetah and a world full of birds. Hospitality and team work so smooth that it was like being spoilt all the time. Many thanks for a wonderful few days. Walks were a treat and will be hard to beat in life. “
~SANDRA MILES TAYLOR, UK~ 2006

“How special to be in the “bush” again. 4 of the big 5 seen on foot, mock charges and all experiences to remember and talk about for many days ahead. Thank you for your great hospitality and contribution to a great holiday!”
~BIRCHAL GROUP – ZIMBABWE & UK~ 2006

The Hide Safari Camp – Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

National Parks of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s Game Reserves were initially founded as a means of using unproductive land. Little regard was given to modern conservation values, but once these evolved, the country became a world leader in wildlife management.

The first proclaimed Game Reserve was Wankie (now Hwange NP), formed in 1928 and upgraded in the 1949 National Parks Act. The then-Rhodesia’s Game section was originally formed in 1952 as a subsidiary of the Department of Mines, Lands and Surveys. This was the nucleus that became the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management in 1964.

One beneficial legacy of colonialism was the Parks and Wildlife Act of 1975, a quintessential breakthrough for conservation. The core philosophy of how people perceived wildlife was changed. Under the Act, ownership of wildlife passed from the State to whoever owned the land the animal lived on.

When the landowners (both communal and private) became custodians of the wildlife, a change in mindset occurred. People began to see their wildlife resources as an asset to be nurtured, ensuring their benefits continued into the future. Gradually, fence-breaking elephant and zebra were not viewed as nuisances to be eradicated; herds of impala were no longer a quick, easy meal.

Within the Parks and Wildlife Act, various levels were defined at which state-owned land was to be protected and utilized. Gone was the old Game Department that issued hunting licences which, for a nominal fee, allowed settlers to hunt wildlife in all areas but a few Game Reserves. A system of National Parks, Botanical Reserves and Gardens, Sanctuaries, recreational Parks and Safari Areas was set firmly in place. Since 1975, the Act has been amended and refined, allowing the evolution of a dynamic wildlife-protection process.

Many African countries have since adopted this philosophy. So far-reaching was the concept of the original Act that it now enshrines many aspects of grass-roots conservation being implemented worldwide. Communal or traditional tribal areas and privately-owned land were also categorized for different levels of utilization.

Communal areas harbouring significant wildlife resources or bordering National Parks were given Rural Council status and as a result CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) was born. CAMPFIRE has developed into an important conservation strategy, ensuring that significant financial earnings revert to rural communities for their benefit. This philosophy has been adopted on a Pan-African basis and is slowly being implemented in Asia and South America too.

Many of Zimbabwe’s National Parks, such as Victoria Falls, Mana Pools and Hwange, are renowned worldwide, though the country also has lesser-known gems such as Chizarira and Gonarezhou. Parts of the Rhodes Estate, established in Rhodes’ will of 1902, were bequeathed to the nation for farming, forestry and agricultural research. This land later became part of the rocky Matobo and mountainous Nyanga National Parks.

Zimbabwe’s Parks offer a wide variety of accommodation, and it is best to check availability with the Parks Department Reservations Office in Harare (popular parks, such as Mana Pools, get booked up). Accommodation varies from fully equipped lodges, cottages and chalets, to camping and caravan facilities.

The 1975 Act not only nurtured a change in attitudes to wildlife but also fostered the development of one of Africa’s best tourism infrastructures. It saw the need for experienced and trained professional guides and hunters (another much-copied initiative), the establishment of long-term leases for operators in both National Parks and Safari Areas, the development of conservancies on private land and co-operation with rural communities. It was the precursor for eco-tourism in the truest sense.

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Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

Zimbabwe Country Information

For a small, land-locked country, not quite the size of California, Zimbabwe has more than its fair share of scenery.

There’s something for everyone’s Kodak. From that great man-made lake and wildlife preserve of Kariba to nature’s own Victoria Falls; from the rolling mountain greenness of the Eastern Highlands to the balancing boulders of the Matobos and the ancient ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the ‘house of stone’ from which the country gets its name.

Then there’s Shona sculpture and marimba music, river-rafting, rail-roading, ferry-cruising, house-boating, bungee jumping, game-viewing, mountain-hiking, horse-riding, trout-fishing or just plain sun-catching in the country’s many and varied national parks.

Zimbabwe’s allure is not its cities but a good infrastructure and road network provide first world amenities amid the still untamed beauty of Africa. However, this is a country in transition so there is some social upheaval at present.

Look out for your belongings. Try not to stand out as a tourist or dangle expensive equipment within reach of temptation. And show some respect for the wildlife. It bites!

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Zimbabwe Lowveld and Great Zimbabwe

The hot, dry lowveld of south-eastern Zimbabwe is the Africa of poster images; red earth and silhouetted baobabs against a fiery sunset sky. Granite domes dwarf the spreadeagled msasa trees and private ranches and game conservancies sprawl over the malarial plains protecting, among other large mammal species, the endangered black rhino. This region is home to private game farms and sugar-cane plantations, several National Parks and one of the country’s best-known World Heritage sites.

Masvingo:

Great Zimbabwe is 28km from Masvingo, the only sizeable town in the region. If you find yourself in Masvingo, you’ll probably just be passing through. If you have an idle hour or two check out the Church of St Francis of Assisi.

Constructed by Italian prisoners of war during the 2nd World War, 71 didn’t make it and their bodies lie interred in the walls. It’s located opposite the military barracks. Just ask for directions.

Just past the Publicity Association, the Masvingo Craft Village has an extensive range of carvings and sculpture. There are roadside crafts out of town on the Beit Bridge road where you’ll be able to bargain for a better price. Capota School for the Blind has a world-famous choir and cane crafts are also sold.

Great Zimbabwe:

The historic site is made up of three complexes. Visit the on-site museum or do some research first or the stones will not give up their tale. The Acropolis on the hill was the Royal enclosure. It was probably built first and there is evidence that it was occupied for three hundred years. Spirit mediums and oracles occupied the ritual enclosure and gold and metal craftsmen supplied the kingdom with jewellery and spears.

The Valley Enclosures yielded the famous Zimbabwe soapstone birds but it is the conical tower of the Great Enclosure that visitors will recognise from the postcard images. No mortar has held these stones together over the centuries.

Speculation has it that this was the royal harem which would make the largest ancient stone structure in sub-Saharan Africa all the more impressive. It is the conical tower of the Great Enclosure that visitors will recognise from the postcard images. The stone towers and walled enclosures are relics of a powerful medieval African kingdom.

The Karanga came from the north across the Zambezi and found life easy here amongst the fertile soil and rocky hills. The story goes that the thirteenth century king nicknamed ‘the Stone Man’ was the ‘mambo’ responsible for the building of the walls.

It was to him that the people paid tribute in stone to add to the defensive walls. Upon his death, a spirit medium carved the image of the bird that has become a national symbol of modern day Zimbabwe. The original seven can be seen at the museum on site.

The granite blocks still stand, five centuries later, without the benefit of mortar. The energetic can clamber through the rocky Acropolis built into the granite boulders of the hill and wander through the Valley enclosures. Guided tours however are advisable to get the most out of the experience.

There is a good camp site and hotel on the premises. The peacocks in the garden strike an incongruous note amid the marauding monkeys who have developed a sweet tooth. If eating on the hotel terrace, guard your sugar sachets.

Lake Mutirikwe:

When visiting Great Zimbabwe, the lakeside shores of Lake Mutirikwe provide a scenic alternative to over-nighting in Masvingo. After Kariba, it is the second largest dam in the country and the surrounding 18, 000 hectare (50 acres) National Park shelters white rhino as well as lesser game.

National Parks have guided horseback rides which allow close-up viewing in the game park and bird-watching trips and lake cruises can be arranged through tour agencies in Masvingo and hotels in the area. In addition, there are regular displays of traditional dancing at the Mutirikwe Lakeshore Lodge. here are a number of hotels, lodges, self-catering chalets and a campsite, scattered throughout the park.

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Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

Bulawayo and Matobos, Zimbabwe

By Laurianne Claase

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe. Wide, tree-lined streets and suburban lawns make it hard to believe that the Kalahari desert lies over the Botswana border at nearby Plumtree. Equally hard to imagine is the blood that has, over the centuries, soaked into this thirsty soil.

Bulawayo’s name means ‘the killing place,’ and executions of rival tribes had long been practiced by the dominant Ndebele. These warlike descendents of Shaka and his Zulus were nineteenth century migrants from South Africa. The most recent bloodshed was in the early 1980s when President Robert Mugabe, a member of the ruling Shona tribe, violently suppressed Ndebele dissent. But the Ndebele were first defeated by the British. A subsequent gold rush gave the town initial impetus but proved to be short-lived. Finally, Cecil Rhodes, (the English imperialist) and his railway put Bulawayo on the map and it remains a transport hub today. Bulawayo welcomed the country’s first train in 1897 and its Railway Museum traces the last century of rail travel. A model of an historic station complete with period furnishings, and Cecil Rhodes’ own private carriage, used to carry his body from Cape Town to the nearby Matobos hills, are some of the attractions. Railway enthusiasts can arrange to ride the steam locomotives that still puff their way through the city. The National Railways of Zimbabwe publicity officer can be found in company headquarters on Fife Street. Centenary Park and Central Park are adjacent to each other and make up forty-five hectares of green shade in the city centre. Central Park boasts Zimbabwe’s largest ornamental fountain which was erected to commemorate the city’s seventy-fifth birthday in 1968. Along with a miniature railway, an aviary, a botanical garden and the municipal campsite, Bulawayo’s theatre and National History Museum are to be found in Centenary Park. You’ll find both parks on Samuel Parirenyatwa Street, east of the Bulawayo Publicity Association. Founded in 1901, Bulawayo’s Museum of Natural History is the country’s finest museum. It has the largest indigenous mammal collection in Southern Africa and the second largest mounted elephant in the world. Birds, reptiles, fish and insects are also included and, in all, the museum houses 75,000 specimens. Archaeology is represented in the prehistoric man exhibit as is anthropology in the displays of African and European culture. Geology with its rocks and minerals provide explanations of Zimbabwe’s geological features and mining is explored in the replica of a gold mine. The museum is housed in a neo-Colosseum in Centenary Park on the corner of Park Road and Leopold Takawira Avenue.

However, Bulawayo, like Masvingo in the Lowveld, is primarily a stopover on the way to nearby places of interest. Khame, 22km (14 miles) out of town on a little-travelled road is another World Heritage site. Younger than Great Zimbabwe and smaller, these forty hectares of crumbling city was once the capital of the the successors of Monomatapa.

The Torwa dynasty arose from the collapse of the Great Zimbabwe kingdom in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Cattle and gold brought prosperity but the area was abandoned during the Ndebele incursions of the nineteenth century and legend fingers the war-like tribe from the south as the arsonists.

The stone walls are not as well-preserved having been destroyed by fire but you will probably be able to view them undisturbed by other visitors. A small musuem will guide you through.

Bulawayo Activities and Places of Interest: Tshabala Wildlife Sanctuary: Once the home of a British sailor and his Ndebele wife, one of the daughters of the last Ndebele king, Lobengula, this savannah area is home to some of the less wild of Zimbabwe’s wildlife. The antelope, giraffe, zebras and warthogs can be viewed on foot or on horseback.

The reserve is eight kilometres from Bulawayo along the Matabos road. Mabukuwene Nature Reserve These twelve hectares of indigenous trees and aloe garden provide a convenient city escape, ten kilometres out of town in the suburb of Burnside. There is also a bird sanctuary and a good view of Bulawayo from the gazebo. Take Hillside Road to Burnside Road and turn right into Chipping Way.

Chipingali: Chipingali is now more like a zoo than the original animal orphanage intended but you won’t have to sit in a hide for hours waiting for the big cats which include the rare black-maned lion. The sanctuary is home to wounded and abandoned wildlife which is cared for before being returned to the wild. Two walk-through aviaries allow the birds a look-in. It is 23 kilometres south of Bulawayo on the Beitbridge road.

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Zimbabwe: still a top safari destination?

October 2008

Zimbabwe used to top the list of southern African safari destinations. Now, after years of turmoil, what can visitors expect from Zim’s parks and reserves? Sandra Mallinson chats to 3 people on the ground.

By Sandra Mallinson

Read about what you can expect from a Zimbabwe safari

Beers of Africa

Sometimes there’s just nothing like an ice cold one, especially when it’s downed in celebration of a day under Africa’s open skies. A few Go2Africa travellers share their best brewed moments in the bush, up the mountain and on the water … and the right beer for the job.

Read more about our most memorable brewed moments

48 Hours in Victoria Falls

August 2007

What can someone armed with a camera and a sense of curiosity do in just 48 hours at Victoria Falls? Sandy took the challenge and returned with a barrel of Victoria Falls travellers tales.

By Sandra Mallinson

Read about Sandy’s 48 Hours in Victoria Falls

Africa’s Famous Places

April 2006

Africa is Earth’s second-largest continent, and the birthplace of the human race. Its most famous places include sites of great beauty, some of the natural wonders of the world, and the relics of ancient civilisations rich in history…

By Patrick Madden

Read the full article about Africa’s famous places

Save Hwange National Park

November 2006

In 2005, right in the grip of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis, a terrible drought caused even further devastation; the animals of Hwange National Park died in their scores. The Save Hwange Trust is desperately trying to ensure that one of Southern Africa’s most iconic conservation areas doesn’t suffer a recurring calamity.

By Patrick Madden

Read about saving Hwange National Park

Zimbabwe Travel

November 2006

What to expect from Zimbabwe? The question is a recurring one in the travel industry. Political Instability and a recession have knocked this former tourism giant swiftly off its pedestal. But, politics aside, can travellers still enjoy this remarkable destination? We sent one of our own into investigate…

By Alison Westwood

Read about what to expect from Zimbabwe Travel

Adventure at the Victoria Falls

November 2005

Victoria Falls has become renowned for not only its reputation as a world wonder but also for the variety of adventure sports on offer.

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Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

Travel Guide to Zimbabwe

The Hide | Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

Zimbabwe is a land of diversity and contrasts and unrivalled natural beauty. It is a land where one can experience nature first-hand. It is also a land with a fascinating history that provides depth and meaning. Past and present are so inextricably part of everyday life that it is impossible to separate the two.

Perhaps this popular tourist destination’s greatest asset is its friendly people, always ready to welcome visitors to their country with a smile and good service.

Zimbabwe offers a variety and diversity of attractions. Some of these are:
Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe and boasts the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and the Harare Gardens, the city’s largest park.

World-famous Victoria Falls is one of the world’s great attractions, measuring a 1.7km wide and dropping between 90m and 107m into the Zambezi Gorge.

The Great Zimbabwe National Monument is the greatest medieval city in sub-Saharan Africa and provides evidence that ancient Africa reached a level of civilisation not suspected by early scholars.

In the Hwange National Park you’ll find one of the densest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. Animals you can expect to see include elephant, monkey, baboon, impala, lion, giraffe and zebra.

The Matobo National Park near Bulawayo has a wealth of ancient San paintings and old grain bins, where warriors once stored their provisions.

At the Mana Pools National Park, with its 4 pools, you’re almost guaranteed to see hippo and crocodile, as well as zebra, antelope and elephant and prolific bird life.

Lake Kariba, is an inland sea of two hundred kilometers long and forty kilometers wide at its widest point with the Matusadona National Park (bordering the lake) offering a different experience of the wilderness.

Zimbabwe is a mecca for the outdoor-lover and adventure traveller. In the Victoria Falls area alone you can go white-water rafting, kayaking, micro lighting, parachuting, horse-riding, cycling and even do the world’s highest bungi jump.

The Matusadona Wilderness offer superb hiking, the Kariba area offers sailing, house-boating and other water activities and the middle Zambezi is ideal for long-distance canoeing.

And you can obviously go on safari or enjoy golfing on some of the world’s least expensive and least crowded golfing courses.

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Victoria Falls: The Smoke That Thunders – Zimbabwe

The Hide | Zimbabwe Safari Lodge

When most people think about awe-inspiring natural beauty, visions of the Grand Canyon might shoot to the front of somebody’s mind. Perhaps a beautiful mountain range such as the Alps, Himalaya, Rockies or Andes with their breathtaking landscapes and dizzying heights might evoke a sense of majesty. Our friends inAustralia might boast the Great Barrier Reef which is unparalleled in its natural aquatic beauty or Ayers Rock in all its mystery can engage a person for days with its changing colors and Aboriginal history. I, however, have my own ideas.

During a recent trip to southern Africa I was fortunate enough to go to “no man’s land” between Zimbabwe and Zambia for the most unforgettable sight I have ever seen. A vision of dynamic splendor, Victoria Falls is a mesmerizing reminder of the sheer power of nature. Victoria Falls captures the essence of what we strive to be in our mythical super-human imaginations. It has staying power. It remained undiscovered for thousands of years. It has an aura of mystery that can’t be matched by anything south of the Pyramids and it has a location that suggests that one would have to travel for years to discover but never actually penetrate this magical place.

Victoria Falls stretches across a gigantic gorge for about a mile, with falls that seem to go on forever and a circumference of rainbows that form from the tremendous mist the falls give off (bring your raincoat). It is amazing to walk along the Zimbabwe side of the border wherein you can walk right on the edge of the gorge (there are no fences) and see the width and depth of the falls up close. The picturesque beauty cannot possibly be captured on film. That speaks tremendously for the actual “amazement value” of a site. There are many “sites” that are supposed to be incredible that look no different on television or in print than they do in person. Victoria Falls doesn’t have that problem; it surpasses everything you can imagine. If you have seen Niagara or Iguazu Falls, you can’t compare them to Victoria Falls. They are truly in a league by themselves in the middle of nowhere in the Dark Continent.

The most amazing thing about “Vic Falls” is its location and the way it is still so raw even though it has become the adrenaline capital of Africa. Victoria Falls establishes the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia with its “little sister,” the treacherous Zambezi River which zigzags through the caverns between the two great nations forming an unforgettable sight to be seen. The best place to view this is from atop the Zambezi River Bridge, which connects Zimbabwe to Zambia. From the center of this rickety bridge they offer a bungy jump overlooking the falls themselves in which I plunged 116 meters down into African ecstasy.

There are higher and more professional jumps in the world: Nevis(134m) in Queenstown, New Zealand and the Bloukrans River Bridge (216m-the world’s highest) in South Africa but they don’t have the backdrop of Victoria Falls. The mist from the falls literally cools you off from the incredible searing heat of the African sun. The workers at the jump site apparently know what they are doing and they claim to have a 100 percent safety record, but the tethered bungy chords and the lack of preparation they give lead you to be a little nervous because of the jagged rocks of the Zambezi below. Like that was going to stop me anyway, I soared off the bridge like a bird that had a heart attack in mid flight. I lived to tell about it and would definitely go back for seconds.

Like all ancient people, the African people had to learn to conquer their land and their mighty source of power and transportation, the Zambezi River. Today, it is a little more advanced with regards to transportation (but not much). Only today they also offer white water rafting on the Zambezi. However, it is really just swimming in the river because you will never last very long in the raft because the Zambezi is just that wild with Class V rapids and hundreds of pesky whirlpools. My group spent half the time in or under the water and I personally swallowed enough to make giardia a real worry. But at the end of the day it is an adrenaline junkie’s dream spread out over an entire day. It buries other places I have been rafting such as Costa Rica and the Western United States and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Just remember to tighten your life jacket!

Victoria Falls is a beacon of light in a part of the world known for civil and political unrest, poverty and AIDS. It gives you reason to believe. It gives you reason to forget your problems, your worries and your world. The moment you set eyes upon the “Smoke that Thunders” you will be hypnotized by the never-ending supply of water and the decibel level at which it falls. Victoria Falls was here thousands of years before us and it will be here thousands of years after us but for now, we can just enjoy Nature’s most impressive creation.

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Talks resume to save Zimbabwe deal

Zimbabwe Safari Lodge | The Hide

Article Source: CNN

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s opposition leader and president, struggling for control of key Cabinet posts, joined southern African leaders Monday for a mini-summit called to settle the country’s power-sharing deal.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he will rejoin talks to unlock the powershare deadlock in Zimbabwe

The deal signed September 15 has stalled over how to share government ministries among President Robert Mugabe’s party, Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change and a smaller opposition group. Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, of trying to hold on to too many of the most powerful posts.

Tsvangirai did not attend a first round of talks in Swaziland last week after authorities in Harare failed to issue him a new passport. He instead received an emergency travel document his party described as an insult and proof that Mugabe was not ready to treat the opposition as equal partners.

Tsvangirai is scheduled to deliver a position paper demanding an equal share of the most powerful ministries.

One of the key ministries still in dispute is the home affairs ministry in charge of the police. Mugabe claimed control of the police ministry when he unilaterally published a Cabinet list October 11.

Tsvangirai has been under intense pressure from within his party not to yield control of police, blamed for some of the political violence against his supporters surrounding elections in March and June.

At weekend rallies, he accused Mugabe of negotiating in bad faith, citing the refusal to renew his passport.

“There is nothing wrong with the deal but the problem is Mugabe wants to grab all key ministries. I will not go in if I am not given the tools to perform,” Tsvangirai told supporters Saturday.

Leaders from South Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Swaziland opened their meeting at a Harare hotel Monday with Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and the smaller group’s leader Arthur Mutambara. Angola, Mozambique and Swaziland make up the Southern Africa Development Community troika, a special committee on politics, defense and security.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki attended Monday’s meeting as the mediator who brokered the deal, and current South African President Kaglema Motlanthe as the current SADC chair.

Mozambique President Armando Guebeza was expected to chair Monday’s talks instead of King Mswati of Swaziland, who was not scheduled to travel to Harare because of other commitments, The Herald state-run newspaper reported.

Mugabe’s chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa described Monday’s talks as “probably the last chance for a settlement,” The Herald, a government mouthpiece, reported.

The talks with regional leaders were expected to “end the saga (and) bring finality one way or the other so that the country can move forward,” he said.

An agreement would allow politicians to turn their attention to the nation’s economic meltdown, which has led to chronic shortages of food, gasoline and most basic goods; daily outages of power and water; and the collapse of health and education services.

Zimbabweans are struggling with the world’s highest official inflation rate of 231 million percent. The U.N. predicts half the population will need food aid by next year.

A doctors group on Sunday called for urgent action to repair water and sewage systems to avert a cholera epidemic in upcoming seasonal rains. It reported at least 120 preventable deaths across the county this year from cholera. At least 27 people have died in the past month.

“The government has grossly underestimated the impact that infrastructure breakdown is having on public health,” said the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights in a statement.

In a reflection of inflation, the main state daily newspaper cost 10 Zimbabwe dollars shortly before the power sharing deal was signed. Monday’s edition cost 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars, the equivalent of 50 U.S. cents (40 euro cents) at the dominant black market exchange rate.