GC5VP63 Not MINE (Traditional Cache) in Zimbabwe created by Mafushwa

This cache is temporarily unavailable.

Mafushwa: A Safari camp has been built here and you are no longer able to access this cache - i am disabling it

GC5VP63 ▼

A cache by Mafushwa Message this owner

Hidden : 5/17/2015

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

NOT MINE

The cache is in an out of the way location, I have provided you with a few waypoints to help you get to the correct spot. It is all by road so if you follow the obvious tracks you should be good. Those on a boat may also be able to get a quick find as the cache is quite close to the river bank.

The Victoria Falls National Park used to contain an unfortunate relic of war, a now cleared minefield that straddles the banks of the Zambezi. This minefield had in the past caused serious injuries to wildlife.

At the height of the ‘liberation struggle’, the Rhodesian security forces laid anti-personnel mines along the border in order to deter cross-border movements by terrorist forces operating on foot from Zambia. The land mines were laid between 1976 and 1979.

Zimbabwe signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 18 June 1998. The country was one of nine African states attending the October 1996 meeting in Canada to strategize as to how to reach an international ban treaty. Attended by 50 countries as full participants and 24 observer states, along with NGOs and international agencies, that historic meeting launched what became known as the Ottawa Process and gave the world, in little over a year, the Mine Ban Treaty. Also in October 1996, a group of concerned individuals, NGO workers, academics and journalists formed the Zimbabwean Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Mine Clearance

A National Mine Clearance Committee was formed in 1981 to coordinate and manage mine clearing operations, with representatives from interested ministries and chaired by the Commander of Engineers. Its duty was to prioritize projects and administer funds allocated to the program. But no policy document was ever drawn up and the committee ceased to operate in December 1985. From then on the Zimbabwean army decided on priorities for mine clearance. Between 1980 and 1995 the ZNA cleared sixteen areas.

The de-miners also cleared the Victoria Falls encirclement in 1998 and the cleared area has since been handed over to National Parks who are utilising the land for different developmental projects.

The clearance of the Victoria Falls – Milibizi minefield was completed in October 2005. A total of 25,959 mines were destroyed in the minefiled, including 6,959 in 2005. In may 2006, Zimbabwe reported that only half of its minefields had been cleared, leaving a significant challenge.

BONUS FACT!!

GZ is also the location of an old drift site. In 1898 the first permanent European settler, FJ 'Mopane' Clarke (1873-1937) arrived in the area. Clark established the Zambezi Trading Company in 1898, and set himself up on the northern shores (Zambia) of the great river. He noted that 9km upstream of the Falls the narrowest crossing point was less than 1km and for trading reasons he established 'Clarke's Drift', which became the most significant of the crossing points of this period. However the site he chose was not so attractive - a mere metre above high water level, and a flat marshy quagmire in the wet season. The site proved unhealthy with blackwater feaver (a particularly virulent form of malaria) becoming a common cause of death among the early settlers of the small town (in Zambia) which would later become known as Old Livingstone.

The old drift site operated from 1898-1905. Its closure was due to the Victoria Falls Bridge being built.

A postcard from Percy M Clark.

The old drift site as it looks today.

PLEASE REPLACE THE CACHE EXACTLY AS YOU FIND IT SO THE LOCAL BABOON TROOP DOESNT DISCOVER IT. THE CACHE ALSO GOES BACK TOGETHER A CERTAIN WAY SO THAT IT CLOSES CORRECTLY, PLEASE TRY AND DO THIS TOO.AS USUAL, BE CAREFUL OF WILDLIFE.