eBusiness Weekly
Kudzanai Sharara
To many, Beitbridge is mostly associated with the gateway that it provides into and out of one of Africa’s biggest economies — South Africa.
The most common economic activity associated with the border town is thus cross border trading.
When one starts talking about other economic activity, they will probably stretch their minds back to Chiredzi where the country’s largest sugar producing companies, Hippo Valley and Triangle Estates are based.
The well-informed also know of the conservations and safaris that are found there.
You don’t really expect to see much in terms of crops or horticultural activity in Beitbridge. The area is in region five, which means rainfall in this region is too low and erratic for the reliable production of even drought-resistant fodder and grain crops, and farming has to be based on the utilisation of veld alone. The extensive form of cattle ranching or game ranching is the only sound economic activity for this region.
So it is with such curiosity and anticipation that I accepted the invitation to go and tour Beit Bridge Juicing Company’s processing plant. With the Harare-Beitbridge Road not loved but feared by many, we took a flight into Bulawayo, to then proceed by road along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road, passing through Gwanda town, a place recently made famous by the attempted poisoning of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2017.
Ironically, when we took a comfort break in Gwanda most of us ordered some ice cream. Talk of tempting fate.
We proceeded till we reached our turn-off, 35 kilometres before Beitbridge border post. We turned into a dusty stoney greyish road, with the vegetation popularised by bushy dry thorns raising my curiosity, how do you grow oranges in this dry land?
But 15 kilometres on we reached BBJ’s gate, where we were greeted with a lush green lawn. A lawn so green that several of my travelling colleagues in the journalism fraternity took to their phones … for selfies of course.
We were later to tour the juice processing plant, where again to our surprise there is more to oranges than what we thought we knew.
Apart from orange juice, BBJ also produces orange oil, which is an essential oil produced by cells within the rind of an orange fruit, as well as orange essential oil which we get by disenchanting skin peels of orange by cold compression. The oil costs between $85 to $100 per kg according to a BBJ official Charles Tembo.
Orange oil, which BBJ sells at between $35 to $50 per kg is exported to South Africa, Zambia and Israel, and can be used in green pesticides for biological pest and termite control.
The essential oil of orange has a wide variety of domestic, industrial, and medicinal uses. Domestically, it is used to add orange flavour to beverages, desserts, and sweetmeats. Industrially, it is used in soaps, body lotions, creams, anti-aging and wrinkle-lifting applications, and as a concentrate for soft beverages, room fresheners, sprays, deodorants, biscuits, chocolates, confectionery, and bakery items.
Fly Camp: The big but little known treasure
Also in the Beitbridge area are little known treasures, a magnificent landscape, whose hills, balancing rocks and wild animals are calling to be explored. The area is under Nottingham Estate, a privately owned citrus estate a couple of kilometres from BBJ in Beitbridge. While its primary business is to produce quality fruit for export, local consumption and juicing purposes, Nottingham Estate’s secondary business focus is on eco-tourism and hospitality — a surprise to many of us.
After touring BBJ’s juice making plant, we were to have our dinner at the Fly Camp, a place none-among our travelling colleagues knew about. Given the dusty road that we had to endure with its bumps and all, and also the fact that we could not see anything outside the bus, as it was now dark, it’s a journey none of us was willing to take. Murmurs could be heard.
What’s so special about having dinner at this place, quipped one of my travelling colleagues.
“We are tired with both jet leg and bus leg,” joked another.
To be honest none among us was looking forward to the 30 or so kilometre journey, but our hosts had decided to take us there, and we had to give them benefit of doubt.
The Fly Camp, was anything but disappointing. Despite it being dark, the little that we could see as we headed into the camp showed us that we were in for a big surprise. As eyes pierced through the dark, we could see the spellbinding beauty of the rock formations that appeared to have been assembled by an imaginative being. But that was nothing to what we were to see in the valley of the rocky foreboding hills.
Elephants! who would have thought?
Mention elephants and one would immediately think of Hwange National Park, Gonarezhou, Kariba and a few others. Most people would definitely not associate Beitbridge with elephants nor would they imagine seeing more than 100 in one place. The visit to Fly Camp changed this perception.
After oranges go to the juicing factory (BBJ), the pulp is returned to the Fly Camp where it is fed to animals, the bulk being elephants. There is nowhere else in the world where you can view such a majestic animals in large numbers as we saw at Fly Camp.
Although we got there well after sunset, we were told that the sunsets at Fly Camp are also stunning like no other. But the sight of hundreds of elephants, some baboons and some elands, feeding on the orange pulp as the sun goes down, was spectacle enough to behold.
There is no feeling as incredible as standing a couple of metres from powerful animals without fearing they might go berserk and come after you. Add to that the sounds of trumpeting echoes against the rocks, what a feeling, absolutely is astounding.
To view this amazing sight, one has to go there between June and October, as elephant feeding is seasonal. While viewing this breath-taking sight, there is also the opportunity for some barbeque, and some traditional game meal at the viewing platform.
Our crew, watched from a high and safe observation platform as more than 100 elephants; bulls, mothers and babies silently walked from and into the darkness, waiting for their turn to feed within the setting of ancient sandstone outcrops.
Other activities available in Nottingham Estate are sunset cruises, game drives, bush walks, tours of the historic bushman caves, grain bins and cave paintings. And not to forget the incredible “Fly Camp”, where during feeding season, you will get the opportunity to view up to 300 elephants and numerous other game, Impala and Eland included.
Within Nottingham Estate, there is also a Fishing Camp on the banks of Mashilichokwe Dam. The water boasts a myriad of bird life, crocodiles and hippos and the dam is surrounded by Mopani, Boabab and a wide variety of other trees with rocky outcrops and magnificent sunsets. There are seven chalets all overlooking the beautiful dam with lush green lawns.
