To those of you have been insisting Zimbabwe is just fine for tourism, please explain your position to the tourists currently hunkered down in the hotels in Zimbabwe unable to go or come.

Airlines canceled flights, taxis and other transport wouldn’t move tourists from hotels anywhere, and visitors could do nothing but hunker down. No tourists appeared in danger, but this certainly wasn’t the vacation they’d been sold.

What’s happening in Zimbabwe unfortunately is little different than what has happened in Zimbabwe for the last twenty years. Of course most of that time the situation was peaceful, tourists watched with awe Africa’s greatest natural wonder and game viewed in some terrific wildernesses.

But the frequency of the “bad times” has escalated especially in the last few years, and any agents or brokers suggesting that Zimbabwe provides a reasonable place to experience Africa are sadly misinformed of what is happening there.

Fuel protests, food protests and a spiraling downwards economy ignited Zimbabwe over the last few days. Fires are everywhere and even fuel depot tanks have been set ablaze. It’s horrible and sad and not at all unusual.

This is not a blog about the travesties of human rights, the unending misery of the Zimbabwe people, the courage of their protestors and the indefatigable fight that appears especially in their youth. The Zimbabwe political story is complicated only because it’s been so long unresolved. Zimbabwe leaders and military are a bunch of thugs dependent upon one another and propped up by a South African government understandably terrified at the prospect of widespread refugees.

This is a blog from my travel agent side, the side that has been amazed that professionals in our industry recommend visiting here. Remember, you can see the Falls from Zambia, and the town of Livingstone, Zambia, is safe, pleasant and working beautifully.

From the earliest days I’ve felt that tourists should go wherever they want to go. As a businessman my only limiter on my clients really was their safety and comfort. That’s been compromised in Zimbabwe dozens and dozens of times for decades and it is seriously compromised today once again.