AS a pack of local journalists strolled into the Victoria Falls Hotel park for a press briefing ahead of the African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, an air of the colonial splendor welcomed them.

First was the British Union Jack loosely fluttering next to the Zimbabwe Flag. 

If they had known this was to be the only greeting they would get, they would have waved back.

The Victoria Falls Hotel, built by the British in 1904, was originally conceived as temporary accommodation for workers on the Cape-to-Cairo railway-line.

It was to be removed after construction of the bridge as no buildings were to remain within sight of the Falls.

However, once established, it was quickly expanded and proved impossible to close, despite the objections of the Administrator of North Western Rhodesia, Robert Coryndon, and the traders of the newly established town of Livingstone.

Sir Charles Metcalfe was, however, quick to see the commercial potential of a hotel at the Falls.

The hotel was opened for business on June 8 1904.

By the beginning of 1905, tourist traffic to the Victoria Falls had increased considerably and it was necessary to enlarge the hotel.

Two locomotive sheds in use on the Beira line at Mandegos were dismantled and sent to the Falls. 

One was commissioned as accomodation and the other as a dining room.

They remained on site until 1917.

The Edwardian-style hotel was to be redecorated in 2013 to preserve its traditional majesty.

In the foyer were porters dressed in colonial livery, not to be missed was the head bellman with his pith helmet and white uniforms covered in pins from locations around the world. 

A walk into the reception was a step back into a bygone era.

It was like straying onto an Agatha Christie thriller ‘The Man in the Brown Suit’.

Many details (carpets, curtains, windows and lamps) enrich the overall experience of emerging onto a forgotten ara, where you might meet some members of the old British nobility around each corner.

The old fashioned and traditional décor throughout the hotel is full of colonial grandeur and old world charm.

It is laced with Cecil John Rhodes’ signature.

In the waiting area, the walls are awash with art-works of King George V and Queen Victoria. 

In the foyer is an artwork of BOAC, the Royal Mail and Passenger Service to Africa.

This is certainly the attraction for many whites who were enjoying their ‘high tea’ at the Stanley Terraces which also brims with English colonial ambience. 

The British tradition of ‘high tea’ stretches back to the mid-1700s as an afternoon meal, usually served between three and four o’clock and served at the dining room table. This is opposed to the ‘afternoon tea’, often served in comfort around chairs or sofas.

The presence of more than 20 black people milling around seemed to unsettle the white tourists enjoying their ‘high tea’ and treats (homemade cucumber sandwiches, warm scones with jam and cream, chocolate cake slice, miniature bite-size savory treats and a variety of pastries) served on an array of antique silverware, bone china and vintage cutlery and crockery.

And this was confirmed by the fellow blacks, hotel staff, who hurriedly told the local journalists to go outside and wait as they would be called when the briefing started.

No warm greetings, no hospitality; at least what one would expect to get at the majestic place of Mosi-oa-Tunya (The smoke that thunders).

Certainly, our presence was bad for business.

The media crew was appalled.

We were not welcome here.

For some private media guys, this was a hard pill to swallow. 

I could hear one murmur: “Ah vakomana, varungu havatide zveshuwa!”

It was indeed a Damascene moment!

But as expected, journalists were just being … journalists! 

They would have none of it — insults and all — from the hotel staff, nor did they pay attention to the now visibly ‘red-faced’ tourists who could hear the thundering of the falls while they sipped on their tea and nibbled on tasty morsels.  

The local journalists went for a photoshoot right on the front of the Stanley Terraces. 

It was indeed a good site for pictures with a postcard perfect backdrop of the gardens and the view of the Zambezi River as it flows through the Batoka Gorge below the Victoria Falls Bridge.

Others strolled across the well manicured lawns as they waited for their press conference.