Beautiful Zimbabwe no more dangerous than Cork at height of Northern crisis

AS a resident of Zimbabwe for the past 19 years I would like to present another side of the country’s story in stark contrast to the TV images of mayhem, political violence, mobs smashing up farm buildings, and so on.

That conflict is bloody and bitter with the ruling political party accusing the opposition of selling out to Tony Blair and white farming interests while the sole opposition party accuses Robert Mugabe of selling out to the Chinese.

This we all know. But what you may not know, for instance, is that probably the best hotel in the southern part of Africa is in Harare, the capital. There are many more first-class hotels, restaurants, golf clubs (15 in Harare alone), as well as fishing and game camps for a visitor to enjoy - even if tourism is at a very low ebb at the moment.