Zim’s haven for adrenalin junkies
IMAGINE all the adrenaline rushes you normally get to experience on television. The realities you normally experience in the tourism havens miles away from the capital, the zipline, crocodile walk, beach volleyball, wall climbing, abseiling and paintball shooting.
Well, imagine no more. A visit at Heritage Adventure Park — tucked behind the exquisite Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare — a paradise for adrenaline junkies, will turn all your mental images into reality, as the park redefines fun.
Perfectly landscaped with a lush green lawn running across the space, speakers popping from the ground filling the area with beautiful music and activity structures well curated to complement the already inviting environment.
The huge trees provide a cool shade, shielding people from the scorching summer heat, with well- placed wooden tables and chairs assuming a natural decoration of the park, as well as giving adventurers spots to catch their breath before taking on the next activity.
Since May this year, this fun haven has been operational providing a perfect gateaway for different groupings.
In the age of austerity, the availability of these services in the capital saves fun lovers’ money and valuable time, which would have been spent in long distance travels for adrenalin.
The adventure park is being run under the Rainbow Tourism Group’s domestic tour operations’ arm, Heritage Expeditions Africa ( HExA), which markets its tourism packages for destinations around the country and the region.
“We have opened the Heritage Adventure Park at the Rainbow Towers Hotel and Conference Centre. It is the first zipline attached to a hotel building in Zimbabwe,” said RTG chief executive Tendai Madziwanyika.
“This activity is normally found in resort destinations, but we saw an opportunity to optimise the vast space where Rainbow Towers Hotel and Conference Centre sits on.”
The adventure park provides a unique space for family bonding, a truly romantic and fun environment for couples and great haven for team building exercises.
“There was a gap in the market for a facility that offers team-building activities. The Heritage Adventure Park is an ideal destination for families seeking some high adrenaline leisure experience in an accessible location in the heart of the city,” said Madziwanyika.
Apart from being conveniently located, the park allows adventurers to enjoy activities at their most convenient times within their schedules.
They can also chose the amount of time to spend in the park. Of interest, adventurers do not need to leave the park to get food, as delicacies, snacks and drinks all prepared and served by chefs from the Rainbow Towers Hotel.
Additionally, adventures can get to share pictures of their thrills with friends and relatives online, thanks to HExA’s understanding of the strong need to stay connected in this digital era. Considering the high costs of data and sometimes bad Internet connectivity by some mobile service providers, the park provides guests with a strong WiFi connection.
A friendly team operating in the Adventure Park, assists adventurers in capturing their special moments in different activities and positions.
If you do not have a digital camera or a very good camera on your mobile phone do not worry, there is a crew that will assist by taking pictures and videos on their mobiles and later transfers them to you. Using the WiFi, adventurers can then easily share the images and videos online.
Going on the aforementioned adventures one would want to be assured of their safety, after travelling a distance of 250 metres, at 16,5 metres aboveground on the adult zipline and 10 metres on the crocodile bridge. A fall at these heights could lead to serious injuries, including broken bones, or worse still, death.
It is after considering these detrimental effects that HExA has put in place measures to ensure safety of adventurers.
“Each adult zipline has a safe working load of 3,2 tonnes,” said RTG corporate communications and innovation manager Pride Khumbula. In simpler terms, the zipline is good enough to sustain the weight of a baby elephant without breaking.
“Other safety features include full body harness, carabineer safety lock, padded helmet and a back-up static rope,” she said.
In the rarest of cases that all safety features fail and there happen to be an accident, or in the event that the thrill triggers a health condition, instructors are always ready and well- equipped to jump in and assist.
“All our instructors are qualified first aiders. They are equipped with all the necessary tools and training to execute the Incident Management Plan in the event of an incident,” said Khumbula.
Adrenaline helps one’s body react quickly. It makes the heart beat faster, increases blood flow to the brain and muscles, and stimulates the body to make sugar to use for fuel.
This is the rush Heritage Adventure park brings in a friendly, fun and safe environment.