Zimbabwe Experiences Another Solar Eclipse

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 05, 2002

Zimbabwe Experiences Another Solar Eclipse

Zimbabwe on Wednesday experienced a total solar eclipse at exactly 8:15 am (0615 GMT) for the second consecutive year.

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Zimbabwe on Wednesday experienced a total solar eclipse at exactly 8:15 am (0615 GMT) for the second consecutive year.

There was excitement and high activity on the streets, work places and even at home as people jostled to have a glimpse of theamazing spectacle.

Although the total solar eclipse was experienced in southwestern border of the country, elsewhere in Zimbabwe people experienced the natural phenomenon but in less totality.

Beitbridge, Kezi and Plumtree in Matabeleland South were 100 percent covered while Bulawayo, Chiredzi, Victoria Falls, Hwange, Gwenda and West Nicholson ranged between 98 percent and 99.6 percent, and Harare with 89.2 percent totality.

Thousands of local and foreign visitors flocked to the southwestern parts of the country where the solar eclipse belt wasrunning through.

The solar eclipse was not only confined to Zimbabwe as it also crossed over Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique.

It is expected to travel across the southern Indian Ocean to reach the southern Coast of Australia just before sunset Wednesday.

For most places in Zimbabwe, the partial phase started at about7:10 am (0510 GMT) when the lunar and solar discs touched for the first time, ending two hours 20 minutes later at about 9:30 am (0730 GMT).

Zimbabwe experienced the rare phenomenon for the second consecutive year after the June 21, 2001, where a totality was experienced in Mudzi, Mashonaland central.

Several gazers, who had put away their solar eclipse viewing glasses away during the 2001 glasses, went back to their cupboardsand drawers, and could be seen straining their necks for long periods on Wednesday, to have a glimpse of each phase of the eclipse.

The phenomenon is expected to have boosted the sagging fortunesof the tourism industry in Zimbabwe, taking into account thousandsof foreign tourists who flocked into the country.

The wide publicity of the event also helped to market the country as a safe tourist destination.

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon comes between the earth and the sun, and casts a shadow on the earth.

But its meanings vary depending on the diverse cultures and opinions in the country. Traditionalists and old people in the country know this as when the sun rots and they associate it with bad omens such as drought and diseases. But to others it is just asimple movement of the sun and the moon.

Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association president Gordon Chavhunduka said he did not agree with the traditional philosophy of associating the event with bad omens.

He said the event signified nothing and was just a movement of the sun and the moon.

"In our tradition, this thing is called 'zuva raora' (the sun has rotted) but our elders did not fully understand the cause of this phenomenon," Chavhunduka said.

"To me, it's just a movement of the sun and the moon and I would not want to encourage people to continue thinking along the same lines as our elders because they were not really knowledgeable about this whole thing," he said.

Whatever way one looks at it, the fact remains that Zimbabwe needs to benefit or maximize from this natural phenomenon.

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