A country of sheer contrasts, Zimbabwe celebrates breathtaking beauty from the mighty Zambezi to the rolling misty hills on Inyanga. Travel in by air or on the world famous Rovos Rail and you’ll come to realise just how spectacular Africa truly is.

Settle into a comfortable chair with a Zambezi in hand and overlook the “smoke that thunders” – it’s a sight that’s guaranteed to leave on weak at the knees. Victoria Falls, first discovered in 1855, is one of the eight wonders of the world. Float around the shores of Lake Kariba on a private house boat. Canoe gently amongst the hippo’s of the Lower Zambezi. Get up close and personal with the elephants in Hwange National Park.

Visit local restaurants and try the traditional Sadza and ster, remembering to clap your hands together twice show your appreciation.

 

General Information on Zimbabwe:

Location: Land locked.  Bordered by South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana

Size: 390,580 sq km

Climate: October through to May, hot and rainy, June to September drier and cooler months

Population: 13 million

Status: Unitary rebuplic

Capital: Harare

Other main towns: Victoria Falls and Bulawayo

Currency: US Dollar, Zimbabwe Dollar

Language: English, Shona, Ndebele

Religion: Syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%; Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%

International telephone code: +263

Time: GMT +2

Electricity: 220v

 

Zimbabwe’s most popular areas:

Harare

Harare is the capital and heart of the nation. More attractive than most other regional African cities, Harare has just enough attractions and restaurants to keep most weary and jaded travellers satisfied for several days. Harare is a bizarre mix of visual information – in any other one day you can feel as though you have stepped back into the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s or ‘90s.

Most travellers will spend their time in the fairly orderly streets of ‘town’ with its high rise buildings ranging from cool to quirky. The relatively small city centre is busy, a mix of office workers and shoppers from all walks of life. Shopping in and around Robert Mugabe street is more hectic with Indian fabric shops, cheap shoe and clothes shops from other Eastern Markets and outlets for car spares.

Contrast this with the quiet, green suburban streets (known as ‘low density’ areas) which have oversized gardens (complete with tennis courts and pools) spilling out over high, house-concealing walls onto handsome grass-and-tree-lined roads, which themselves, are busy with knitting uniformed maids, gentlemen on bicycles and snappily dressed school kids.

The transit routes out of town are dotted with designated pick-up spots and hordes of hopefuls waiting patiently for rides to their rural areas – either for good or just for the weekend. Waiting with a bed or an entire lounge suite does not seem to make a lot of difference to one’s prospects.

But cut to the places where visitors rarely go, the ‘high-density areas’, or townships, and you will find a timeless and vibrant African feel where people promenade, sit and chat, or upturn boxes to create a fresh produce stall even with as little as two tomatoes.

 

Northern Zimbabwe

The Major attractions in this part of the country are the eastern section of Lake Kariba and the Mana Pools National Park, through the Chinhoyi Caves and the Matusadona National Park are also worth the effort.

Kariba

In the 1950s the Kariba Dam wall was completed, it flooded the middle Zambezi Valley, creating one of the world’s greatest man-made lakes, Lake Kariba. The valley has prolific game was concentrated on the islands and southern shore, where Matusadona National Park is situated.

There is good game around Lake Kariba and Matusadona National Park ranging from herds of elephants through to crocodiles. The park also boasts the big five – buffalo frequent the area which along with a healthy population of antelope brings cats and other predatory animals to the region too. Black rhino, one of Africa’s rarer animals, can be spotted here and there are opportunities to track them along with their more widespread, but no less impressive relative, the white rhino. The bird life is exceptional due largely to the diverse habitation which supports, amongst many species, a very healthy fish-eagle population.

Mana Pools National Park

This magnificent 2200 sq. km national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its magic stems from its remoteness and pervading sense of the wild and natural. The word mana means four in the Shona language, and refers to the four pools around the park headquarters that are popular with crocs and hippos. This is one park in Zimbabwe where you are almost guaranteed to see plenty of hippos, crocs, zebras, antelopes and elephants.

There are different levels of tented camps, from fairly basic to wonderful luxury. The level of luxury varies greatly, and some of the camps are not much different from a normal safari camp. The central difference everywhere in Mana is that nowhere is fenced in, so there can be elephants strolling by while you have your breakfast. This is what sets Mana Pools apart from just about any other safari park in the world and makes it a truly magical experience.

 

Eastern Highlands

Few travellers to Zimbabwe expect to find anything like the Eastern Highlands, but once the discover them, fewer still can get enough. The narrow strip of mountain country that makes up the Manicaland is not the Africa that normally crops up in armchair travellers’ fantasies. It is a land of mountains, national parks, botanical gardens, rivers, dams and secluded getaways.

 

The Midlands and Southeastern Zimbabwe

Geographically, the Midlands are known as the Highveld, while the warmer. Lower lying southeast is the lowveld. At the transition of the two regions is the appealing town of Masvingo. Nearby, is the expansive Lake Mutirikwe and the fabulous Great Zimbabwe, which gave the name to the country. The lowveld’s finest attraction is the wildly beautiful but often-ignored Gonarezhou National Park.

Great Zimbabwe Ruins

Great Zimbabwe is the greatest medieval city in the sub-Saharan Africa and provides evidence that ancient Africa reaches a level of civilisation not suspected by earlier scholars. As a religious and temporal capital, this city of 10,000 to 20,000 dominated a realm that stretched across eastern Zimbabwe and into modern-day Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa. The name is believed to have come from one of two possible Shona origins; dzimba dza mabwe (great stone houses) or dzimba woye (esteemed houses). The grand setting and history-soaked walls certainly qualify as a highlight of Southern Africa.

 

Western Zimbabwe

Bulawayo

Zimbabwe’s intriguing second city was originally called Gu-Bulawayo (Killing Place), which probably came about because of the executions undertaken on Thabas Indunas (Hills of Chiefs) under Mzilikazi. These days, Bulawayo styles itself as the ‘City of Kings’, a prosperous and historic metropolis with plenty of attractions and great places to stay and eat. Bulawayo is also a base for trips to nearby attractions such as the Khami Ruins and Matobo National Park. It is also an ideal staging point for trips to Hwange National Park, on the way to Victoria Falls.

Matobo (Motopos) National Park

Matobo is 33km south of Bulawayo, is the oldest national park in the country. Dotted around the 425 sq. km park are 3000 officially registered rock-art-sites, including one of the best collections in the world of San paintings. Some hidden niches still shelter clay ovens, which were used as iron smelters in making the infamous assegais (spears) used against the colonial hordes. Some peaks, such as Shumba Shaba and Imadzi (Bald one), are now considered sacred, and locals believe that even to point at them will bring misfortune.

With the history comes the superb array of wildlife, including leopards. The bird life is also extensive. You may have the chance to see African hawk eagles or rare Cape eagle owls; in fact, Matobo is home to one-third of the world’s species of eagles, including the greatest concentration of black eagles.

Hwange National Park

Hwange is the largest and most wildlife packed park in Zimbabwe. Hwange is home to some 400 species of birds and 107 types of animals, including one of the largest numbers of elephants in the world. The best time for wildlife viewing is July to October when animal congregate around the 60 water holes or ‘pans’. But when the rain comes and the rivers are flowing, successful viewing requires more diligence, because the animals spread across the park seeing a bit of trunk and antler room. Most visitors will only see a fraction of this park, though wildlife viewing is good throughout.

 

Victoria Falls

When an awestruck David Livingstone first saw Victoria Falls in 1855 during his four year journey from the upper Zambezi to the mouth of the river, he wrote in his journal, ‘On sights as beautiful as this, angels in their flight must have gazed’. He named the falls after the queen of England, but they were (and still are) known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke that Thunders) in the Kololo Language.

Unlike Livingstone, the town of Victoria Falls was built with the needs of the tourist in mind. Walkable streets were lined with hotels, bars and restaurants while locals plied their curios in public parks and squares. These days, however, Vic Falls feels like a ghost town, perhaps because residents fled to the bush following the government sponsored Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out the trash), which left thousands of ordinary people homeless.

Although walking through the streets of Vic Falls is at times an exercise in empathy, understand the locals eke out a meagre living by tending to the few remaining tourists. With that said, allay your fears, stock up with US dollars and cross into Zim – we promise that you will be warmly welcomed.