Overview
Bulawayo is Zimbabwe's second largest city. Located in the South-west of the country, it is home to more than a million people. Bulawayo is the hub of the province of Matabeleland which comprises the whole western Zimbabwe from the South African border in the south to Victoria Falls in the north.
The city has wide tree lined streets and is surrounded by beautiful parks, a legacy of Cecil John Rhodes. Within the city are many examples of early Victorian buildings which are maintained by the Bulawayo City council and landlords as heritage sites.
Bulawayo houses the, the Matopos National Park, the country's main museum, the natural history museum, a railway museum, the Bulawayo Art gallery, which is housed in a most attractive turn of the century building, theatres, the Mzilikazi Art and craft centre, good hotels and one of the finest caravan and camping parks in Zimbabwe. Bulawayo is also home to the Chipangali wildlife orphanage and the Kami Ruins.
One of Zimbabwe's major tourist attractions is the Matopos National Park, less than an hour's drive from the city. As one leaves the city travelling south, many granite outcrops are seen. They increase in number and size as the distance from the city grows. By the time the Park is entered one is surrounded by a dramatic and enveloping scenery that is unique and extraordinary.
Just twenty-two kilometers to the west of the Bulawayo is Khami Ruins, one of southern Africa's magnificent Late Iron Age ruins (now an Unesco World heritage Site.) The land adjoining the ruins has been made into a Nature Reserve by the City Council, called Mazwi Nature Reserve, where the visitor may walk, drive and picnic.
Also worth a visit and situated on the main Gwanda Road, 23km from Bulawayo is the Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage and Research Centre, a home for orphaned, sick or abandoned wild animals. There are lion, leopard, cheetah, black rhino; many species of antelope and a large collection of birds.
Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre, situated just out of town off the Old Falls road, is definitely worth a visit where visitors can choose from a wide selection of skilfully crafted sculptures, basketry, pottery, beadwork and woodwork - all done by local people.
Matopos National Park
The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. Matopo/Matobo is a corruption of a shona/Venda word, "matombo" which means stones in Tshivenda.
The national park is the oldest in Zimbabwe, established in 1926 as Rhodes Matopos National Park, a bequest from Cecil Rhodes. The original park borders extended well to the south and east of the current park.
The current name Matobo reflects the correct vernacular pronunciation of the area.
The Matobo Hills were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The area "exhibits a profusion of distinctive rock landforms rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe.
Flora
The Matobo Hills is an area of high botanic diversity, with over 200 species of tree recorded in the national park, including the mountain acacia, wild pear and the paperbark acacia. There are also many aloes, wild herbs and over 100 grass species. Many types of rare endemic plants have been recorded.
Fauna
Matobo National Park has a wide diversity of fauna: 175 bird, 88 mammal, 39 snake and 16 fish species. Game include white rhinos, sable, antelopes, impala and leopards. The park contains the world's densest population of the latter, due to the abundance of hyrax, which make up 50% of their diet. The game park in the west has been restocked with white and black rhinos, the former from KwaZulu-Natal in the 1960s and the latter from the Zambezi Valley in the 1990s. It has been designated as an Intensive Protection Zone for the two species, as well as hyenas, hippopotami, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests and ostriches.
Matobo National Park contains the highest concentration of black eagles, and breeding pairs of these birds, worldwide.
khami Ruins
Khami Ruins National Monument is located to the west of the Khami River, 22 km from the City of Bulawayo. The property, located on a 1300 m hilltop downstream from a dam built during 1928-1929, covers an area of about 108 ha, spread over a distance of about 2 km from the Passage Ruin to the North Ruin.
The property was the capital of the Torwa dynasty, which arose from the collapse of the Great Zimbabwe Kingdom between 1450 -1650 and was abandoned during the Ndebele incursions of the 19th century.
Socio-economic significance
The architecture of the site and the archaeological artefacts provide evidence for an exceptional understanding of strong, united, early civilizations. They also offer information on the property’s complex socio-economic, religious and spiritual significance for the local communities and for the overall chronological development of Zimbabwe tradition; initiated in Mapungubwe (South Africa), extending to Great Zimbabwe, and through the emergence of later states.
Archaeological remains
The archaeological remains are also a testament to long-distance historic trade links with the Portuguese, and the wider world, the diverse range of imported artefacts provide evidence of 15th and 17th century Spanish porcelain, Rhineland stoneware and Ming porcelain, many of which are on display in the Museum of Natural History in Bulawayo. There is also a monumental granite cross which illustrates the contact with missionaries at a traditionally revered and sacred spiritual site.
Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe
The Natural Museum of Zimbabwe located in the Centenary Park in Bulawayo, was built in 1962, and in 1982 all the natural science collections were moved here and it was renamed the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe.
With its stunning displays and valuable research collections is the best museum in Southern Africa and rank fourth in size among the museums of Africa.
It is an impressive circular building with nine public display galleries, a lecture hall with a seating capacity of 120 people, a cafeteria, and eight research departments with substantial study collections and ongoing research in the following disciplines:
Bulawayo Art Gallery
Housed in one of the country’s finest monuments, the National Gallery of Bulawayo is a unique facility, which holds invigorating and challenging exhibitions. Douslin House where the Gallery is housed is more than 100 years today. Its architectural splendour makes evident the gallery’s own goal of aesthetic appreciation and artistic aim.
As custodians of a growing Zimbabwean heritage, we are tasked with the creative and intellectual discipline to select, to nurture and commend outstanding works of visual art and of African Modern Art, to select and display pivotal works, to generate and improve upon existing talent, to train and develop artistic skills, to educate, to empower, to mediate, and mostly to celebrate.
Freed from some of the influences and concerns, which dominate other provinces in Zimbabwe, the unique thrust of the National Gallery of Bulawayo of African Modern Art is its desire to dissolve barriers between art and its audience, to establish a consistent dialogue and intimacy. The personality of this gallery is embodied in its transparent windows in the Lower Gallery, which allow passers-by to view current exhibitions while going on about their daily business.
Its warm wooden frames, doors and floors, the fireplaces remaining in the smaller galleries upstairs the laced balconies overlooking the cityscape, the enclosed courtyard and sculpture garden, each develop an atmosphere of sharing and closeness. Added to this are the studios where the artists can be witnessed at work, and an intimate family style café. The gallery also houses a non-circulating library with an emphasis on texts covering of African Modern Art.
Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre
The Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre is located in the Mzilikazi Township of Bulawayo.
The centre was founded in 1963. It is a Council owned project that was initiated to give youths from Mzilikazi and surrounding communities a chance to obtain skills training in the Arts, so as to create self-help projects to overcome unemployment. School leavers were urged to enrol and learn various skills in the following fields; Pottery, Wood sculpture, fine Art, metal sculpture and ceramics. The centre offers a two-year training course and has managed to train hundreds of talented individuals and helped them realise and nurture their artistic talents. One renowned artiste that has emerged from the school is Dominic Benhura.
The centre was closed for a while because of various challenges but has reopened and visitors may be interested in visiting them to buy some of the fine work made by the students. There is a showroom displaying exquisite pottery, canvas work, and impressive sculptures. Proceeds go to supporting the budding artists and the continuity of this vocational institute.
Chipangayi
Overview
Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage and Research Centre is located a few kilometres from the city and has become a Bulawayo Attraction and it is not a zoo but a shelter or a home to the animals.
Chipangali wildlife orphanage is a haven for wild animals which have little hope for survival in the wild – animals or birds which have been orphaned, abandoned, injured, born in captivity or brought up unsuccessfully as pets.
It is often the last refuge for those brought in sick or injured and has increasingly become a sanctuary for confiscated animals.
No other continent is as rich in wildlife as Africa from our mighty carnivores, to the many antelopes, to the majestic elephants to the reptiles and the many birds of prey that thrive here.
Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage has many interesting permanent and temporary residents. There are also many interesting animals, reptiles and birds in the area.
The Animals
Here are some of the many you may see: Duikers, Pied Crows, Steenbok Guinea Fowls, Serval Ducks, Monitor Lizards, Eagles, Monkeys, Flamingo Chameleon Francolin Jackal, Goshawks, Bushbuck, Heron, Hedgehogs, Kites Lion, Owls, Crocodiles, Peacock, Hyena, Jenet, Leopard, Impala, Kudu Warthog, Tsessebe and Zebra
Volunteering
Volunteer at one of the largest and most successful wildlife rehabilitation and release centers in Africa! Volunteers on this project work with a range of animals, anything from monkeys to lions.
Experience beautiful Zimbabwe while making a positive impact on the delicate African ecosystem. No experience is needed to work with the animals as all the training will be provided. All what is asked is that volunteers are enthusiastic and dedicated to working with animals