Bulawayo and Matobos, Zimbabwe

However, Bulawayo, like Masvingo in the Lowveld, is primarily a stopover on the way to nearby places of interest. Khame, 22km (14 miles) out of town on a little-travelled road is another World Heritage site. Younger than Great Zimbabwe and smaller, these forty hectares of crumbling city was once the capital of the the successors of Monomatapa.

The Torwa dynasty arose from the collapse of the Great Zimbabwe kingdom in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Cattle and gold brought prosperity but the area was abandoned during the Ndebele incursions of the nineteenth century and legend fingers the war-like tribe from the south as the arsonists.

The stone walls are not as well-preserved having been destroyed by fire but you will probably be able to view them undisturbed by other visitors. A small musuem will guide you through.

Bulawayo Activities and Places of Interest:

Tshabala Wildlife Sanctuary:
Once the home of a British sailor and his Ndebele wife, one of the daughters of the last Ndebele king, Lobengula, this savannah area is home to some of the less wild of Zimbabwe's wildlife. The antelope, giraffe, zebras and warthogs can be viewed on foot or on horseback.

The reserve is eight kilometres from Bulawayo along the Matabos road. Mabukuwene Nature Reserve These twelve hectares of indigenous trees and aloe garden provide a convenient city escape, ten kilometres out of town in the suburb of Burnside. There is also a bird sanctuary and a good view of Bulawayo from the gazebo. Take Hillside Road to Burnside Road and turn right into Chipping Way.

Chipingali:
Chipingali is now more like a zoo than the original animal orphanage intended but you won't have to sit in a hide for hours waiting for the big cats which include the rare black-maned lion. The sanctuary is home to wounded and abandoned wildlife which is cared for before being returned to the wild. Two walk-through aviaries allow the birds a look-in. It is 23 kilometres south of Bulawayo on the Beitbridge road.

Jairos Jiri Craft Shop

These outlets for craft produced by the disabled and the blind are found throughout the country but Bulawayo's shop is the biggest. Batik, macrame, wall hangings, leather handbags, crocheted tablecloths and bedspreads, beadwork and baskets, wood and soapstone carvings are all on offer.