Major Tourist Attractions In Zimbabwe

No traveler would visit Zimbabwe without a good soak at the Victoria Falls. This wonder is created when the mile-long edge of the Zambezi gorge sends 5 million litres of water thundering and plunging headlong into a chasm of white foam 128 meters below.  

Named by the explorer David Livingstone in honour of the then queen of England in 1855, the Falls are a truly awesome sight. The best time to visit the Falls is probably during the dry season (July and August) when there is less mist to obscure the view but whenever you choose to go, it promises to be unforgettable. Remember to take a light raincoat with you to protect yourself from the spray. This spray has led to the growth of a rainforest around the Falls.

The Zambezi River attracts, (besides millions of tourists of course!) stars of the animal kingdom such as the big cats, wart-hog, crocodile and elephant. You can also get a pilot’s-eye view of the Falls from microlights, light airplanes or parachutes. The town of Victoria Falls is a tourist hub, with well-developed infrastructure for dining and entertainment/ shopping, apart from activities on and around the Zambezi River, including horse riding, the world’s tallest bungee-jump (a vertiginous 111 metres) and some wild white water rafting.

Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, is a cosmopolitan and culturally vibrant place. The National Gallery here has one of the finest displays of African art in the continent and the Queen Victoria Museum houses fine anthropological exhibits from the area. The busy Mbane Musika market and bus terminal is one of the greatest open-air markets in Africa. Row upon row of goodies, from the mundane to the downright bizarre - fruits, handicrafts, herbal medicine, second-hand electronics, clothing, bat’s wings, witches’ broomsticks…er…The Botanical Gardens are the place to try your Ndebele on some authentic African foliage (talk to the plants!). Visit the traditional village called the Chapungu Kraal (especially during weekends when traditional dances are performed) for skillfully made stone sculpture.

 Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe but it has curiously managed to retain a 1960s small-town America ambience. Huge tree-lined boulevards covered in flowers during spring watch over the town’s prime attractions. Places to visit are the National Museum (one of the best and most comprehensive on the continent) and an equally good Railway Museum, with a passenger coach dating back to 1904. 

The Chinhoyi Caves are located on the road from Harare to Lusaka, and conceal a surreal underground lake some 50 meters below the surface. The town of Mutare is the pride of the Eastern Highlands region and the place to go to if you want to forget for a moment that you are in hot, tropical sub-Saharan Africa. The Art Gallery and Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre are great places to watch the extremely skilled local craftsmen at work.

The town’s highlights include the Rhodes Museum, the dreamily named Utopia House (house of colonial poet Kingsley Fairbridge), the aloe gardens in Main Park and the Vumba Botanical Gardens. The town itself is nestled prettily in fantastic mountainous forests punctuated by deep gorges and waterfalls. These forests contain such marvels as the Chimanimani National Park (with eland and waterbuck herds), the Cecil Kop Nature Reserve and Thompson’s Vlei.

The Great Zimbabwe Ruins are an impressive set of stone complexes built between the 13th and 15th century when the ancient Kingdom of Munumatapa existed in all its glory.  

This ingenious style of architecture does not use any cement and has cylindrical walls enclosed by another wall that is 6 meters thick, up to 8 meters high and nearly 230 meters in circumference. The museum and competent guides bring alive the history of the place.

The Game Reserves in Zimbabwe are the reason many travelers go to the country. Mana Pools literally translates as ‘Four Pools’ and you have the option of hiring a canoe to see the elephants, hippos, lions, antelopes, giraffes, apart from getting an official permit to fish in the waters for tigerfish, vundu and bream.

 Hwange National Park is south of Victoria Falls and home to one of the highest concentration of game, especially elephants. 

Matapos National Park is more renowned for its geological and anthropological rather than wildlife attractions, although there are good examples of the latter too; the former include massive granite boulders neatly but precariously balanced on top of each other, brilliantly preserved Bushmen paintings, the burial grounds of Cecil John Rhodes, explorer and prime minister of the Cape Province in South Africa.