The
word Zimbabwe means “big house of stone” in Shona
(Zimba Ramabwe). The country was formerly named Southern Rhodesia
from Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), English-born businessman, politician
and imperialist. Zimbabwe covers an area of 390 245km2 with a
population of 12 million Africans and 120 000 Europeans. The country
is mostly on a plateau averaging 1200m elevation. The low river
valleys get an annual rainfall of 400-600mm, the plateau gets
750-1000mm and the eastern highlands 1500-2000mm.
The
protected areas cover 44 680km2 (±10% of the land area)
and includes National Parks, wildlife sanctuaries, botanical and
safari areas.
GENERAL INFORMATION - ZIMBABWE
Great
Zimbabwe Ruins · Bulawayo
· Matabo
Hills
Hwange NP · Victoria
Falls · Livingstone
Lake
Kariba
· Harare
Great
Zimbabwe:
The ancient stone structures are the largest ancient man-made
buildings south of the Sahara. The structures were probably built
by local Shona Karanga with the help of Arab builders/ architects
during the Arab gold trade which flourished during the 13-15th
century AD. Radio-carbon dating suggests that Great Zimbabwe was
built in the 11th century AD. Adam Render, a German hunter reached
the ruins in 1868 and it was Karl Mauch, a German traveller who
first recorded the find in great detail in his journal (1872).
Bulawayo:
This is the second most important city with a population of 600
000 (altitude 1350m). It was first named Gubuluwayo (place of
killing) by Lobengula after a fierce battle between his indunas
and those of a rival. Bulawayo has many interesting buildings
dating from its colonial era. The natural history museum and the
railway museum make for an interesting visit.
Matobo:
The Matobo Hills lie to the south of Bulawayo and cover 3000km2
. They are famous for the abundance of granite kopjes (outcrops)
and dwales. In 1933, the government set aside 456km2 of the hills
as the Rhodes Matobo National Park and Game Reserve. Cecil Rhodes
is buried in the park at World’s View. There are numerous
caves with rock painting and White Rhino have been re-introduced
from Zululand in Natal.
Hwange
National Park: Set aside in 1928 as the land was
not suitable for agricultural use, the Park was opened to the
public in 1932 and covers 14 650km2. It receives an average annual
rainfall of 650mm. This is the largest park in Zimbabwe with over
50 species of animals being recorded.
Victoria
Falls: Also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (“the smoke
that thunders”) at an altitude of 914m is one of the world’s
most spectacular natural scenic attractions and Zimbabwe’s
major tourist destination. The Falls were probably visited by
early Portuguese traders and Boer hunters before Livingstone visited
them in 1855. He named the falls after England’s queen -
Victoria. Livingstone wrote in his diary: “It has never
been seen before by European eyes but scenes so lovely must have
been gazed upon by angels in their flight”.
The
Falls are 1700m wide and 92m high. 545 million litres of water
per minute pour into the gorge during the peak season (April-May)
and the spray rises 500m into the air. During the Rhodesian/ Zimbabwe
War (1967-1980) the Falls were almost deserted by tourists. During
1950 and 1960, tourist accommodation and facilities were situated
in Livingstone and the Zimbabwean side had only the Victoria Falls
Hotel and Soper’s Curios.
Livingstone:
see ZAMBIA
Lake
Kariba: The second largest man-made lake in the
world covers 5000km2 and is 280km long and 32km wide at its maximum
width. The dam wall is a concrete arch wall 128m high and 633m
long on the neck. The wall was built at the entrance to the Kariba
Gorges which had hard basement rocks. The word “Kariba”
in local language means “little trap”. The dam construction
commenced in 1955 and was officially opened by the Queen Mother
(mother of Queen Elizabeth II) in 1960. The dam was built for
generating hydro-electricity for Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and
Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). The hydro electric power from Kariba
still supplies the bulk of Zimbabwean and Zambian domestic and
industrial energy requirements. Lake Kariba has become important
for the commercial fishing of Kapenta (Ndakala) introduced from
Lake Tanganyika. The small fish are dried in the sun and sold
in the markets in Zimbabwe.
Harare:
The capital has a population of 1 million. It is at an altitude
of 1470m and was formerly known as Salisbury until 1980. Harare
was a suburb of Salisbury.
