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Railway Museum
THE Bulawayo area has been populated since prehistoric times. The San (Bushman) people painted their delicate pictures in the caves of the Matobo Hills, the Rozvi kings built a stone city at Khami and the Ndebele nation gave the city its name. The city has wide tree lined streets and is surrounded by beautiful parks. There are many places to see from a tourist point of view.
The Museum of Natural History
The Museum of Natural History, which houses over 75 000 specimens, is the largest museum in the southern hemisphere. It is the home of the second largest mounted elephant in the world. The displayed exhibits include wildlife, bird, insects exhibits as well as historical and mining displays. The Museum of Natural History is also in the vicinity of The Centenary and Central Parks.
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair
Zimbabwe’s International Trade Fair (ZITF) is also situated in Bulawayo. This forum attracts exhibitors from the Sadc region as well as others from overseas countries, mostly wishing to trade with Zimbabwe. The Trade Fair also provides Zimbabwean companies with a window to exhibit their own products to the outside world.
The Railway Museum
The Railway Museum, one of the few of its kind in the world, houses a collection of many obsolete railway memorabilia steam locomotives, rolling stock and station buildings — with a variety of other exhibits dating back to 1897 when the first steam engine rolled into the country. Bulawayo is the country’s railway junction and marshalling yard.
Bulawayo Amphitheatre
Bulawayo has its own Theatre and Philharmonic Orchestra and an Academy of Music which contains a specially designed hall where frequent concerts and recitals are given by overseas and local musicians. Also of note is the Amakhosi Cultural Centre, the only one of its kind in Southern Africa. It has an amphitheatre where performances of traditional song, dance and drama are given regularly. Bulawayo is the home of many dynamic and talented cultural groups, who frequently tour overseas providing high quality performances which are in high demand
Bulawayo National Art Gallery
A branch of the National Gallery in Bulawayo, the beautifully-restored Douslin House, a colonial building houses a collection of traditional and modern art, including sculpture. On-site workshops offer hand-made batiks, and there is a shop which sells artwork, curios, sculptures and genuine tribal artifacts.
Outskirts — There are a number of wonderful sites to see that are just out of the boundaries of the city limits, we have given a list below, it’s a non-comprehensive list in any shape or form.
Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage
It is located 23 kilometres from the Bulawayo City Centre. Initially established as a centre for the ill and orphaned animals, the orphanage offers a close-up view of many species of the big cats and a wide variety of birds. There are lions, leopards, cheetahs, black rhinos; many species of antelope and a large collection of birds.
Khami Ruins
They are located 22 kilometres west of the Bulawayo City Centre, having the status of being a Unesco World Heritage Site, they represent what used to be the capital of the Torwa State in the 17th and 18th centuries. Khami is made up of beautifully-decorated massive granite walls connected by a series of terraces and passages around the multiplex.The land adjoining the ruins has been made into a Nature Reserve by the Bulawayo City Council, called Mazwi Nature Reserve, where the visitor may walk, drive and picnic.
Mguza Nature Reserve
This 650-hectare park is a magnet for ornithologists and birding enthusiasts. Hundreds of different species have been recorded in a single day. The park also contains several wildlife species, and there are picnic spots, picturesque walks and drives.
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.
Old Bulawayo
The reconstruction of the Old Bulawayo was started in 1997. A delegation was sent to South Africa to study similar projects at Ondini, Bulawayo and Mgungundlovu. The reconstruction was limited only to the Royal Enclosure — a place where the king and his close relatives lived.
Tshabalala Game Sanctuary
It is located eight kilometres south-east of the Bulawayo City Centre. The Game sanctuary has many lovely locations for picnics. It contains several walking and horseback trails. Incidentally the Game Sanctuary is situated on the former lands of Fairburn Usher, a British Sailor who relocated to Bulawayo in the late 1800s, and married one of the daughters of King Lobengula. —Online
Bongani Ndlovu