Seke Road – Road to Pleasure

Leisure Reporter
The roads to Chitungwiza are busier these days, especially during weekends. The town has become the hub of revelry: indoor, outdoor or live music and just about anything else one can think of. Driving from Harare, the fun begins at Maruta Shopping Centre and it doesn’t stop until one gets to Ziko Shopping Centre. From Maruta, to your left is the new hot joint,Paramount Signature.

Believe it or not, this is a drive through watering hole and you can buy a beer from the comfort of your car. What the authorities make of that remains to be seen. The complex has several drive-throughs to ease congestion.

Paramount Signature is built on rocky terrain. To many that would be a problem. Not with the proprietors of this place: the rocks were untouched in much of the construction making for beautiful scenery.

The place is spacious and its biggest attraction is the cheap booze, sold at “pump price” as the lingo goes. It’s a great venue for Sundays with the family, and you can bring your own meat for a braai.

If this does not sound like the place for you, further up Seke Road is Junction 24, another beautiful setting that hosts massive outdoor parties, popular for famed “old skul” weekends and playgrounds for the tots.

From Juction 24 there is Leisure Centre (Pasango), a picnic area where those in need of some breathing space can relax in relative quiet.

Equally good is the nearby Dam View. What can we say: who doesn’t love an afternoon by the water? Once in a while, Dam View hosts top musicians.

The frenzied pace of Chitungwiza proper is next as one gets to Chikwanha Shopping Centre, which we can tell you means you are now a good 25km from Harare’s CBD.

The number of liquor stores, bars and nightclubs here leaves the serious drinker spoilt for choice.

But the one that makes people drive from as far as Norton and Marondera is the massively popular Chikwanha Gardens. The Shona say “kutaurirwa hunyimwa” – see it for yourself.

Just after Chikwanha, Tanza Centre welcomes you. Tanza is a fairly new place, spacious, beautiful and well-managed.

Once at Tanza there is no going back, those who love “purezha” can finish off their weekend here or visit Pagungwa, the famous watering hole at Makoni Shopping Centre, or proceed to Ziko Shopping Centre which itself has an abundance of watering holes and more braai stands than most small towns can muster.