4-Day Ultimate Bulawayo Cultural and Architectural Experience
Highlights
Bulawayo
cultural, museums, sightseeing
Group Tour
4 Days
Medium
English
Description
Embark on a 4-day journey that will cover the City's ancient Victorian age architecture buildings and its natural surroundings. The tour will be characterised by beautiful plants and animals found in nearby game parks and sanctuaries such as Rhodes Matopo National park. The Khami ruins nearby offer a rich cultural and heritage reserve to the great history of Bulawayo. The Natural history museum and the National Railways museum provide an archive of the City's importance to the economic and cultural development of the country. A visit to the oldest townships of Makokoba and Mzilikazi, a look at Mkambo the popular market, a taste of the traditional cuisine and a traditional dance perfomance is essential for a complete Bulawayo experience.
Itinerary
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Day 1
- We will prioritise the exploration of the City's rich historical background . The guests will be collected from their hotel for a visit to the Natural history museum.
- It has a rich legacy of the history of Bulawayo and the country at large. We will spend around 2 hours with the guests then we will take a tour of the city on foot.
- While there are more than 155 ancient buildings in the City we will select a few historically important ones.
- These include City Hall completed in 1895 and was originally a public market, the Exchange Building, which was completed in 1896 and was the first Stock Exchange in Zimbabwe.
- We will also look at the Chronicle building which printed its first newspaper on 12 October 1894, the Bulawayo Club which is now a hotel was established in 1895 as a Gentlemen's social club.
- We will look at other key heritage buildings in the City such as the Bulawayo High Court, the Tredgold Building and the National Art Gallery.
- The Victorian style buildings in their elegant grandeur represent the highest standard of Victorian architecture. After lunch we will visit the National Railways museum which is full of the history of the establishment of the railway system in Southern Africa. This will take us to the end of the day's activities.
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Day 2
- We will take the guests out of the city to witness its beautiful natural surroundings.
- We will take a short trip to Rhodes Matopo National Park. The Park is characterised by its magnificent hill and rock structure as well as rolling natural topography. It is rich in animal, bird and plant life and is also home to the black and white Rhino as well as the world famous black eagle also known as Verraux's eagle.
- The Park has a great deal of ancient cave paintings which have a story to tell. In the Matopo is where Cecil John Rhodes requested to be buried. His remains are interned there on a hill called Malindidzimu in the local Ndebele language. We will begin with white Rhino tracking if guests are interested in the activity.
- We will then drive through the park soaking in the beautiful scenery and interacting with the animals,birds and plants in their natural environment.
- We will go to Nswatugi cave and take a look at the ancient rock paintings there as well as at Pomongwe cave before visiting the Museum located there.
- We will then drive to Malindidzimu passing through a curio shop within the park where guests will buy local curio products to support the community if they so wish.
- We will proceed to Malindidzimu to see Rhodes's grave. It is not only Rhodes's grave located at the hill but also those of his friends including that of his trusted right hand man Leander Starr Jameson of the famous Jameson raid. There is also Sir Charles Coghlan's grave and a monument in honour of Alan Wilson and his brave soldiers who were wiped out by the Ndebele amabutho ( soldiers) as they tried to pursue King Lobengula.
- Malindidzimu also known as World's view has a 360 degree view of its scenic surroundings and the guests will be priviledged to experience this.
- By the time we are through with exploring the hill it will be time to experience the magnificent Matopo sunset. It is an intriguing experience and is one of the best sunset experiences that one can ever imagine. After the sundowner we will call it a day and return to the City.
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Day 3
- We will be reserved for Khami ruins which is an ancient city depicting the great architectural skills of the early Shona civilisations who once inhabited this area. It is located about 25 kms outside the City and is related to the Great Zimbabwe ruins in the South East of Zimbabwe.
- After lunch we will visit Silozwane cave on the outskirts of the Matopo National Park. This cave is very rich in ancient rock paintings which are very visible and is a good hiking exercise.
- From the top of the mountain where the cave is located the guests can have a good view of the local rural surroundings and soak in the fresh air as well. When done we go down the mountain and back to the city for a well deserved rest while we prepare and look forward to the next day's activities.
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Day 4
- The guests will experience the vibrant culture of the city of Bulawayo. After breakfast the guests will be taken around local historical residential areas such as Makokoba and Mzilikazi for a meet and mingle with the locals.
- We will visit "mkambo" the vibrant big market in Makokoba where everything and anything is traded. It is quite an interesting place to visit. From there i will take the guests for a traditional dance perfomance.
- Next stop will be a traditional foods restraunt for a sample of the traditional foods.
- We will then go for an arts exhibition either at the National arts gallery or Amakhosi if availlable and if not there can always be alternative activities of similar nature.
- By then it will be time to experience the city's night scene.
- The guests can have an early dinner at one of Bulawayo's more exotic restraunts such as Buffalo Hill Spur Steak Ranch, Mozambik Restaurant, The Smokehouse, Kings Kraal or The Cattleman Steakhouse to mention a few. There are a number of good restraunts to choose from depending on tastes.
- The guests can choose to enjoy the evening at one restaurent or move about for an all round experience. At the guests request we will call it a day and return to the hotel for a good night's rest.
What's Included
What's Excluded
Know Before You Go
What To Bring
Meeting Point
Cancellation Policy
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For cancellations upto 2 days before the tour -
Refund of 80% of the tour price.
Price
The Group Size and Price | |
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1 to 2 | /group |
3 to 4 | /group |
5 to 10 | /group |
11 to 12 | /group |
This is a group tour |