Explore Bulawayo City

Bulawayo Central Square.

Old marks

Previously, most visitors to Bulawayo came by train, but the Zimbabwe National Railways is currently closed, so visitors can fly or take a bus. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo now has flights from many major cities in Africa such as Johannesburg (South Africa), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lusaka (Zambia)... Visitors can also choose to take a bus from Harare or Johannesburg to Bulawayo.

Bulawayo is Zimbabwe’s second largest city and industrial hub, but it still retains much of its old-world charm. Many visitors to Bulawayo mistakenly think they’ve stepped back in time, with its hundreds of years of history. Spend an afternoon just wandering around Bulawayo and talking to the locals (most of whom speak English). Start your tour in the central square, home to a monument to Zimbabwean revolutionary and former Vice President Joshua Nkomo.

The headquarters of the Zimbabwe National Railways is in Bulawayo, and a must-see destination in the city is the Zimbabwe Railway Museum. It houses many unique locomotives that are over 100 years old. In addition, an old railway station in the town of Shamva (northeast of Zimbabwe) has been dismantled and moved to the museum for display. Visitors can buy tickets for a vintage train that runs around the museum to experience what it was like to sit on a train in the early 20th century.

The second museum worth visiting in Bulawayo is the Zimbabwe Natural History Museum. Zimbabwe is one of the “cradles” of humankind, and the country’s Natural History Museum houses many artifacts related to the lives of early prehistoric humans. The late Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (now South Africa) Cecil Rhodes, who founded Rhodesia (British Zimbabwe and Zambia), also left his collection of rare animal specimens to the Natural History Museum.

During Cecil Rhodes’s lifetime, he and many Rhodesian leaders frequented the Bulawayo Club, which is now a hotel and bar, as well as a mini-museum. If you’re not familiar with the gentlemen’s clubs that were popular in 19th-century Europe, stay at the Bulawayo Club. The service is on par with four-star hotels, and guests can learn about the lives of the British upper class in the colony.

Bulawayo Flavor

Even before Bulawayo industrialized, it was famous for its blacksmithing. A Bulawayo blacksmith could make a surprisingly sharp knife from a rusty sleeper. Customers from all over the country and as far away as South Africa still come to Bulawayo to buy cutlery. Foreign visitors who are reluctant to bring sharp objects on the plane should look for nail clippers, cups, or small iron toys.

Zimbabwean cuisine is family-oriented. If you are looking for good food in Bulawayo, try the rice shops. Some traditional local dishes include sadza (boiled maize flour served with a meat and vegetable dish), muriwo (kale, collard greens or spinach stir-fried with onions, tomatoes and chilli powder) and muguru (grilled beef or goat tripe). You also can’t miss the chance to drink chibuku beer. This is a craft beer brand famous throughout Zimbabwe for its unique sour taste. The taste comes from the beer being made from sorghum and maize flour. Chibuku beer is sold in a 1-litre carton that looks like a milk carton, and you have to shake the carton before pouring the beer.

The Bulawayo Arts Festival is held from 2 to 5 June each year. Many of Zimbabwe’s major universities are located in Bulawayo, and the Arts Festival is a great opportunity for young artists to showcase their talents. In recent years, the festival has also attracted many artists and folk artists from surrounding areas. The indigenous Ndebele people are famous for their painting and epic storytelling. Visitors will find Ndebele painters and storytellers performing on the streets during the festival.

If you want to learn more about the history of the indigenous people, visit Khami, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just over half an hour from Bulawayo. Khami was the capital of the Butua Kingdom (1450-1683) and one of the largest cities in pre-colonial Zimbabwe. Few places in southern Africa have such a large number of stone structures and walls from that period. The site was abandoned after the collapse of the Butua Kingdom and its inhabitants became nomadic. However, religious ceremonies were still held at Khami until the late 19th century.

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