Bulawayo

Bulawayo was laid out in the 1890s on streets wide enough, the story goes, to turn a full span of oxen, and that width still gives the centre an unusual openness. It kept more of its early twentieth-century building than Harare: verandaed shopfronts, the railway station and the Bulawayo Club among them. The city was the seat of the Ndebele state before that, and it remains the country's second city and its railway centre.

Background

The settlement began around 1840, when a group led by Gundwane Ndiweni founded it as the kraal of the Ndebele king Mzilikazi, under the name Gibixhegu. Lobengula, his son, took over in the 1860s and renamed it koBulawayo. It became a municipality in 1897 and a city in 1943. The city covers 546 square kilometres along the Matsheumhlope River at an elevation of 1358 m, with 156 suburbs around a central business district of 5.4 km2. It has long been the main industrial centre of Zimbabwe, making cars, building materials, textiles, furniture and food, and the National Railways of Zimbabwe have their headquarters here. The 2022 census counted 665,940 residents.

Source: Wikipedia, "Bulawayo"

Highlights

• The wide streets - the centre laid out on an unusual scale in the 1890s.
• The colonial-era buildings - verandaed shopfronts and public buildings in the centre.
• The Railway Museum - locomotives and carriages from the Rhodesian railways.
• The Natural History Museum - the country's main natural history collection.

When to go

April to October is the dry season and most comfortable. October before the rains is very hot. Museums close on some days.

What to expect

The economy has been difficult for a long time and parts of the centre are run down. Water supply in the city has been intermittent for years. Facilities vary a great deal.

Nearby

Matobo Hills are south, and Khami Ruins are west.

Key facts