Naletale Ruins

Naletale is a single elliptical enclosure on a hilltop in the Midlands, built in the seventeenth century by the Rozvi, and although it is small, the decoration of its outer wall is the most elaborate on any of the country's stone sites: bands of chevron, herringbone, chequer and cord patterns worked in the coursed stone around most of its circuit, with the remains of monoliths on top. It is remote and rarely visited.

What you actually see

• The decorated wall - chevron, herringbone and chequer patterns worked into the stonework.
• The elliptical enclosure - the single hilltop wall the site consists of.
• The Rozvi period - seventeenth-century building of the successor state to Great Zimbabwe.
• The remoteness - a site that receives very few visitors.

When to go

April to October is the dry season and best for the track. Grass hides the approach after the rains. Morning light shows the wall patterns best.

Honest expectations

The track in is rough and needs high clearance and directions. The site is often unstaffed with no interpretation. It is small and the visit is brief.

Nearby

Danangombe is northeast, and Gweru is beyond it.