 | ||
| Bulawayo | ||
| province | ||
|---|---|---|
| Zimbabwe has no parent region. | ||
| Residents | 653.337 (2012) | |
| height | 1,358 m | |
| Tourist info | 263 (0)29 226 08 67, 263 (0)29 227 29 69 www.bulawayopublicity.com/ | |
| location | ||
| ||
Bulawayo is a city in the southwest Zimbabwe in the province Matabeleland North. With an estimated population of around 700,000 today, it is the second largest city in the country. The city lies on the Matsheumhlope River.
background
The name of the city comes from the Ndebele language and means something like "place of slaughter." The place was founded in 1893 by Cecil Rhodes after a British victory over the then king of Matabele Lobengula. Just a few years later, the place was connected to the railway network.
The city center ("Central Business District") is laid out in a checkerboard shape. 17 "Avenues" cross 11 "streets."
getting there
By plane
The new terminal of the twenty kilometers to the north 1 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport
(IATA: BUQ) opened at the end of 2013.
_at_Joshua_Mqabuko_Nkomo_International_Airport.jpg/350px-Air_Zimbabwe_B767-2N0ER_(Z-WPF)_at_Joshua_Mqabuko_Nkomo_International_Airport.jpg)
International connections exist in 2015 with Air Botswana to GaboroneYou get to Jo'burg every day with Airlink,Air Zimbabwe (which is in financial difficulties in January 2015) and which also serves Harare and Vic Falls as well as the low-cost airline founded in 2014 Zimbabwe flyafrica.com, which also flies to Harare. Proflight Zambia has suspended its flights again.
By train
(Times and prices 2015)
As the former industrial center of Rhodesia, the city is also the national rail hub. The State railway NRZ has its administrative headquarters here. Seniors over 60 receive a 25% discount on off-peak days (Mon-Thu, not the week before public holidays). At the Rail Leisure Restaurant on the forecourt, the name says it all, a beautiful old-style train station restaurant (non-alcoholic). There are men on duty in the station and a shower (on request from the station master).
From the station forecourt straight ahead into Basch St., past the “Zesa Power Station” (on the right), after one kilometer you reach the Egodini Public Transport Terminal.
- Trains
To Harare leads the partially electrified route - Mon., Thu., Sat. from 8 p.m. onwards Somabhula (There once a week connection to the Mozambique border in Chicualacuala [Bulayawo from Wed. 12.15] with train change to Maputo) and Gweru. Reservations can only be made at the train station up to 30 days in advance. Counter opening Mon.-Sat. 7.00 (Sat. 9.00) -10.00 and 15.30-18.45.
The 472 km long route Victoria Falls, is served once a day overnight (from 7.30 p.m.), increasingly by steam locomotives since 2004. Tickets are only sold on the day of travel: Mon.-Fri. 8.00 a.m.-7.30 p.m., on weekends only from 4.30 p.m. The first class fare in 2013 was US $ 12 ($ 4 bedding) in museum wagons. Only a few special tourist trains drive over the famous bridge.
Bulawayo (from Sun.) to Chiredzi (from Monday) is driven once a week.
To Botswana: The route to Francistown The Zimbabwean state railway operates twice a week via the border crossing at Plumtree. Scheduled departure should be Monday and Friday 9 a.m. From Francistown at 12 noon, Tuesday and Saturday. Due to delays, these trains often only arrive after dark. For security reasons, it is advisable to reserve a room from Botswana.
To South Africa (Beitbridge / Messina border): On the “public-private partnership” route opened in 1999 by the “Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway "trains should run on Sunday and Thursday at 6pm, with the scheduled arrival the next morning at 5.40am. Coming from South Africa, the departure would be at 9 p.m., at 8:45 a.m. (The route was discontinued "until further notice" in July 2014. This also applies to the connecting train to Johannesburg from Messina.)
By bus
- 2 Entumbane Bus Terminus (Luevee Rd., Entumbane) A good 7 km from the city center is the end point of the intercity buses from the north and Victoria Falls. Buses from Botswana and the west usually end at Nkulumane bus terminus.
- 3 Inter-City Bus Terminal (8th Ave. / George Silundeka Av). South behind the town hall (“city hall”). Next door there is also a bus station for local traffic. To the 4 Blue Arrow Bus (Lobengula St., Makokoba) standing with your back to the IC terminal is a good 100 m down 8th Ave. up, then right into Fife St. (opposite is the police station), about 250 m to the 6th Ave.
If you go the 8th instead, 500 m further on, the line is in front of the “High Court,” meandering past it, after 250 m you come to Basch St., turn right 100 m and you are at the Egodini Public Transport Terminal.
Bravo Tours drive daily from the Amakhosi Cultural Center on Basch St. to Vic Falls for US $ 16 in decent minibuses.
Overnight buses travel to / from Johannesburg / Pretoria in around 13 hours. The route is served by both Greyhound (Price 2015: Rand 465) as well Intercape for R. 560-660. (Intercape Pathfinder Travel Center, N1 Hotel Building, 114 Joshua M Nkomo Street, Bulawayo).
The 5 Renkini Bus Terminal (6th Ave. Extension / Waverley St., Makokoba)cum Bazaar, rightly has its reputation for being dirty and messy. It is also a meeting point for the unemployed and petty crooks who are particularly interested in those coming from the flat country.
In the street
In and around Bulayo the highways A5 (dir. Northeast and Gweru), A6 (dir. Southeast, Mbalabala), A7 (dir. Southwest and Botswana) and A8 (north, dir. Lupanes).
mobility
As everywhere in southern Africa, local transport is mainly provided by minibuses. The 6 Egodini Public Transport Terminal (Bash St.) is on the edge of the center. Taxis are not uniformly designed, but clearly marked as such.
Tourist Attractions
Museums
- National Art Gallery, Main St. / Leopold Takawira Ave. With a nice cafe in the inner courtyard.Open: Tue-Sun 9.00-17.00.
- 2 Natural History Museum, Leopold Takawira Ave. / Park Rd. Tel.: 263-9-250 045, Email: [email protected].
Open: daily 8.30am-5pm.Price: Locals US $ 3; Special price for foreigners US $ 10. - 3 Railway Museum, Crew Rd.
The national railway museum has existed since 1972, conveniently close to the train station.Price: US $ 1.
activities
The cinema Bulawayo Theater is about 100 meters from the Natural History Museum in Centenary Park. Also in the park south of Leopold Takawira Ave. located part, Central Park called, there is the municipal swimming pool, a very unusual facility for this part of the world. The municipality also runs a large campsite in the park.
shop
Normal shop opening hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and until 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Banks open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday until 11.30 a.m. There are enough supermarkets in the center. The chain TM supermarkets was launched in 2015 in Pick'n Pay renamed.
On Matopos Rd., Between 24 and 26 Ave. there is the "open market."
kitchen
The Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn and Creamy Inn, which are also well represented elsewhere in the country, provide their customers with the usual fatty “Western” food.
nightlife
There are better places to go out Horizon Night Club,Bulawayo Athletics Club (BAC), despite the name not a sports club, Baku Club, the bar in Rainbow Hotel (between Robert Mugabe way and Josiah Tongogara Rd. at level 9th Av). Less good clubs, often with prostitutes hanging around, can be found e.g. at 13th Ave.
accommodation
Prices early 2015
- 2 White Hollows Youth Hostel, 3rd Steet / Townsend Rd. Tel.: 263 256488. Open: closing time 9.30 p.m.
- 3 Berkeley Place, 71 Josiah Tongogara Rd. Rather rustic hostel, but with a friendly operator.
- 4 Burkes' Paradise, 11 Inverleith Drive, Burnside. Tel.: 263 92 46 48 1. Few rooms, lots of space for camping (US $ 7) in the large back garden of the owner's house. Not easy to find without the directions on the website.Price: Dorm US $ 15, Single 25, Double 25.
- 5 Bulawayo Club, 8th Ave. / Forts St. Tel.: 263 9 881964 5, Email: [email protected]. 2010 renovated "gentlemen's club," the best British tradition; Jacket and tie mandatory, with access to the food (to be ordered in advance) only for guests introduced by members (which is easily done for day guests), or overnight guests. For a hefty dose of colonial rulers' decadence, you can't beat it.Price: Singles from US $ 85, doubles from 110 (Aug. 2014).
- Nesbitt Castle, 6 Percy Avenue, Hillside. Tel.: (263 9) 282735. A colonial master's dream of his own castle, now a luxury boutique hotel, has turned to stone.Price: Single: US $ 150-190, Double: 170-210.
security
"In emergencies, usually no help can be expected from the security forces."[2]
health
The water supply is not adequately maintained. In 2008 there was a cholera outbreak. The hot season is from September to November.
Practical advice
Immigration Control (Tel .: 65621) has its offices on the corner of Herbert Chitepo St./11th Ave. There are no consulates in the city where you could possibly apply for entry permits for neighboring countries that require a visa.
- Post offices
- 4 Main Post Office, Joshu Nkomo St. (A5), Makokoba. Tel.: 263 62535. Open: Mon.-Fri. 8.00 am-5.00 pm, Sat. 8.00 am-11.30 am.
- 5 post, Lobengula St., Makokoba.
trips
- 4 Chipangali Wildlife Orpahnage. Tel.: 263-9-287739, Email: [email protected]. 14 miles east on Gwanda Road (A6). Run as a non-profit organization by the children of the former curator of the Natural History Museum, Viv Wilson. Continue on the A6 to Mulungwane Umzingwane Recreational Park, around 35 km.Open: D.-Su. 9.00-17.00.
- Mazwi Nature Reserve, a city-run park, low entry fee. 28 km from the city center: the 13thth down. At Khami Prison Rd. After 6 km turn right and drive another 6 km to the gate.
- Amagugu International Heritage Center, Kezi / Maphisa Rd. Tel.: 263 712 701 651, Email: [email protected]. About 60 km away. Founded in 2010, aims to preserve and promote traditional ways of life and art forms and to impart knowledge about them to a broad public. It is a profit-oriented, privately owned company.
The world cultural sites are managed by the Natural History Museum:
Special prices for foreigners apply to both places, which are 3-5 times higher than those for locals.
- 22 km of road to the west is the Mazwi Nature Reserve with the Iron Age 5 Khame Ruins and a small museum (open until 4.30 p.m.), the former capital of the Butua empire, which perished around 1644.
- 6 Matobo National Park, (open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) is located a good 50 km south of the city. It is not only worth seeing because of its fauna, but also the 200 indigenous tree species and highly unusual rock formations, including the "ringing rocks" with echo. On the Malindidzimu peak is the tomb of Cecil Rhodes. On the banks of the Maleme reservoir there are camping opportunities in the “rest camp”. The one that opened there in 2015 White Rhino Lodge, rents her six beds for US $ 100.
You can get to the park on Matopos Rd. From the center. You drive soon after the city limits, initially on Rhodes Sactuary past. Note: The national park begins in the north with a narrow strip (500 m wide), the Matobo dam and reservoir (26 km from B.), then continues with the “Lake Matopos Recreational Park”, which is 3-4 km wide is to then complete in a trapezoid that is about 25 × 7 km in size. Next to the north end, closer to the city, is the Tshabalala National Park, which is also chargeable.
Go to Hwange National Park.
literature
- Map: Harare & Bulawayo; 2011 (IMTB Publ.); ISBN 978-1895907773
- Ranger, Terence O. (* 1929); Bulawayo burning: the social history of a southern African city 1893-1960; Woodbridge 2010; ISBN 978-1-77922-108-7
- Wills, Walter H .; Hall, J .; Bulawayo up-to-date: being a general sketch of Rhodesia; London 2014 (Britsish Library), reprint orig. 1899; ISBN 978-1-241-49079-9
- Printah Printer Nkala; Factors That Influence the Increase of Prostitution in Bulawayo's Business Center; IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, Vol. 19, Iss. 6 (Jun. 2014), pp. 65-74
