Exploring Zimbabwe - Bulawayo

Hey y'all, here's more from our trip to Zimbabwe in May 2019.

Burke's Backpackers Paradise in Bulawayo

After visiting Harare, my partner in adventure and I headed off to Bulawayo. Unlike the usual backpackers relying on the lonely planet for bus advice, we had my cousin who took us to a nice bus (C.A.G Galaxy) which left at 2pm sharp and arrived in Bulawayo at 7:30pm as they promised. Kaka was so sure we will get a chicken bus but God was so good to me, and we didn’t get on a chicken bus throughout our entire trip. This luxury bus didn’t stop along the way to pick up passengers, that was impressive especially since we expected that to be a trend. And Kaka had paid more on his way to Harare from Bulawayo and the bus he was on was practically like a daladala, so this particular bus exceeded out expectations. 

We arrived in Bulawayo and our host who was half stoned came with his friend and picked us up and took us to his place. His house however, was very peaceful. We lazied around the next day, and the only reason we went to town was to get food. 

Bulawayo is as calm as Harare, but I did notice the city was not in it’s best shape cleanliness wise compared to the city center area in Harare. Their park which is by the town hall is somewhat okay and could use some TLC. The one thing that’s been a common theme in Harare and Bulawayo are the wide roads and the one-way roads which I believe are a good idea when it comes to preventing traffic jam. The architecture is more than I had expected since it’s not Harare, so I was impressed at the mix of Western and Eastern influence on the architecture. 

The Honda Fit shared taxis are beyond memorable to me. If you are trying to figure out how 7 to 8 people can fit in such a tiny vehicle, think no more...just visit Bulawayo and you will experience that firsthand. 

A flower we saw in Matobo National Park

We went to Matobo National Park on Saturday. The day started off well, and somehow our host decided to give us a taste of Bulawayo, not something I cared for, nor did Kaka. I think we would have gotten more wonderful pictures of Matobo if it wasn’t for the practical joke that was played on us. While exiting Matobo we saw two giraffes right by the road, but I was in no shape nor mood to document anything at the time. 

We spent the night at a Backpackers hostel before leaving for Masvingo the next day. My African dream, my African safari.