Cycling in Zimbabwe – 4 weeks of cycling from Harare to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls in September 1999
Masvingo – Great Zimbabwe v.v.
The cycling to Great Zimbabwe is easy. The road is good and traffic is light. There is a campsite in the park (watch out for the monkeys) and well kept rondavels with shared facilities for Z$800 per night.
Fast-food (chips, pizza, cold drinks etc.) is available from the curioshop.
Masvingo – Zvishavane – Filabusi – Bulawayo
From Masvingo the road slowly descends to the river Tokwe. A bit further is the turnoff to Gweru and the village of Mandanbwe. We saw a sign pointing to the ‘Sunrise Hotel’ , so it may be possible to stay there.
This road mainly goes through communal lands. Not many shops along the road though. The town of Svishavane has a very rundown caravan park ( 60 Z$ per night ) and a hotel (the Nilton Hotel) in the town centre. There is a large TM supermarket on the Masvingo road.
After Zvishavane there is even less traffic on this road. Again not much available along this road to eat or drink. The settlement of Filabusi is 5 km off the road and can be reached on a excellent road. Some maps shows two road leading towards F.; in fact there is only one road in and out.
Filabusi is a government-centre; consisting mainly of government offices and the houses of the people who work here. We camped at the police station. They even have showers and toilets for visitors. A week before us a Japanese cyclist had camped there and a month earlier a group of hitchhikers stayed there.
Camp at Filabusi Police Station
From Filabusi it’s another 25 km to the Beitbridge – Bulawayo road. The military settlement of Mbalabala on the junction has not much to offer. The Beitbridge – Bulawayo road is fairly busy with highspeed traffic from South Africa and narrow (no shoulder) making cycling unpleasant at times. Once you reach the village of Esigodini (accommodation and shops) most of the traffic is gone and even better the road widens. Fifteen kms after Esigodini there are two steep climbs which bring you to an altitude of about 1400 m above sea level. The rest of the way to Bulawayo you will cycle on a mountain ridge with wide views right and left. At 20 km before B. you will see the first sign to lodges and campgrounds. This side of B. doesn’t give the impression that you are cycling into a seconds largest city in the country ( one million inhabitants).