HARARE has been described as "The Pearl of frica", but the city (previously Salisbury) is more like a diamond--sparkling, glamorous, many-faceted. Yet it wasn't always so. Chief Harare, who ruled the area before Cecil Rhodes' invasion, had wisely chosen to site his headquarters further south than the muddy clearing where the British column hauled up its Union Jack in September 1890. The first Fort Salisbury was a marshy place and its early years of growth into a town were hampered by the fact that, when the rains came and the rivers flooded, no supplies of any sort could reach it, sometimes for weeks on end. White women were banned for the first two years by order of the misogynistic Rhodes, but Vicomte de la Panouse circumvented that when he smuggled in his beloved Fanny Pearson, disguised as his manservant "Billie". Soon the town was home to a motley assortment of remittance men (the self-styled Bishop of Hong Kong staged the most successful cons); eccentrics (the Irish Giant, 1,5 m tall, would fight anyone for a drink) and poules de luxe (Diamond Lil had a sparkler embedded in her front tooth). In stark contrast were the folk heroes of that time--most prominently, Ambuya Nehanda and Kaguvi--who rallied their own people to rise up for the First Chimurenga (War of Liberation) and were hanged in 1897. They were spirit mediums, and are believed to speak through successors today. Their names and likenesses can be found on buildings, plaques and sculptures in modern Zimbabwe.

The railway came to Salisbury in May 1899. In 1913, Cleveland Dam made a piped water supply possible, and Seke Dam followed. After the First World War, tobacco boomed as a crop, and newfound "barons" hired permanent suites in Meikles Hotel. By 1935, light industries and factories were springing up.

Since Independence, on April 18th, 1980, the city that is now Harare has burgeoned, It boasts shopping malls, cinemas, theatres, night clubs, horseracing-and more cultural pleasures. The National Archives has a priceless collection of maps, sketches, books, diaries and documents, as well as most of Thomas Baines' paintings. The National Gallery holds frequent exhibitions of both indigenous and foreign works of art. The National Museum's speciality is the Story of Man and the Story of Animals in Mashonaland--and also has the largest collection of birds' eggs in Africa, with over 16 000 specimens.

Ten minutes from the city you'll find Chapungu Kraal, in pastoral surroundings, where there is a magnificent collection of soapstone and verdite sculpture (verdiie being the emerald green stone unique to this part of Africa) and an authentic 19th century Shona viilage complete with n'anga (witchdoctor).

Epworth's Balancing Rocks, 11,2 km from Harare, are primeval architecture at its most weird and spectacular; and for a different mood, take the Golden Stairs Road to the Mazowe Valley, half an hour's drive away. Here the 21 853 ha citrus estates stretch across a green valley backed by hyacinth-coloured mountains. The valley is irrigated by the 445 ha Mazowe Dam which is a delight for yachtsmen and anglers--the secondlargest carp ever caught on rod and line was landed

Mazowe's bigger sister, Lake Chivero, lies to the west of the city. Watersports of all kinds are available on the resort-filled north Shore, but the south shore is 2 023,4 ha of fascinating wilderness, where zebra, giraffe, sable, white rhino, tsessebe and eland roam. Bird life is so prolific that, in one day, ornithologists recorded 200 species. In the granite hills you can find many Bushmen paintings. Lodges and chalets on the lake shore are available.

Near the lake, Viv Bristow's Lion Park is a special pleasure. Half is given over to natural bushveld, where many lions lounge on rocks, sprawl in the shade of huge indigenous trees, or wrestle with their cubs in the sunlight. In the fenced section, the ani, mals range from leopard to otter. A few minutes' drive away, Larvon Bird Gardens with their breathtaking array of indigenous and exotic birds, and the Snake Park, are added attractions.

Drive out of Harare to Kadoma which began in 1906 as a forwarding agency to serve the needs of gold mines in the vicinity. Now it is the centre of Zimbabwe's textile industry. Kadoma is in the midst of a prolific agricultural region--cotton, beef cattle and maize are its most renowned products, but tobacco and dairy do well here too.

Kwekwe

Kwekwe gained its name from the croaking of frogs in the nearby river. In fact, four rivers meet here--the Umniati, Sebakwe, Kwekwe and Gweru--and irrigate a cornucopia of farmlands famed for their maize and winter wheat. The sandveld region east of the town is ideal for cattle. Few ranches are under 8 000 ha. Kwekwe was originally a gold mining camp and is today characterised by the large mines in its vicinity producing gold, chrome and iron. ZISCO, with its satellite town of Redcliff, is the centre of Zimbabwe's steel industry.

There are two attractive dams in this region: Sebakwe and Ngezi, Sebakwe, set in a 8 093 ha national park, has a spectacular cliff setting, and abundant bird life. Sable, kudu, wildebeest and zebra come down to the water's edge to drink at sunset. There is sailing and boating, and bream, bottlenose and vundu for the angler. Ngezi, a 360 ha dam in a 580 ha national park, has beguiling coves and inlets, and a backdrop of the grape-shadowed Mashava Hills to the west. Yellowfish and barbel are to be found in its waters, and there is also much game to be seen. Cottages and camping sites are available at both dams.

Gweru

Gweru, capital of the Midlands Province, gained a reputation as the thirstiest town in the country. Established in 1894 when gold fever had struck, within six months it boasted six hotels. Few of the prospectors ever made their fortunes, but now there are some sizeable gold mines in the area, as well as those producing chrome, asbestos, iron, coal, limestone and tungsten. Gweru was also famous for its post pole--passing carriages and wagons would halt to check here for mail. In 1902 the railway arrived and boosted growth. Today there are factories producing an enormous variety of goods; and grain milling and dairy products reflect the rich farmland surrounding the city. Close by lies Gwenoro Dam, excellent for sailing, boating, water skiing and bream fishing.

Matebeland

Matebeland has a long turbulent history. 150 000 years ago, Stone Age man roamed its wooded valleys and great rocky outcrops. As Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, a sophisticated black race was building intricate stone structures on the banks of the Kame River, and establishing a cattle and grain crop industry.

Then in the early 19th century, Mzilikazi, a Zulu chief in South Africa, quarrelled with the mighty chief Chaka and, with his supporters, fled north. His final settling place was a plain beneath a hill which he pointed out as a landmark to his indunas (military chiefs), which has since been known as Ntabazinduna, and he was proclaimed King.

Mzilikazi died in 1868 and, after some years of internecine strife, his son Lobengula succeeded him. Bitterly, Lobengula said: "1 have been 'killed' by my people. I will call my kraal Gubuluwayo (meaning he who has been hunted down and killed)." Here he ruled until his impis (regiments) were defeated by Rhodes' invading forces in 1893. From the smoking ruins of the royal kraal, the new Bulawayo was to rise.

Rhodes insisted that the streets of the new town were to be laid out in the grid pattern of an imperial Roman settlement, and that each should be wide enough to allow a wagon and a full span of 16 oxen to make a complete turn. The result is a city of light and space, with a welcoming ambiance.

The arrival of the railway in 1897 laid the foundation for Bulawayo's fortunes, and since then it has been the headquarters of the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Bulawayo is also the hub of Matabeleland's vast ranching industry, but it has a large industrial complex. The region contains many mines too--with abundant deposits of asbestos, chrome, copper, gold, mica, nickel, tin and semi-precious stones, including the famed grassgreen Sandawana emeralds.

The city has many attractions for the visitor: the Railway Museum, with its antique rolling stock; the Colosseum-style Natural History Museum which houses a 75 000-specimen mammal collection; the surrounding Centenary and Central Parks including an aviary, a miniature steam railway and a multi-hued fountain; the Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre, as well as modern shops, cinemas and nightclubs.

Bulawayo

Bulawayo is ringed by a blue necklace of dams: Hillside, only six kilometres south, has a nature reserve, an aviary and a picnic site; a little further are Ncema, Umzingwane and Kame. For those who like to see wildlife at closer quarters, the Chipangali Wild Life Orphanage has an enchanting collection of orphaned and once-injured animals and birds.

Thirty kilometres outside Bulawayo lies the most spectacular treat of all: the Matobo National Park. In prosaic terms, it comprises 2 000 sq km of granite outcrops, estimated to be 3 000 million years old, 70 sq km of which make up the national park. Mzilikazi named it, referring to the great round rocks as matobo or "the bald-headed ones". Here Nature has created an unparalleled sculptural display, ranging from a cosy giants' tea party tumble of brown buns to an Easter Island monolith rubbing shoulders with what must surely be the head of a dinosaur--but a little further on, the sun illuminates a bronze Camelot look-alike of crenellations, ramparts and turrets. Within the national park, white rhino, giraffe, eland, zebra and sable are to be found. Tranquil Maleme Dam, where there are cottages and camping sites, is a favourite haunt for water birds.

The ancients sought to embellish this natural gallery in their own exquisite way. Many caves contain Bushmen paintings--feast your eyes on the giraffe, elephant and kudu depicted in Nswatugi cave; the tsessebe, elephant, steenbok, mongoose, giraffe, warthog and human hunters of Bambata cave; Silozwane's frieze, and Gulubahwe's 4,5 metre long undulating snake, carrying on its back humans, baboons and buck.

"Nothing has changed since the time of the gods, neither the running of water nor the ways of love", says a Japanese poem. Move from the Bushmen murals to a national park pool where a pair of giraffe shyly nuzzle each other and you perceive the truth of the words.

Bulawayo is the best starting point for a move to the region many feel is the most dramatic in ZimbabweHwange and Victoria Falls. The road leads through Matabeleland at its most unspoilt--a harsh, rugged bush landscape, characterised by a tangle of thorn scrub here, a sudden forest of great indigenous trees there, interspersed with the limitless grassy plains.

At the turn of the century, the Hwange region was known as "the white man's grave"--a place of blazing heat, whose denizens were ferocious lion, all too ready to attack invaders. One man had the yoke on his oxen bitten in two when a lion leapt at the team.

Hwange

In 1893, a German prospector, Albert Giese~ heard reports from local villagers of "stones that burnt" which they used as fuel for their fires. He decided to investigate and journeyed north as far as Victoria Falls--but when he learnt that Matabele warriors were on the march, he beat a hasty retreat. A year later, he tried again, and this time found deposits of coal. He pegged the first coal-mining location in the country on an outcrop of shale 9,15 metres thick, exposed in the bed of the Kamandana River. In 1895, a concession of 1 036 sq km was pegged and obtained by the Mashonaland Agency. Production of coal began in 1903 and today the collieries are amongst the world's richest. Hwange is more than coal, however. The town stands sentinel to Zimbabwe's most spectacular national park. Here some of the largest and most varied concentrations of wild animals to be seen in Africa roam freely.