• Formerly Salisbury, Harare, the capital, is Zimbabwe’s commercial and industrial centre and also the usual starting point for any visit. It is a clean and sophisticated city, characterised by flowering trees, colourful parks and contemporary architecture. Local sightseeing includes the modern museum and art gallery, the Robert McIlwaine Recreational Park, which has a lake and game reserve, the Lion & Cheetah Park, the Larvon Bird Gardens and the landscaped gardens of aloes and cycads at Ewanrigg Botanical Gardens. Due to its pleasant climate, Harare is known as the ‘Sunshine City’.

• Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, is a major commercial, industrial and tourist centre. The city is rich in historical associations and is the home of the National Museum. Nearby are the ancient Khami ruins, while to the south is the Rhodes Matopos National Park, notable for its exotic formations of huge granite boulders. Dams with excellent fishing, caves with rock paintings, Cecil Rhodes’ grave and a well-stocked game park make this area popular with visitors.

• A holiday in Zimbabwe would be incomplete without a visit to the Great Zimbabwe National Monument, the largest complex of ruins in Africa south of the pyramids in Egypt. The Main Enclosure, or Temple, has walls over 9m (30ft) tall, 4m (14ft) thick and over 228m (250 yards) in circumference, giving approximately 485,521 cubic metres (635,000 cubic ft) of hand-trimmed mortarless stonework. The remains are what is left of a city-state that flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries, trading in gold. Lake Kyle National Park is not far away; there is a well-organised campsite close to the lake.

• Do not miss the Victoria Falls. 120km (75 miles) from the Hwange National Park are the largest waterfalls in the world – at 2.5km (1.5 miles) wide, 550 million litres of water plunge 100m (330ft) into a narrow chasm every minute; the spray can be seen 30km (20 miles) away. To gain an overall impression of the falls, the ‘Flight of the Angels’ light plane trip is a must, as is a cruise up the mighty Zambezi River. It is possible to walk across to Zambia (with the minimum of formalities) to view from the other side.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.