During our Zimbabwe Botswana Game trail tour, day 3 takes us to a wonderful and magical place….the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. These ruins were once part of an ancient city which were inhabited by ancestors of the Shona tribe between the 11th and the 14th century. It housed over 18000 inhabitants. These ruins are a feat of ancient building practices with walls over 5 meters high and all constructed without mortar. The country’s name Zimbabwe in fact hails from these ruins and is a Shona word for “Large Stone House.”
It is absolutely breath-taking being surrounded by these great structures, just imagining what life was like “back in the day” for these people who inhabited this great empire. The empire was eventually abandoned due to disease and overpopulation. When we visit the Great Zimbabwe Ruins we camp the night very close to the ruins then the next morning do a 3 hour walk with a local Zimbabwe guide around the great structures. Here the guide will tell us the history and the meaning of all the structures we view, and give us in-depth information of how life was for the people who lived there. We also visit a museum which contains many artifacts excavated from around the area. This experience will definitely amaze anyone who visits this Zimbabwe Greatness.
(Images: Bruce Taylor)
