Food and Dining in Zimbabwe
There are international restaurants in Harare (including Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Mexican, Italian and Portuguese) and a few in Bulawayo, but in the game parks and the rest of the nation, the food is fairly basic but good – beef, pork and vegetables prepared in the English manner, as well as tropical fruit. Take along a coat and tie or equivalent, because many restaurants require that you dress for dinner. Few of the better hotel restaurants will seat people wearing T-shirts, jeans, shorts or sandals.
Traditional meals often include sadza, a corn porridge accompanied by nyama (meat with a bit of gravy). We found it to be somewhat bland. Wild-game dishes such as warthog and various antelope are usually on the menus at the larger game lodges (we found kudu to taste remarkably like pot roast). Zimbabwe produces good beers and tolerable white wines (we don’t recommend the reds). Avoid the poor-quality local beer sold in blue plastic containers.
LOCAL FOOD AND WINE
Start with an inspiring range of snacks, from madora/ mancimbi (mopani worms), roast groundnuts and boiled mielie to biltong. Sample Zimbabwe’s staple traditional mielies sadza (thick porridge) and mungha sudza (millet). Why not try our popular soups of nhedzi (wild mushroom), muboora (pumpkin leaves) and game soup alongside a variety of other locally made soups. Enjoy wild game meat dishes varying from impala and warthog to ostrich steak, eland stroganoff and crocodile tail in cheese sauce. Spruce up your appetite by treating yourself to our local fish dishes, which include Nyanga trout, Kariba bream and Kapenta (fresh and dry small fish).
Related Travel Information
Morocco - Food and Dining Guide
Traditional Morocco food is nourishing though a little dull, with couscous [semolina] the national dish, served with stews of lamb, chicken and vegetables.
Main towns, like Fes, have lots of international restaurants at reasonable prices.
Alcohol is freely available to travellers.
Cameroon : General Travel information
Passport/Visa Requirements: Passports, visas, proof of onward passage and sufficient funds are required of Australian, Canadian, U.K. and U.S. citizens. Reconfirm travel document requirements with your carrier before departing.
Capital: Yaounde.
Languages: English, French, indigenous languages.
Predominant Religions: Animist, Christian, Islamic.
Time Zone: 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (+1 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is not observed.
Voltage Requirements: 220 volts.
Telephone Codes: 237, country code.
Weather and climate
Because of Cameroon's varied topography, no one time is perfect for visiting the whole country. We prefer December-March, because that period is generally the driest nationwide and most of the game parks are open
Zimbabwe: Chizaria National Park
This national park in western Zimbabwe is one of the country's most remote and least-developed reserves. The park sits astride the dramatic Zambezi Escarpment and is filled with steep cliffs and river gorges. The wildlife, particularly in the Busi Valley, is abundant. There are a few camps in the park, but the Chizaria Wilderness Lodge, just outside the park is the lodging of choice if you can afford it. Be aware that there are no facilities within the park, so you'll need to take along your own supplies. 200 mi/320 km west of Harare.
Zimbabwe Travel Destination: Kwe Kwe (Que Que)
A small town in central Zimbabwe, Kwe Kwe is best known for its nearby privately owned wildlife reserves and proximity to other sights (see also Gweru Midlands). Cabergeigh Estates, the best of the bunch, includes of a picturesque game lodge set amid 20,000 acres/8,100 hectares of mopane trees and water holes. Open-top all-terrain vehicles make it easy to spot large herds of elephants, wildebeests and impala, while sable, giraffes, eland, nyala, waterbucks, zebras and crocodiles are also common. Licensed hunting is possible in the park. 110 mi/180 km southwest of Harare.
Shopping in Zimbabwe
Shop for wood carvings (including giraffe carvings that can be up to 20 ft/6 m tall), copper wall plaques, jewelry, minerals, dolls, floppy woven hats, wooden spoons, beads, baskets, spears and other native weapons, safari clothing, thumb pianos (they're called mbiras), stone sculptures made of native verdite (very heavy, but impressive) and snuffboxes (made of everything from dried gourds to animal horns). Even though Zimbabwe has one of the few controlled ivory trades, keep in mind that you cannot import any ivory into many countries.
