Mutare

This green and pleasant valley beneath the Bvumba Mountains was to be the final destination for a town that kept moving. Old Umtali, the initial settlement on the banks of the Mutare River, was a rollicking, gold-mining community whose inhabitants used Main Street - the only bush-cleared space, as a sports ground.

After a border dispute with the Portuguese in colonial Mozambique in 1891, the town moved further down Penhalonga Valley. Then, Cecil Rhodes cropped up again as the imperialist who wanted to turn Africa red with the British flag. On this occassion it was by means of his railway, in the path of which lay Old Umtali. He buys up the town and rebuilds it on its present site. Flame trees, lilac jacarandas, aloes and cycads are cradled by mountains of granite.

Despite the picturesque setting, Mutare remains a frontier town. The border province of Manicaland was hard hit during the war of independence and these beguiling hills were strewn with landmines. Today, the Eastern Highlands offer some of the best hiking in the country but don't stray too far off the beaten track.

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