Cultural and Historical Tour

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TRUSTED AND RECOGNISED

Our team has been the first Zimbabwe-based turnkey provider of cross-cultural exchanges through volunteering, and internship placements at matched organisations.

The cultural and historical study abroad tour takes groups to sites of historical, political and cultural importance in Zimbabwe and ultimately Africa. These have played a major role in the history, and politics of the country. Most importantly, these highlight the social context of life in Southern Africa. For groups that want to deepen & sharpen their intellectual and cultural understanding of Africa, Zimbabwe offers the best possible opportunity. Unique migration patterns, native customs, natural landscapes, and pristine wildlife make the experience surpass any other. If you’re looking for unforgettable faculty led programs in Africa, you’ve come to the right place!

There will be lectures at leading universities, cultural immersion homestays with local families, excursions, and field experiences that you cannot get in any other place. You will also get an opportunity to visit Zimbabwe’s tourist attractions, as they are all a part of the country’s history. The tour may be designed according to the learning objectives and customised as such. The length of stay may be from 14 to 21 days and students have the option to extend their stay beyond the group tour for a further 2-6 weeks. Below is an example of one of our cultural & historical faculty led programs in Zimbabwe!

Your Zimbabwe Travel Adventure - Day by Day

Day 1: Arrive in Zimbabwe

Day 2: Harare

  • In-country orientation
  • Zimbabwe: a country of many contrasts
  • Local area & City tour
  • Health and safety workshop
  • Culture shock seminar
  • Welcome dinner

 

Day 3-5: Honde Valley

  • Scramble for Africa: mechanics of annexation and occupation
  • Defining boundaries: battle between the British and Portuguese

 

Day 6-8: Great Zimbabwe

  • The rise and fall of early dynasties
  • The great conflagration of the Zulu expansion
  • Arrival of the early European explorers

 

Day 9-11: Bulawayo and Matobo National Parks

  • First Chimurenga: Ndebele and Shona rebellions
  • Land, and land rights
  • Rhodesia and Industrialisation

 

Day 12-14: Victoria Falls

  • The rise of black nationalism
  • White Rhodesian radicalism and native reserves

 

Day 15-17: Kariba

  • Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
  • Unilateral Declaration of Independence

 

Day 18-20: Mana Pools

  • Zimbabwe liberation struggle
  • Post-independence Zimbabwe

 

Day 21: Departure 

The above is a provisional 3-week itinerary, which Tiritose Sustainable Travel will customise to match your collective interests. We are flexible in how we put together educational tours, and we will work with you to come up with a custom itinerary. Please download the client needs analysis form, complete it, send it back to us, and one of our worker bees will respond with a draft itinerary for your review. Do not despair if you cannot find an ideal placement site, the list below is only meant to highlight the diversity of our programmes, and not an exhaustive list.

Tour Destination Description

Harare

The capital city, and commercial hub of Zimbabwe, dubbed to have the best sunshine in the world. You will arrive at Robert G. Mugabe International Airport, where our friendly staff will be waving a big “Tiritose Sustainable Travel” sign welcoming you to the adventure of a lifetime! We will take you on a comprehensive orientation programme, providing background information on Zimbabwe, which will help put the upcoming tour in perspective. You will be able to appreciate the many contrasts that exist in present day Zimbabwe, and the legacy of colonialism. 

 

Accommodation: Bronte Garden Hotel: shared rooms, with twin beds and ensuite bathrooms in downtown Harare.

Honde Valley

Located in eastern Zimbabwe, and the best place to watch the sunrise while the birds sing to you. It is flanked by hills and mountains, and the home of tea, coffee and fruit agricultural production. It belongs to the Eastern Highlands region, a section of the country that together is arguably the most beautiful in Zimbabwe. A fiercely contested area during the war of liberation, hence, has bred a politically conscious population. We will discuss the scramble for Africa by the early colonists, and juxtapose these with tours of the tea, coffee estates, and mountain walks.

 

Accommodation: Aberfoyle Lodge: shared rooms, with two single beds in each room.

Masvingo

The most important and enigmatic, historic monument in Zimbabwe. The site provides an opportunity to delve deep into the pre-colonial history of Zimbabwe, and early African civilisation. Great Zimbabwe is the largest stone structure south of the Sahara. It is so grand that early colonists and archaeologists were forced to revise their beliefs about the native inhabitants, whom they could not conceive as possessing such aptitude to construct a fine piece of architecture. 

The location of Great Zimbabwe presents a unique opportunity to see and live through the greatest and most accomplished in African pre-colonial history. While at Great Zimbabwe, there will be an opportunity to visit the nearby Kyle Recreational Park, where you will have an introduction to Zimbabwe’s wildlife, including the endangered Black & White Rhinoceros, visits to local bushman rock art as well as fishing and boating on Lake Mutirikwi. 

You can also look forward to our campfire discussions and reflections under the African stars!

 

Accommodation: Norma Jeane’s Lakeview Resort: shared rooms, with two single beds in each room

Bulawayo and Matobo National Park

Bulawayo is the second largest city, cultural and until recently also the industrial/manufacturing capital of Zimbabwe. It is the place where the first organised black resistance movement stemmed from. The city provides a unique contrast to Harare, with its mixture of low and high-rise buildings, fading colonial houses with wide verandas, all adding to the relaxed and attractive atmosphere. 

 

About 40 minutes, southwest of Bulawayo lies a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Matobo Hills. Here, you will find the expanse of granite hills and caves, hiding the rich legacy of parietal art left by San or Bushmen.

 

Accommodation: Holiday Inn: shared rooms, twin beds and ensuite bathrooms

Victoria Falls

A place that needs no introduction to the world, one of the 7 Natural Wonders on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. There is, however, more to this town than the largest falling curtain of water on offer at this central hub of African tourism. Archaeological findings from the area has yielded stone artefacts from more than 3 million years ago. The Tonga people have occupied the Victoria Falls area since the 12th Century and have largely remained inhabitants of the area. In addition to the rich history from David Livingstone in 1855, to the beginnings of infrastructure development and rail network, to present day tourism for sustainable development, and the impending forced removals of over 20,000 inhabitants to pave way for the Batoka Gorge Hydro Power Project. 

 

Accommodation: Dzimbabwe Lodge: shared twin rooms with ensuite bathrooms. 

Kariba

A resort town, built on the steep hills, 370 kilometres above the Lake. Home to the Legend of the Nyami Nyami ‘The River God’, which locals believe to have lived in the depths of the Lake and was separated from the female Nyami Nyami when the bridge was constructed in order to facilitate for the hydro-electric power plant that remains today. Approximately fifty thousand people were displaced on both the Zimbabwe and Zambia sides in order to make way for the construction of the project. Paradoxically, the construction of the power station is said to be the World Bank’s most successful project in the world. 

There are several islands and wildlife parks surrounding Kariba, including the Chewore Safari Area where Dinosaur footprints were found and are reserved to this day. 

 

Accommodation: Cerruti Lodge: shared rooms with communal bathrooms.

Mana Pools

One of the world’s widest and naturally preserved ecological areas, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance. Remote wilderness, without mass tourism, it is mostly untouched and undisturbed wilderness area. Deriving its name Mana from the number four ‘4’, in the Zimbabwean Shona language - taken from the four pools, remnant ox-bow lakes left by the Zambezi River over a thousand years ago as its course moved north. 

Accommodation: Chalets overlooking the pools, four people in each chalet

Highlights Of The Tour
  • Multi-destination faculty led programs - see the country while learning about its rich historical past and culture
  • Live the history through exploration of historical and cultural sites
  • Enjoy a different way to learn about heritage and African studies
  • Watch a screening of Operation Noah: an original Pathe News footage of the famous operation to rescue stranded wildlife as the rising waters of Kariba created islands in the Zambezi Valley
  • Earn academic credit while enjoying an adventure of a lifetime

programme highlights

Ready To Book Your Tour?

The cultural and historical study abroad tour takes groups to sites of historical, political and cultural importance in Zimbabwe and ultimately Africa. These have played a major role in the history, and politics of the country. Most importantly, these highlight the social context of life in Southern Africa. For groups that want to deepen & sharpen their intellectual and cultural understanding of Africa, Zimbabwe offers the best possible opportunity. Unique migration patterns, native customs, natural landscapes, and pristine wildlife make the experience surpass any other.

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TESTIMONIALS

What people say

Stuart Smith United States, Ohio State University

This has truly been a life changing experience, especially because it was my first trip outside of the United States. The program taught me to be more open to taking new experiences, exposed me to paediatrics at the children’s rehabilitation unit, which I did not think I would enjoy.

Necrisha in Zimbabwe for her Global Health Clinical Rotation Internship with Tiritose Sustainable Travel
Necrisha Roach United States, Ohio State University

Coming to Zimbabwe for my medical internship and working with Tiritose was an interesting experience and I really enjoyed the exposure to the healthcare system, the people and the excursions

Christopher Zheng United States, Ohio State University

I was pretty happy the whole time and the Tiritose staff were very supportive. What I enjoyed most about doing my internship in Zimbabwe is that it was a new continent for me, a whole new perspective on medicine, a better appreciation for the luxuries of US.

Sola Morakinyo United States, Ohio State University

What I enjoyed most about doing my medical clinical rotation internship in Zimbabwe was seeing the differences and similarities in how medicine is practiced here vs. the U.S. and differences and similarities in disease incidence.

Van Don Williams II United States, Ohio State University

The programme was also very organised. Other than waiting on our supervising physicians at the Children’s hospital on some of the days, it was a pretty good internship. Oh! And it was made better by watching Black Panther in Africa.

Global Health Medical Rotation in Africa - Zimbabwe
Jessica Hippolyte United States, Ohio State University

I really liked the balance between the fun staff and the clinical rotations at the various hospitals in the city and the rural placement just blew me away. I was exposed to medical conditions that I would otherwise not come across back home.

Martins Ayoola-Adeola United States, Ohio State University

I had a wonderful time in Zimbabwe. There are times I find myself fantasizing about going back. The administrative staff were great and really took the time to make the trip as personalized as possible.

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