Learn Zimbabwe before you go

10 phrases to learn

In Shona and Ndebele (isiNdebele). Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.

At the table

• Before a meal a bowl of water is brought round so that everyone can wash their hands, and it is brought again afterwards.
• Sadza is eaten with the right hand: roll a small ball, press a hollow into it with your thumb and use it to scoop up the relish.
• The host usually serves each person individually.
• Pass and receive plates and other things with both hands. Clapping twice, softly, is a polite way of saying thank you.
• It is polite not to talk with food in your mouth, and to accept food and drink when they are offered.

Local tips

Dishes to try

• Sadza (sadza (Shona), isitshwala (Ndebele)): The heart of almost every meal: a stiff porridge of finely ground white maize meal cooked with water until it holds its shape. It is served in smooth mounds with a relish of stew, greens or beans. People pinch off a piece with the right hand, roll it into a ball, press a hollow into it with the thumb and use it to scoop up the relish.
• Nyama (meat stew) (nyama): Nyama simply means 'meat' in Shona, and on the plate it usually means a stew of beef or chicken simmered with onion, tomato and a little curry powder or paprika until the sauce is thick. It is the favourite relish for sadza, especially on Sundays and at family gatherings.
• Muriwo une dovi (muriwo unedovi): Leafy greens cooked with onion, tomato and peanut butter, which melts into a creamy, nutty sauce. Spinach, rape, covo or pumpkin leaves are all used. It is one of the most common relishes for sadza, and a good way to make a meal of vegetables alone.
• Kapenta (matemba): Tiny freshwater sardines, sold sun-dried and salty. At home they are soaked, then fried with onion and tomato, sometimes with ground peanuts, and eaten with sadza. Most of Zimbabwe's kapenta is caught at night on Lake Kariba from boats that lure the fish with lights.
• Madora (mopane worms) (madora (Shona), amacimbi (Ndebele)): The large caterpillars of the mopane emperor moth, picked by hand from mopane trees, squeezed clean and dried in the sun. They are eaten crunchy as a snack or soaked and fried with onion, tomato and chilli and served with sadza. They are rich in protein.
• Maputi (roasted maize) (maputi): Dried maize kernels roasted in a heavy pan over the fire until golden and crunchy. They are often roasted together with peanuts, a mix called maputi anenzungu, and handed round while people sit and talk by the fire.
• Nhopi (pumpkin mash) (nhopi, inhopi): Pumpkin or butternut boiled until soft and mashed, sometimes with a little maize meal, and usually with a spoonful of peanut butter. It is naturally sweet and filling.
• Umxhanxa: A seasonal Ndebele dish, cooked in winter after the harvest. A yellow-fleshed melon, called ijodo, is peeled, seeded and boiled, then mixed with sun-dried maize kernels that have been boiled for hours until soft, and sweetened with a little sugar.

Cities to see

• Harare (capital): Jacaranda trees that turn the streets purple in spring, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe and its stone sculpture, Mbare, the district that was called Harari before 1982.
• Bulawayo: The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, The headquarters of National Railways of Zimbabwe and a railway museum, Wide streets laid out for ox wagons to turn.
• Mutare: The Bvumba mountains, southeast of the city, The road and railway to the port of Beira, Timber and paper industries.
• Gweru: Midlands State University, Beef cattle ranching, Antelope Park, a wildlife park near the city.
• Kwekwe: The National Mining Museum, Gold mining, Steel and ferrochrome works.
• Masvingo: Great Zimbabwe nearby, Lake Mutirikwi, which supplies the city's water, The Old Fort in the town centre.

Landmarks and the city map are on the Zimbabwe trip