Bulawayo
Travel Guide Africa Zimbabwe Bulawayo
Introduction
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 kilometres southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland. The capital of Matabeleland North is now Lupane, as Bulawayo is a stand-alone province.
Events and Festivals
Bulawayo Music Festival
Presented by the Zimbabwe Academy of Music, the Bulawayo Music Festival is held every two years from May 23-27. Playing host to a wide range of genres including classical, pop, jazz, and gospel, the festival is one of best musical showcases in the country. There are a variety of concerts by both international and Zimbabwean acts, but also informative workshops for festival-goers to attend.
Weather
Bulawayo is located at higher altitude. Here, summers are close to 30 degrees Celcius during the day, around 15 or 16 degrees at night. Winters (June - September) are above 20 degrees during the day, dropping to a rather chilly 7 degrees at night. Most rain falls between December and February, close to 200 mm a month in some places. June to September is almost completely dry.
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avg Max | 27.7 °C | 27.2 °C | 27.1 °C | 25.9 °C | 24.1 °C | 21.6 °C | 21.5 °C | 24.4 °C | 27.9 °C | 29.4 °C | 28.7 °C | 27.7 °C |
Avg Min | 16.5 °C | 16.2 °C | 15.3 °C | 13 °C | 9.9 °C | 7.4 °C | 7.2 °C | 9.1 °C | 12.4 °C | 15 °C | 16 °C | 16.3 °C |
Rainfall | 117.8 mm | 104.6 mm | 51.4 mm | 33.3 mm | 7 mm | 2.2 mm | 1 mm | 1.4 mm | 7 mm | 38.4 mm | 91.1 mm | 120.3 mm |
Rain Days | 10 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
Getting There
By Train
Since 2006, there is a thrice a week train between Francistown in Botswana and Bulawayo. The train leaves Francistown on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays around 9am and arrives approximately 6 hours later in Bulawayo. In the other direction, the train leaves Bulawayo at 9.30am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, taking 5 and a half hours.
Sleep
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External Links
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This is version 9. Last edited at 3:25 on Aug 2, 17 by sleepBot. 14 articles link to this page.
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