NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

This large circular building, with two floors, houses the most important collections of southern Africa and perhaps even of the entire southern hemisphere; a set of superb dioramas, reproducing the flora of the different regions of the country and presenting a multitude of stuffed animals in situation: antelope jumping, wild animals devouring their prey, birds in flight, etc. According to the director of the place, the collection would count more than 75 000 animals. One room is entirely devoted to insects, while another displays all the birds of sub-Saharan Africa. In a hall, the second largest stuffed elephant in the world is enthroned: a mastodon reaching 3.53 m at the withers and sporting magnificent tusks weighing 40 kg each. But the men are not forgotten, with aHall of Chiefs covering the history of Zimbabwe, from the Zulu warrior Mzilikazi to the British Cecil Rhodes, via the powerful Lobengula. Other sections are devoted to prehistoric man or crafts. A gallery focuses on the geology of the country, its minerals and metals. It presents the reconstruction of a gold mine, as well as 1,000 different types of rocks. The bones of one of the world's best preserved dinosaurs ( Syntarsus rhodesiensis) are also on display. In 2018, the museum was enriched with new exhibits, including those on human evolution and fungi. This museum, one of the most important and richest on the continent, is definitely worth a visit.