ZIMBABWE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

• Balancing Rocks
• Bird Garden
• Chapungu Sculpture Park
• Haka (pangolin) Game Park
• Lion and Cheater
• Manyame Recreational Parks
• Mukuwisi Woodlands

The following are Zimbabwe's famous national parks:

• Hwange National Park
• Chimanaimani National Park
• Mutarazi National Park
• Tengenenge Sculpture Community

The following places are historic attractions:

• Great Zimbabwe, near Masvingo
• Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River
• Cecil John Rhodes' Grave, Matobo National Park near Bulawayo
• Khami Ruins, near Bulawayo
• Nyanga Ruins in North of Mutare
• Chinhoyi Caves, North of Harare.

The following are Zimbabwe's famous rock paintings

• Crocodile Men and the Bridge rock paintings in Glen Norah
• Bushman's Point and Crocodile Rock at Lake Chivero National Park
• Makumbe Cave in the Mwanga Hills near Domboshawa
• Murewa Cave
• Matobo Hills, near Bulawayo
• Devil's Rock, Epworth in Harare
• Diana's Vow Cave in Rusape
• Chikupo Cave in Musembura.

One of the most interesting things about rock paintings is the almost infinite range of stylisation which opens them to all sorts of interpretations. In looking at the rock-painting subjects, the observer is drawn both to the question of why they were painted as well as to what message was being conveyed through their work. Until recently, little consideration was given to the meaning or motivation behind the paintings other than the assumption that they represented a form of 'art for art's sake'. After independence, however, research has demonstrated consistent ritual and spiritual components within the paintings which allow the observer to go beyond the literal interpretation.

Research has shown that a spiritual focus of the hunter-gatherer's culture was a ritual dance and, more importantly a trance state attained by many of the dancers. During a trance, the dancers are considered able to heal sickness, control game and weather and to communicate with their gods. Modern !Kung San have described the sensations of going into trance, during which a certain potency referred to as n'um which is released. People in trance may bleed from the nose; this blood is considered to be a potent fluid which can be rubbed on a sick person to promote healing. There is sometimes a feeling of elongation or added height, as the n'um is said to move up through the spine to the base of the neck and arms. Patterns of light and movement are frequently observed. Significantly, the sensations and visions which have been recorded in connection with the trance state can be directly related to much rock art, and this has opened the way for a coherent interpretation for many of the scenes and symbols depicted.

By applying concepts derived from the growing understanding of trance ritual and the cosmology of the hunter-gatherer groups, animals significant in activities such as the rites surrounding puberty, marriage and death may be identified. Antelope, particularly kudu appear to have been a preferred symbol of potency in Zimbabwe; bees (or more accurately, their honey) seem also to have played an important role. Paintings of elephants and mythical animals may be associated with rain, while baboons have been linked to legends where they taught women to dance and sing. Some of the most dramatic correlations between ritual and paintings are depictions of people actually in trance, with many of the apparent sensations such as elongated limbs and bodies portrayed graphically.

Although this field of research is still at a preliminary stage, it is clear that once a vocabulary of these attitudes and signs has been compiled, a comprehensive interpretation of even the most complex panels may be possible. Prior to this, however, there must be a systematic survey of the vast number of paintings still unrecorded. For example, recent work in the north-east suggests that it may well be as rich in paintings as the better-known Matobo Hills area.