Zimbabwean capital, Harare is known for its natural beauty and outstanding cityscape. Indeed, the city boasts nature’s most selective landscapes aided by tourist friendly climate which maintains all year round making it a great tourist attraction in the African continent. In addition to this, Harare is a complete cosmopolitan city with world class hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and a thriving nightlife. All together, these attributes bring more and more cheap flights to Harare each year.
There are many reasons for tourists to visit the city of Harare. It is there that one may find something for everyone. Harare’s museums entertain history enthusiasts while the art galleries equally well treat art aficionados. For shopaholics there are many up-scale shopping malls filled with elegant showrooms selling everything from clothing to daily-use items to electronics. These malls are often accompanied with coffee bars and lounges. There is also the Mbare Market where tourists find handicrafts, spices, millets, vegetables, electronics, clothing and a lot more. It is characteristically an African style vibrant market with shops and stalls spreading all around. Nightlife lovers can enjoy the very best of Harare in the many exquisite restaurants, bars, clubs and discos.
What remains the worth visiting sites of Harare are Marlborough Vlei and Monavale Vlei. The word Vlei is of Afrikaans and Dutch and typically refers to “short-term water bodies”. It is pronounced as “flay”. In Harare, a Vlei could be “temporary lakes” or even ponds that dry out when there is no rain. These temporary lakes could have freshwater or salty water.
Marlborough Vlei and Monavale Vlei are two excellent sites for bird watching. Routinely, beautiful and unique species of birds can be seen all over Harare since the city is filled with parks, gardens and trees which make it a perfect habitat for birds. Marlborough Vlei and Monavale Vlei are, however, two places that offer bird watching like no other place in the African continent. Obviously, this is the reason that demand for flights to Harare is increasing every day.
Marlborough Vlei is located some distance away from one of Harare’s best shopping malls, the Westgate Mall. This is a land that is seen totally waterlogged in rainy season. Thus it attracts innumerable species of birds in the same season and these include; black Coucal, Streaky Breasted Flufftail, Redchested Flufftail, Coen Cake, Striped Crake, Spotted Crake, African Crake, Cuckoo Finch, Great Reed Warbler and Dark Capped Yellow warbler. Locustfinch, Rosy throated Longclaw and the Pale crowned Cristicola and Yellow mantles widow bird are hard to spot but a few lucky tourists do manage to find them and capture them on their cameras.
Just like Marlborough Vlei, Monavale Vlei is also a bird watchers’ paradise. If one visits Harare during the rainy season, that is from December to March, a visit to Monavale Vlei should not be missed. In this area, tourists may spot yellow mantled widowbird, streaky breasted Flufftail, Red Chested Flufftail, cape Longclaw and the Yellow Throated long claw, Croaking Cisticola and the Zitting Cisticola and red Faced Cristicola.
Although Marlborough Vlei and Monavale Vlei invite birds during rainy seasons, the sanctuaries entertain visitors to Harare even during dry summer months when one could find Eurasian Hobby and Amur falcon there.
Luxury hotels are found all over the city in order to provide the tourists with ease and comfort and encourage them to visit and explore Harare.