Kwekwe

History

The town was founded in 1898 as a gold mining town, and hosts Zimbabwe's National Mining Museum. Like much of the Midlands, KweKwe owes its prosperity to the Great Dyke and its mineral wealth which stretches down to Gwanda, some 500 km southwest. The towns name originates from the large population of croaking frogs that populated the Kwekwe river in the early 1900s, hence its original name Que Que. The promise of wealth at the time attracted thousands of speculators from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. Though the amount of gold found was underwhelming, deposits of chrome, and the production of iron, steel, aluminum and glass, have kept the city growing since. KweKwe remains an industrial centre of the country. The name stems from the Zulu word "isikwekwe", which means "scurvy", "mange" or "scab". In recent years, the area has attempted to diversify its economic base to education, tourism, and services, attracting a growing campus of Midlands State University, though its tourism industry remains at infancy, compared to larger cities. Although Kwekwe has successfully diversified its economy and continues to grow, especially compared to de-industrialising Bulawayo, the city continues to face the same economic challenges facing the rest of the country.

Geography

The town is situated on Zimbabwe's Highveld at an altitude of , above sea level. It is located in the tropics but its high altitude modifies this to a warm temperate or humid subtropical climate. The average annual temperature is . As with much of the Highveld, summers are long and pleasant, as the temperature depends on the amount of cloudiness and indirectly the amount of rain received. Drought years are hotter than wetter years. The climate is hot and wet during the summer rainy season from mid November to mid March, with cool, dry weather from May to mid-August in the winter season, and warm dry weather from August to mid November. During summertime, the average temperature is around 25 °C (77 °F) at daytime, but it can get above 30 °C (86 °F) on the hottest days. Winters are characterised mainly by their cold nights, with an average minimum temperature of , and are the sunniest time of the year. During winter, cold fronts from the Indian Ocean to the southeast, bringing cool, drizzly weather, often peaking in August and early September. They can move very quickly, bringing cloudy weather one day, followed by mild sunshine the next. Kwekwe's weather is also influenced by the air masses from the north in summer, bringing hot and dry weather in October, followed by summer rain.

Most-observed species

• Fork-tailed Drongo

  Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) · Aves
  20
• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  15
• Common Bulbul

  Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines, 1789) · Aves
  15
• White-fronted Bee-eater

  Merops bullockoides A.Smith, 1834 · Aves
  14
• Natal Francolin

  Pternistis natalensis (A.Smith, 1833) · Aves
  12
• Black-collared Barbet

  Lybius torquatus (Dumont, 1805) · Aves
  12
• Southern Cordonbleu

  Uraeginthus angolensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12
• Red-eyed Dove

  Streptopelia semitorquata (Rüppell, 1837) · Aves
  12