Marondera

History

It was first known as Marandella's Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people who lived in the area. British colonialists as they were colonizing Zimbabwe, first used it as a rest stop on the way to Harare. Later destroyed in the Shona resistance of 1896, the town was moved 4 miles (6 km) north to the Beira–Bulawayo railway line. Constituted a village in 1913, it became a town in 1943. During the South African (Boer) War, it was used by the British as a staging point for military operations into the Transvaal. During World War II, over 600 Polish refugees, mostly women and children, escaping from Soviet-occupied Poland, were admitted in Marondera. In 1946, the refugee camp was closed, and the Poles were relocated to Gatooma, from where they were eventually repatriated to Europe.

Most-observed species

• Black-backed Puffback

  Dryoscopus cubla (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  276
• Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

  Pogoniulus chrysoconus (Temminck, 1832) · Aves
  256
• Common Bulbul

  Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines, 1789) · Aves
  256
• Chinspot Batis

  Batis molitor (Kuster, 1836) · Aves
  253
• Miombo Sunbird

  Cinnyris manoensis Reichenow, 1907 · Aves
  241
• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  227
• Kurrichane Thrush

  Turdus libonyana (A.Smith, 1836) · Aves
  217
• Bar-throated Apalis

  Apalis thoracica (Shaw, 1811) · Aves
  199