View of gardens at Leopard Rock Hotel, Vumba, Rhodesia.

Happy days in paradise! “Nowhere more beautiful in Africa” – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother of Britain, when describing her visit to Leopard Rock in the Vumba Mountains of Rhodesia.

The Leopard Rock Hotel has as perfect a setting as one could wish for; nestling at the foot of the rock after which it was named.

Breakfast time at Leopard Rock Hotel, Vumba, Rhodesia.

Rhodes Grave and Shangani Memorial in the Matopos Hills south of Bulawayo.

The mysterious Conical Tower in its setting within the Temple Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe.

Montagu Avenue in Salisbury around October is Jacaranda time. So many avenues are lined with these trees that Salisbury became known as the Jacaranda City.

Alouette IIIs in the revetments at FAF8, Grand Reef, near Umtali, 1977

A particularly impressive Kopje in the Rhodes Motopos National Park.

Bridal Veil Falls, Melsetter, Rhodesia

Livingstone House from Salisbury Gardens.

The Kyle Dam on the Mtilikwe River which helps to irrigate the Lowveld.

A Rhodesian dam spilling is always a wonderful sight. The Mazoe Dam after good rains.

Rainbow over Mazoe Citrus Estate

Bougainvillea and Jacaranda at Mazoe

Lunch on a shady veranda at the Birchenough Bridge Hotel.

Baobab on the Fort Victoria – Beitbridge road, 1974

The road north towards Fort Victoria 1974

Salisbury from the air

“This is the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation” RBC / RTV Studios, Salisbury

Leopard Rock, also known as Chinakwaremba, dominates the late afternoon skyline. Coffee bushes are growing in the foreground.

View from Eggardon Hill, Vumba, Rhodesia

Garden at Eggardon Hill Farm, Vumba

Grain silos at Concession in the heart of a prosperous farming area North of Salisbury.

Umtali from Christmas Pass, 1976

The view from atop Livingstone House looking north over Salisbury Gardens before the rains

Crossing the Umvumvumvu River, looking north towards Umtali

The Kyle Dam from Murray MacDougall Drive, Mtilikwe Tribal Trust Land

Zimbabwe Ruins from the Acropolis showing the Temple Enclosure (left) in the Valley of Ruins

Site author, Colin Weyer, at New Year’s Gift Tea Estate, Tanganda, Rhodesia.

The Finger Rock in a peaceful location near the Morgenster Mission, Victoria District.

Fountains in Cecil Square, Salisbury

Approaching Birchenough Bridge. The arch may just be seen in the centre glinting above the road. Note the young baobab tree on the right.

Mtarazi Falls (Rt) from Honde Valley, Rhodesia. The river drops 2,499 feet (762 metres) being the 2nd highest in Africa. (Mutaruru Falls to the left)

Bubye River Bridge, Rhodesia 1975. A fine example of 50 years progress taken from the Lion & Elephant Motel. The old low level bridge is covered with debris after heavy rains.

Deadly Hazard awaiting the unwary just round the bend on the narrow tar between Banket and Raffingora.

The Hazard – only room for one car at a time over the low level bridge! Probably the Mukwadzi as that’s the only river in the area marked as bridged. But it could be the Muneni or Ndondondo.

The fly chamber near Makuti on the road between Karoi and Chirundu – a precaution against the tsetse fly which is still endemic in the Zambezi Valley.

Salisbury, capital city of Rhodesia, from The Kopje – a much photographed view down the years

View from G Car out of FAF8 over Umtasa Mission, north of Umtali, October 1977.

On top of the world – well, Rhodesia anyway! Mount Inyangani, 8504 ft (2592m)

Looking into the temple enclosure at Zimbabwe Ruins.

A gateway to the Acropolis ruins at Great Zimbabwe.

The old strip road South of Fort Victoria, near the Zimbabwe Ruins; all weather roads at an economic price. This Rhodesian innovation, from the 1930s, led to the best road network in Africa at a time when even South Africa had only dirt and gravel roads.

The Jack Quinton Bridge, due East of Chiredzi, which spans the lower Sabi River; seen here during the dry season.

Rhodesian troopies in the operational area relaxing between contacts in 1977. Unprompted, and unwatched by the world’s media, this was but one example of many which I could have photographed whilst on call ups, showing ordinary Rhodesians playing sport together for fun.

Mount Inyangani at 8,504 ft (2592m) is the highest point in Rhodesia.

Kariba Dam, Zambezi River April 1975

Fishing at Mazoe Dam. The road to Bindura can be seen to the left.

Heading N.E. from Banket towards Mtoroshanga showing typical Mashonaland scenery.

Threatening rain: Makuti Motel at the top of the Zambezi Escarpment.

First Street, Salisbury, looking South. Christmas 1974

First World living becoming a reality for Rhodesia’s Third World population: typical African housing in Bulawayo

A favourite stop: the Fruit Kiosk at Mazoe, the dam wall is to the left of the photo. The citrus estate is behind you!

Where it all started in 1890. The Flagstaff, Cecil Square, Salisbury; looking West along Gordon Ave.

Centenary Park, Bulawayo

Rhodes statue on Main Street, Bulawayo

Maleme Dam, Rhodes Matopos National Park. The dams built all over Rhodesia have invariably improved on the beauty of nature.

Remembrance Island on Lake McIlwaine maintained by MOTH; the Memorable Order of Tin Hats.

A distant view of Cross Kopje, Umtali.

The author at Cross Kopje, Umtali. The cross was erected in 1924 in memory of the Africans of the Rhodesia Native Regiment who lost their lives in East Africa during the Great War.

First Street, Salisbury, at Christmas time 1978.

The Inyangombe Falls showing the upper falls which run directly into the lower falls

The Inyangombe Falls – lower part

Melsetter Village Green with the Pioneer Memorial in the centre.

A Flame Lily, Rhodesia’s national flower, photographed at Inyangombe Falls

Pioneer Day ceremony Cecil Square, Salisbury 1976

First Street, Salisbury looking North to Jameson Ave. Southampton House, on the corner of Union Ave, in the foreground followed by the Beverley Building Society and the Reserve Bank beyond.

Saint Mary & All Saints Cathedral, Salisbury.

Teviotdale Road looking North to Vainona in Salisbury.

A junction in Inyanga National Park.

Crossing Birchenough Bridge looking east.

Rhodesia v Natal, Gillette Cup semi-final, Police Ground, Salisbury, Jan 1977. Natal won and went on to win the final. But Rhodesia won the competition next year!

Rhinos grazing in the Matopos.

View from Rhodes Hotel, Inyanga

Looking North over Greenside, Umtali from atop Cross Kopje

Mazoe Oranges almost ready for harvest

The little village of Inyanga nestling peacefully at the foot of the Inyanga Mountains.

Sabi River from Birchenough Bridge looking South at the end of the rainy season. Imagine trying to cross this river before it was bridged!

Lowveld irrigation, Chiredzi, S.E. Rhodesia. A hot climb up the kopje even in the dry season! (Note numerous baobabs centre left.)

Umtali from above Christmas Pass

An avenue of Poinsettias leads to the Leopard Rock Hotel in the Vumba Mountains

The Chicamba Real Dam on the Revué River, Moçambique viewed through the clouds from Leopard Rock in the Vumba.

Swimming pool at Leopard Rock Hotel, Vumba Mountains, Rhodesia.

View from atop Leopard Rock.

On the Victoria Falls – Bulawayo road, heading North.

A distant view of Victoria Falls showing the spray rising above the bush.

The Devil’s Cataract at the western, or Rhodesian, end of the Victoria Falls

David Livingstone’s statue, erected in 1934, looks out across the Victoria Falls from the Rhodesian bank

The Victoria Falls are a mile wide and at this point the river is flowing almost due South. So this is the view from the western end which is on the southern bank of the Zambezi.

Victoria Falls, Rhodesia. The falls are over a mile wide (5,604ft or 1 708m) and the average height is 360ft or 108m, so this photo shows but a small section!

A part of the main falls at Victoria Falls. The cliff face on the right is dripping wet with spray. It is almost impossible to avoid getting soaked yet the experience is always pleasant in Rhodesia’s warm sun!

The Boiling Pot where the mile wide Zambezi River enters the narrow gorge immediately below the Victoria Falls.

In the rain forest opposite the Victoria Falls which is subject to an almost perpetual drenching from the spray.

The Zambezi River above the Victoria Falls. Imperial Airways flying boats on their way to Durban, in the days when it was necessary to stop over on the Nile and Lake Victoria, used to land here before the final leg of their journey.

Oil tankers from Zaire (now the Congo again) crossing the Victoria Falls bridge which Zambia had supposedly “closed”. Many African countries continued to trade with Rhodesia despite UN sanctions.

The Victoria Falls bridge across the Zambezi River which Cecil Rhodes had instructed should be built within sight of the Falls so that the trains would be bathed in the spray.

Melsetter Church Window.

Ready for a dawn take off. Sunrise over a C47 Dakota at FAF8, Grand Reef, Umtali, 1977

Pioneer House, Bulawayo as viewed from the shade of the City Hall gardens.

The Industrial Development Corporation of Rhodesia (IDC) on Park Lane, Salisbury, from whose offices its shrewd Chairman, Nick Cambitzis, played a key role in sanctions evasion.

Salisbury’s broadest avenue, Jameson Ave, from Livingstone House

Borrowdale Road, Salisbury, on a lazy Sunday afternoon looking North near the National Archives.

Salisbury Airport, Rhodesia

Chimanimani Mountains The road to the Outward Bound Camp in the dry season.

Chimanimani Mountains from the old Melsetter-Cashel road, 1974

Looking south along the old Cashel – Melsetter road.

The Lundi River high level bridge helping to enable year round travel down south.

Agama rock lizards basking in the sun at Rhodes Grave, Matopos Hills.

Mazoe Orange Trees 1976

The Salisbury – Bindura road through the Mazoe Valley. The scene shortly after entering the valley showing the turn off to Concession, Umvukwes and Centenary.

View over Mazoe Dam from the main Salisbury – Bindura road

Salisbury from the air 1979

A fountain playing in the National Botanical Gardens in the Vumba.