Wayside Cottages invests in Chimanimani monuments

ONE of Chimanimani’s leading hospitality providers, Wayside Cottages Guest House, is working towards the establishment of a Chimanimani historical museum. The tourism player has already taken an initial step of preserving the history of liberation war heroes and Zimbabwe’s heritage by face lifting Chimanimani District Heroes Acre.

Wayside Cottages Guest House partnered with The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) in the latter’s bid to collaborate with private players for the preservation of national monuments and heritage sites around the country.

According to Wayside Cottages staffer, George Chibarinya, the company is already refurbishing of the District Heroes Acre and shall also see the establishment of the Chimanimani District Historical Museum.

“We have built a convention centre at our premises which we named Magamba Conference Centre in respect of our heroes. This facility can accommodate up to 400 people. It has a fully equipped kitchen for self catering. The centre is ideal for events such as company meetings, religious gatherings and prayers, weddings and music performances.

“Chimanimani District Heroes Acre has 70 graves of Liberation War Heroes and 60 of those who died during Tropical Cyclone Idai. We are face lifting the place so that it can become a tourist attraction.

“To date, we have refurbished its toilet, introduced tapped water and beautified the place by cutting bushes. We have face lifted the stage and audience sitting areas. We have also introduced fire guards around the District Heroes Acre,” he said.

Chibarinya further indicated that Wayside Cottages Guest House is working on more projects.

“Currently, the District Heroes Acre has no lighting. We are going to facilitate lighting of the area very soon. We are also planning on constructing a museum for historical artefacts just nearby the District Heroes Acre site,” he added.

Wayside Cottages Guest House which operates just adjacent to the Chimanimani District Heroes Acre gets its business from providing accommodation and events services.

In addition to Magamba Conference Centre, the guest house has cottages which can accommodate up to 14 people. Lion Cottage can host 6 people as Cheetah Cottage can accommodate 6 more and Zebra Cottage has rooms for 2 guests.

A chalet named Elephant Castle can also house 20 more people. Wayside Cottage is overlooking the 9-hole Golf Course at Chimanimani Country Club.