There are three dominant ruins that characterise the heritage of the Nambya people of Hwange district in Zimbabwe: Matowa, Shangano, Bumbusi — of which the last is the most famous.
Visitor at Bambusi admires the stonework.
The Bumbusi National Monument is a large site consisting of stone walls, boulders, platforms and the ruins of dwellings. Its main structures date from the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Excavations in 2000 revealed the floors of eighteen original dwellings. It is listed in the Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund because of the threats posed to the sandstone walls by wild animals from the surrounding nature reserve. It is also at risk from mining a few kilometers away. The site is located about 40 kms from Hwange.
The Shangano Ruins are located on top of a strategic hill. The walls of Shangano are built of a vast quantity of small sandstone rocks laid on top of each other to a height of of about four too five feet. Today much of the wall enclosure have mostly collapsed due to lack of protection from the weather and wild animals.
Nambya Community Museum
The Nambya Community Museum is situated in the town of Hwange and has temporary exhibits of domestic and agricultural items (video tour).
The building, a former sports pavilion, was donated by Hwange Colliery Company in 2006 and restoration and refurbishment started in 2007 with the roofing of the entire building. However, the project is still not completed due to financial constraints.
A new tourist concept under development is the Kune Ngoma Cultural Village.
Baskets at the Nambya Museum