Category: Rhodesia

Leopard Rock Hotel

Leopard Rock Hotel

Vumba

Leopard Rock Hotel was built and opened by the Seymour-Smiths in 1946. The Seymour-Smiths were a well-known local family who decided after the Second World War that a need existed for a holiday hotel at the top of the Bvumba Mountains.

When opened, the hotel offered accommodation for up to 40 guests, reached by travelling up a gravel road which climbed hundreds of metres from Umtali and wound through the mountainsides. A simple but amusing nine-hole golf course was built on the hotel’s estate and the hotel promoted itself as a venue for people who enjoyed the invigorating climate and communing with nature.

As part of the 1953 Royal Tour, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret stayed at the hotel and were so taken with the hotel and its spectacular surroundings that she was inspired to pen these words for posterity; “There is nowhere more beautiful in Africa.”

Leopard Rock Hotel was then purchased by the Taberer family in the 1990s and a major expansion project was undertaken, which saw the construction of a new bedroom block –increasing the number of available rooms and suites to accommodate 120 guests. The hotel is now owned and operated by Cambria Africa plc previously Lonzim.’

In 2011 and 2012, the hotel was named Best Resort Hotel in Zimbabwe by the Association of Zimbabwean Travel Agents in their respected annual awards event. In 2013, CNN Travel named the Leopard Rock golf course one of Africa’s 10 best golf courses.

Postcards

References

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The Montclair Hotel

The Montclair Hotel

Inyanga

The Montclair Hotel was originally known as the Dannakay Hotel (built April, 1949).  The Dannakay was later renamed the Nyanga Mountain Hotel. In the early 1960’s the hotel was renamed Montclair Mountains Hotel. In 1970 Mr. and Mrs. Lound bought the hotel and called it Montclair Hotel. This duo did not operate for long before selling the establishment to Lonrho who changed the hotel to Montclair after Mr. Lound‘s faithful dog.

The hotel was originally run and owned by Mrs Ann Lount. However, in the early 1970’s the hotel fell under the management of Southern Sun Hotel Corporation (Pty) Ltd.

In 1977 a casino was opened at the hotel at a cost of $100,000. The casino was designed by Frank Lincoln, Salisbury and offered roulette, black jack, poker, chemin de fer and one-armed bandits. Fifty percent of the profits was directed to the Rhodesia National Tourist Board to help hotels in the region affected by the Bush War and included: Brondesbury Park, Holiday Inn, Rhodes Inyanga Hotel and Troutbeck Inn.

On 9 May 1978, The Montclair Hotel was attacked by the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). During the attack, the guerrillas fired at least three rocket‐propelled grenades at the hotel hitting the dining room, before opening fire with AK-47 assault rifles.

Two Rhodesian civilians, Betty Verran of Juliasdale and Mrs. D. Groenewald of Salisbury, were shot and killed and an American tourist, Minnie Bolan, was wounded from glass fragments. The guerrillas were chased away from the hotel by some of the staff who had armed themselves with guns, kept for protection from guerrillas.

During the years from 1980 to 1987 the rooms changed in number from 64 to 85 and it is during this time that the staff cottages were built, More so, Mr. Landay Ferreira and Mr. Benata bought the hotel and leased it to Grinaker, a company which had subsidiary units like Kariba Battery, Jaggers and other various construction companies who then brought in Holiday Inn to manage the hotel, and called the hotel The Holiday Inn Mountain Hotel.

In the year 1987, the Zimbabwe Sun Hotels took over the management of the hotel and called it Montclair Casino Hotel. The service provision from the casino was exceptional and this resulted in the hotel gaining an additional star to its rating from three to four stars.

In 1997, the Briolette Services (Pvt) Limited, a consortium of indigenous businessmen bought the hotel and called it the Montclair Hotel and Casino Private Limited and are running it to date.

Postcards

References

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Postcards: The Montclair Hotel – Type I

The Montclair Hotel

Type I

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Grey’s Inn

Grey’s Inn

Bulawayo

Grey’s Inn was located in Bulawayo, Rhodesia.

Postcards

References

Contributors
  • James Gavin

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Rhodes Inyanga Hotel

Rhodes Inyanga Hotel

Rusape

Rhodes Inyanga Hotel was originally built as a holiday cottage in the 1800’s by Cecil John Rhodes.  Rhodes’s bought the old Fotheringhame’s homestead on Fruitfield Farm in 1896.  “Mr Rhodes built himself a retreat; and this was always his solitude where he preferred to think out his great schemes.”

In 1918 the Estate at Nyanga was delegated to the Department of Agriculture. Later still it was decided that the orchards should be leased from the Estate by the Ministry of Agriculture and run as a Horticultural Experiment Station.  Other parts of the Estate are leased to the Forestry Commission and The Wattle Company, and farming operations were carried on until 1933.

In that year it was decided to develop the area as a tourist resort. Rest camps were erected at various beauty spots and roads were built so that tourists could visit the different sites on the Estates. The original homestead on the Estate was modernized to form the present Rhodes Nyanga Hotel in 1933, about three decades after his death.

 

It is currently known as the Rhodes Nyanga Hotel and continues to operate.

Postcards

References

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Southern Sun Hotel Corporation of Rhodesia (Pvt) Ltd

In 1969 South African Breweries Ltd formed the Southern Sun Hotel Corporation (Pty) Ltd. The subsidiary operated a number of hotels throughout Southern Africa including the South African Breweries’ Transito Hotels.

On 21 August 1971, Rhodesian Breweries Ltd announced a new wholly owned subsidiary, Southern Sun Hotel Corporation of Rhodesia (Pvt) Ltd, which had strong links to the South African parent company. The central booking office was based in Salisbury, Rhodesia.

In 1975 a mammoth joint venture under Meikles management was formed with the large Southern Sun hotel and casino group. This venture became Meikles Southern Sun Hotels.

Hotels

References

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Southern Sun Hotel Corporation (Pty) Ltd: Meikle’s Hotel

Southern Sun Hotel Corporation (Pty) Ltd

Meikle’s Hotel

 

Aerogrammes of British Central Africa

Aerogrammes of British Central Africa

This listing will deal with the special printed forms used in the three countries of British Central Africa as a means of providing an inexpensive air mail service using a custom designed air letter form. It is not confined to postal stationery (that is stationery produced bearing an imprinted valid postage stamp and sold by or on behalf of a postal authority) but will include air letter sheets and aerogrammes issued without an imprinted stamp, provided there is evidence of the use of that form of air letter sheet or aerogrammes in one or more of the countries.

As and when new information is received the relevant chapters will be updated and republished. Please note that this could involve the renumbering of the items within a chapter. Be sure to always use the latest update, which will be dated.

If you would like to contribute any information, please Contact Us.

Many thanks,
Adrian de Bourbon
November 2019

Chapters

Contributors

  • Hugh Amoore
  • Sean Burke
  • Geoff Brakspear
  • Tony Banks
  • James Gavin
  • Keith Harrop
  • Barry Horne
  • Narendrha Morar
  • Dave Trathen
  • Otto Peetoom
  • Allan Rendle
  • Stuart Ross
  • Mark Thomas

Henderson & Marsh Safaris

Henderson & Marsh Safaris

Salisbury

 

The Henderson brothers started a safari company in Botswana where sport hunting for profit was legal. In 1967 sport hunting on a gaming ranch permit became legal in Rhodesia. The Henderson’s decided to move their safari operations to Rhodesia.

Brian Marsh (1928-2014) began his safari tradition in 1968, at one time having a concession of 900,000 acres to hunt. Previously he shot crocodiles for a living, then moved on to game cropping, then the big five, gaining knowledge with every shot and every client. He associated with all of the major and minor hunters of that era, John Taylor, Charles Askins, Jack O’Connor, Alan and Ian Henderson, Eric Rundgren, Peter Capstick, Harry Manners, and lords, ladies, barons, the wealthy and priviledged, and working class sportsmen from around the world.

The Henderson’s and Marsh teamed up to become Henderson & Marsh Safaris – the largest safari company in the country.

References

Contributor
  • James Gavin

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Postcards: G.W. Wilson & Co., Ltd – John G Bain – Type IIIB

G.W. Wilson & Co., Ltd

John G Bain – Type IIIB

No.sDescriptionEarliest PMK Date
N/AThe First Zig-Zag, Zambesi River, below Victoria Falls.
N/AVictoria Falls, Zambesi River.06/09/1907

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