In its rolling, airy suburbs, Harare shows a penchant for all things American. Over-sized 4x4 cars; cavernous Pentecostal churches promising redemption in return for a slice of income; teenagers in baggy jeans discussing MTV and web-sites at the palm-shaded Westgate mall.

Yet Mbare market is deeply and chaotically African, a cacophony of horns, engines and shouting, mingled with dense fumes. Among hundreds of identical buses, travellers wait patiently and traders peddle bowls of fruit and buns, trays of cigarettes, sweets and lighters, desperately urging a purchase.

And Harare retains time-warped England too: greying couples drive chrome-laden seventies Mercedes'; businesses that close quaintly but inconveniently at lunch time; and the male-dominated Harare Sports Club bar that saw reason to install a ladies' toilet only this year.

Afternoon tea, maize-meal sadza, or fast-food? You can separate Harare into English, African, or American components, but in reality the three are uniquely intermingled here.

The pioneers planned their urban project carefully, but it soon began its own evolution and has a frank, open quality, having grown from scratch so recently.

Few of the world's views can have changed as much in 100 years as that from the Kopje (Afrikaans for "hill"). In the 1890s, the wooded mound overlooked scattered thatched premises on a boundless, undulating plain of shoulder-high grass. Nowadays, the web of streets below writhes with colour before giving way to the muted tones of a tall, glossy Central Business District. Beyond, dark treetops melt into the afternoon's haze, a leafy canopy above Harare's suburbia.

As the only elevated point around, the Kopje was picked in 1890 by Rhodes' Pioneer Column as a defensible site for their new capital, named Salisbury after the British Prime Minister. The town had two nuclei: Causeway-higher ground selected by British South Africa Company officials, who had a charter to govern Rhodesia-and the commercial Kopje area. Rivalry between the two flourished, each establishing a grid of streets, slightly askew from one another and remaining distinct in character.

With the arrival of the railway in 1899, and the construction of luxurious Company houses, Causeway usurped Kopje's commercial role. Its wide avenues form Harare's self-important but relaxed centre-its official face, with the financial area and Parliament. In contrast, Kopje's complexion is ruddy and rather neglected. Low-rise streets shimmer with the concentrated vibrancy of the Africans and Indians who populate its workshops and stores.

Both areas are small enough to discover on foot-Harare lacks the scale of Johannesburg and the violence of Nairobi. It also lacks a viable public transport system: those who can't afford cars rely on privately-run "commuter omnibuses", mini-buses that scuttle like beetles through the city ferrying smartly-dressed office workers, overalled labourers or uniformed schoolchildren. Without these cheeky vehicles, Harare would grind to a halt, yet (along with the fast-breeding potholes) they provoke rage in other drivers.

In African Unity Square, where the flag was first raised and Fort Salisbury erected, mauve jacarandas flank paths that mirror the Union Jack. The Anglican Cathedral marks the site of the first mud church, erected in 1890. Its interior defies expectation, (baby pink panels, turquoise ceiling), but its cloistered gardens offer tranquillity and contain plaques commemorating the pioneers, many of whom enjoyed remarkably long lives. Vendors offering flowers and gleaming Shona sculpture call to passing tourists, but ignore farmers in knee-socks visiting town to see their accountants, or women in floral dresses whose purposeful airs betray them as locals.

Opposite rises Meikles Hotel, where 1920s tobacco barons hired permanent suites for their trips to the capital. Gold lured pioneers to Salisbury, but tobacco built it, though current economics dictate that Meikles' farming patrons are being replaced by wealthy, khaki-clad tourists with leopard-print hatbands, here to purge jet-lag and shop for curios before heading off on safari.

But Harare definitely warrants deeper exploration. Built from nothing with idealism, romance, avarice and much courage, its youth makes its past readily accessible. Kopje was home to the Pioneer Column's artisans and entrepreneurs, and in its infancy could have inspired Hollywood's finest pistol-packing western. Prospectors and drifters seeking the new Rand visited to drink with characters like the five-foot Irish giant, "Countess Billy", who smuggled herself in disguised as a boy despite Rhodes' ban on women, and Diamond Lil, whose gem-studded smile cheered lonely gold-diggers.

Today, Kopje's European presence seems eliminated until suddenly a settler building appears, complete with wrought-iron pillars or Dutch gables. Kopje is now a hybrid: the old market square is a bus-station, its mayhem silently observed by Salisbury's first town hall, built in 1894.

Kopje and Causeway are linked by Robert Mugabe Street, originally a footpath, now more like an extension of the Beira Corridor. It still boasts Harare's finest settler stores and offices, half-hidden by deeply-shaded canopies bustling with Westernised African office-workers.

It's easy to imagine the dusty street of ninety years ago, scattered with White settlers swishing long skirts, or raising their bowler hats outside Standard Bank's neo-classical stone façade.

In 1956, when Salisbury celebrated 21 years of City status, one inhabitant proclaimed his nostalgia for the "spacious thirties" when "the pace of life was more leisurely and less complicated"! But to western eyes, Harare still maintains such a pace, where time is more abundant and arrangements more elastic than at home.

Harare even makes visitors reel with nostalgia for times they never knew. Blossom-filled avenues recall the optimism with which Salisbury was founded. In Mbare township, where hundreds of impoverished Zimbabweans struggle to earn a living, nostalgia lingers for the idealism that fuelled the Independence Struggle. The promised prosperity hasn't materialised.

Economic and social pressures caused by a massive influx of rural poor escaping the 1970s civil war rocked Harare's confidence. The war checked a drive for modernity, where many original buildings were replaced by soulless block architecture. Twenty years after Independence was achieved in 1980, Harare still hasn't regained the self-pride of mid-century, when the New Commonwealth Journal declared: "one understands why all Rhodesians are intensely proud of Salisbury and that for which it stands."

But a compromise between old and new, Western and African, is gradually emerging. Cecil House, a pygmy built in 1901 with sweeping Dutch gables and Palladian windows, has been restored. Opposite, a glossy skyscraper nears completion. The clashing forces of urban renewal and conservation are being reconciled.

Harare is closing the gap between itself and other world cities, partly thanks to globalisation, the Internet and satellite television, but also because it acknowledges a need to preserve the past. There are theme pubs imported from Johannesburg, but several restaurants serve international cuisine from verandahed settler houses that could only be Zimbabwean. Tourists ogle a formidable display of soapstone sculptures at Chapungu, a traditional Shona village. Harare is still Zimbabwe's hub, with shops and services not found elsewhere and an anonymity gradually eroding the "everyone knows everything" status of earlier days. Yet the bush is still easily reached from town.

Opposite the railway station, a sprawling settler corner store, displaying its 1926 completion date, houses an Internet café. This easy embrace of past and future suggests it's now, rather than in 1956, that this city has come of age. The store was aptly christened: its plasterwork reads "the Good Hope Building".

Harare and its environs factfile

Accommodation
Great variety. At the top of the range is the Meikles, the Sheraton Harare Hotel & Towers, Crowne Plaza and several small, very good quality establishments in the suburbs, such as Imba Matombo, Barker's Lodge and Wild Geese Lodge.

There are numerous city hotels of good value, including the Bronte, Cresta Jameson, Cresta Lodge and Holiday Inn. A host of guest cottages have sprung up in recent years. There is also a pretty good camp site and caravan park about 5km from the city centre.

Life in the City
Shopping. Compared to the rest of Africa, Zimbabwe boasts a very good range of shopping facilities. In Westgate, Eastgate and Sam Levy's Village, Harare has three clean and comprehensive malls. For curios, there are numerous suburban roadside markets. The market at Mbare is also well worth a visit, but go in a group.

Restaurants
An excellent range is available, offering most specialities. Many South African pub and restaurant chains have been established in Harare, particularly in suburban shopping centres. For foreign visitors, food is extremely cheap. Ask your hotel for recommendations.
Golf. There are numerous good quality courses in Harare, the pick of which are Royal Harare, Chapman, Borrowdale Brook and Warren Hills. Cheap green fees and caddies.

City Attractions
City Parks. There are two main parks in the city centre. Harare Gardens, located behind the National Gallery and in front of the Crowne Plaza, has an open-air theatre, restaurant and teahouse. Africa Unity Square is more central, near the Meikles Hotel, and is home to the Harare Publicity Association and a street market offering fresh flowers and curios.

Kopje. One of the few places to get a decent elevated view of the city skyline.

Tobacco Auctions. Harare boasts what is reputedly the world's largest tobacco auction floor. The auctions are a fascinating spectacle. Visitors are permitted to follow the sales in progress, but you will need to stay a few rows clear of the buying line and be prepared to walk quickly! Guided tours are also available. Auctions operate between April and October.

National Botanical Gardens. An excellent place to relax for a few hours. The 58-hectare gardens may not be as spectacular as others in Africa (Cape Town's Kirstenbosch, for example, is hard to beat), but they are well-maintained and boast a wide range of habitats, from Africa and elsewhere. Walk among the trees, picnic on the lawns or take tea and scones at the tea room. Admission is free and the gardens are open from 6am to 6pm daily. National Archives. If you want a glimpse of the country's history, look no further. Well laid-out and maintained.

Queen Victoria Museum. A history of life and nature in Zimbabwe. Not particularly inspiring but will hold your interest for a couple of hours.

National Gallery. Founded in 1957, the gallery remains well-run and active, with regular temporary exhibitions. It boasts a good display of African art and material culture.

Chapungu Sculpture Park. If you are interested in Shona sculpture, you'll want to make the 8km journey into Msasa to visit these sculpture gardens. A fine selection of original work is displayed, and short guided tours are offered. Heroes Acre. This Korean-designed monument and memorial garden to cadres of the Liberation Armies sits imposingly atop a hill overlooking Harare. It is a must for anyone prepared to spend about three hours gaining a better understanding of the socio-historical and socialist context of the nation.

Mukuvisi Woodlands. On the fringe of the central business district, this 265 hectare msasa woodland reserve is popular for picnics (there is a tea garden), walking and bird-watching. 109 hectares has been set aside as a game park, where many plains' game can be seen. There is a platform overlooking a waterhole, and guided two-hour foot safaris are also offered at specific times at the weekend.

Day Trips
Lake Chivero National Park. Excellent small reserve on fringes of Harare's main supply dam. Most plains game and good rhino sightings. Bird Gardens. Situated on the banks of Lake Chivero. A wide array of birds, set in manicured gardens where teas and lunches are served. Harare Safari Lodge. Now offers elephant rides and various other activities on the banks of Lake Chivero.

Ewanrigg Botanic Gardens. About 40km east of Harare, this scenic garden is a great picnic venue. Game Sanctuaries. There are several places within 30 minutes' drive from the city centre where you can see animals at close quarters in fenced enclosures. All have tea gardens, making for a great afternoon out. Includes Bally Vaughan (which also has a dam and swimming pool) and the Lion and Cheetah Park (adjacent to the Snake Park). Domboshawa. Impressive granite monolith 25km north of the city. Some balancing rocks and rock art. Picnic sites are available.

Stephanie Debere is a English freelance journalist currently residing in Harare.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Ten: Winter 1999/2000 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)