The Matopos Hills near Bulaweyo have always had the reputation of being a little special, a little uncanny.
Even the normally understated Lonely Planet guidebook to Zimbabwe remarks: "You need not be in tune with any alternative wavelength to sense that the Matopos Hills are one of the world's power places. . . . Their latent and persuasive power cannot be denied."
Normally, this column consigns this sort of talk to the bin. But it seems the Lonely Planet author isn't alone in his opinions. Locals still believe that the Matopos Hills are the haunt of spirits. British Empire-builder Cecil Rhodes chose to be buried here on a peak called View of the World, revered by the local Ndebele tribe as home of the benevolent dead. Even Zimbabwe government ministers turned up here during the recent drought to pray at the Ndebele's sacred rain shrine, hoping to get the ghosts on their side.