This is perhaps my most favourite spot in the whole world. About 30kms outside Harare, Zimbabwe, an enormous granite rock (“dombo” in Shona means rock) seems to grow out of the ground.

When you climb up to the top to catch Dombo’s breathtaking sunsets, you feel like you’re at the top of the world and can see to infinity. It’s a spiritual spot, culturally and historically. And it’s a special one for me. In 2003, I was persuaded to take a 4:00 am hike with my uber-talented Zimbabwean filmmaker-cum-designer-cum-photographer-cum-educator friend, Saki Mafundikwa, when he went to shoot the sunrise.

I wandered off on my own and felt the majesty of the rising sun glowering through the morning haze. This was something of a turning point for me, and I’ve always felt like the spirit of Domboshawa has pulled me to Zim. A couple of years after that experience, I made my first permanent move to Zimbabwe, and one of the first places I visited was Domboshava.

Many years later, Fungai and I went up Dombo, also for a sunrise viewing, a day or two after we’d patched things up following a brief split. He had revealed to me that he had been invited to see the magical Dombo sunrise by a friend a few years before and had fallen in love with the place. He had then taken some Norwegian friends up there at the crack of dawn a few years later and they too had loved it.

That morning, it was just as awesome, and to stay warm in the morning chill, we did some energetic cardio, followed by shadow-dancing (once the sun was up, of course!). A few months later, we returned to Dombo yet again, at Fungai’s prompting, and as the sun was setting, he leapt up into the sky and proposed to me! Needless to say, I said “yes!”

What this place is great for:

• Sunrise viewing
• Sunset viewing
• Hiking
• Picnics
• Educational tours (A tour guide, available by booking, can take you on a tour of rock paintings  in the area)
  Wedding proposals 😉

Directions: