MBIRA is compiling a travel guide specifically for Shona music students travelling to Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, you are welcome to contact us for advice.

If you have been to Zimbabwe, please share your travel tips with us! Favorite mbira teachers. (Include addresses!) Favorite place to stay. Where NOT to go (the current high mugging-risk areas). Vegetarian eating tips. Water purifiers. Immunizations. Your favorite Zimbabwean electric band and venue. The super-discount travel agent in your home area. etc. etc. Email your tips to tips@mbira.org.

MBIRA may be able connect you with houses in Zimbabwe where Shona music students may rent affordable rooms before leaving home.

Now, for our first travel tip: learn some of the Shona language, at least the basic greetings used several times a day by Zimbabweans. MBIRA now offers "Shona Lessons for Mbira Students" (text and recording). Another favorite Shona book is "Learning Shona" by Dambudzo Ruzhowa (HarperCollins Zimbabwe), which is also now available from MBIRA. Both of these cover not only the language, but some of the essential cultural information you need to be a polite visitor. If you live near a university, check if there is a Zimbabwean student or professor there who would be willing to give you language lessons before you leave home, to work on your pronunciation.