When Rhodes, one of the richest men in the world acquired his first country (he ended up owning four, and being the Prime Minister of another) in 1890-1893 he considered it a priority to establish two towns, and, in Bulawayo, to set up a gentlemen's club fit to entertain his fellow gold and diamond mining magnates who might invest in his company and develop another Rand in the country known to have gold everywhere and to be the location of the fabled King Soloman's mines. This club is now a hotel.
When his henchman, Leander Star Jameson, declared the town open in 1895 he stood on the steps of the Bulawayo Club and made the following speech:
"It is my job to declare this town open, gentlemen. I don't think we want any talk about it now. There is plenty of whisky and soda inside, so come in".
The assembled crowd did just that.
A year later Jameson took half the country's police and invaded the Transvaal Republic, hoping to provoke a rising against the government, so Rhodes could take over even more of the Rand. (The Jameson Raid). He was immediately surrounded and captured by a Boer commando, then imprisoned and released on payment of a truly enormous fine. The local Matabele tribe, incensed that, among other things, the BSA Company had stolen all the cattle in the country, took advantage of the absence of the paramilitary police to rebel. Those settlers not killed formed a laager in Bulawayo near the club, until relief came.
Jameson became Prime Minister of the Cape after Rhodes died. Kipling wrote the poem 'If' about him.
The Bulawayo Club now looks like this:
And still keeping up standards:
We, of course, fit right in. Actually we do. We are on first name terms with many of the staff and have discovered that the local sense of humour matches ours perfectly. So if we are ever back in Bulawayo we would love to come back here. Yes, the hotel is comfortable, everything is clean and polished, the water is hot, the food is good - but much more important are the lovely staff. We were touched when Joseph said, 'You've become like family.' And yes, that is how we feel too. They are all so friendly, quick to laugh as well as being efficient, and going out of their way to give us information, to put things right - as when (as per usual) I have forgotten some item or other. Indeed it has become a standing joke that when we come in, I am asked if I still have two bags with me. Nyasha (and others) have helped with the mysteries of Zimbabwe sim cards, Carol has been a mine of information, and so on. Thank you all of you!
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