Darwendale

Darwendale is a small town in the province of Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. It is located about 62 km west of Harare. According to the 1982 Population Census, the village had a population of 3,264. The village grew from O.C. Zimmerman's farm which was pegged out in the 1890s to grow tobacco. Chromium is mined to the north of the village. This once productive tobacco producing node of Zimbabwe is now mainly visited for fishing in Darwendale Dam which boasts largemouth bass where the largest catch outside of the United States and Mexico was recorded on July 25, 2004, weighing 8.2 kilograms [1]. The Darwendale recreational park that found in the area closest to the dam wall is home to various game. The most prevalent species are sable, kudu, waterbuck, bush pig, reedbuck, common duiker, warthog, baboon, vervet monkey, oribi and porcupine. It is also regarded as one of Zimbabwe's fastest growing towns.

Darwendale centre used to be a town where people from the nearby Great Dyke Mines would come to do their everyday shopping. However due to the decline in the value of chrome mined in the Great Dyke, the town centre has deteriorated greatly.