Sorry Pinotage I should have phrased my question differently. I was thinking about the 15-year economic and political decline rather than the physical geography. When I was there, Zimbabwe was just beginning to fall noticeably from being the prosperous, organized place it was in the 1980s. The World Bank had just imposed Structural Adjustment. So I was sort of looking to know how far it had slid politically and economically between 1992 and 1996.
As evinced in my postings in the on-topic areas, I see everything in terms of religion, culture and politics so I didn't even go to Hwange when I went. My trip highlight was Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo.