As Zimbabwe‘s oldest national park, rich in human history, sensational landscapes of towering kopjes and granite boulders haphazardly arranged into strange shapes (2 billion years old), and even a special breeding ground put aside for its white and black rhino, Matobo Hills is a magical place and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Having long been the spiritual homeland of the Ndebele people and formerly known as Rhodes Matopos National Park, its territory (44,500 hectares) is strewn with Bushmen cave paintings, as well as the graves of Ndebele king Mzilikazi and the colonialist Cecil John Rhodes (responsible for the creation of the park back in 1926).
As far as wildlife goes, Matobo is known for its white and black rhino, black eagles and having the largest concentration of Leopards in all of Africa. There are no lions or elephants, making it a safe place to hike and horse ride, and it has good populations of zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, sable, and eland.
When to go
All year round.
What to do
- The Park is home to a wide variety of animal species including: black and white rhinoceros, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, eland, sable, klipspringer, leopard, hyena, cheetah, hippo, warthog, rock dassies, waterbuck, wildcat, springhare, common duiker, crocodiles, baboons and monkeys.
- It has one of the highest concentrations of Black Eagle in the world. Bird species that can be found include, fish eagle, martial eagle, francolin, secretary bird, weavers, pied crow and Egyptian geese.
- You can visit the graves of Cecil John Rhodes and Mzilikazi, the Ndebele King.
- The Park has one of the largest concentrations of black and white rhinoceros; and has a intensive protection zone put aside for them.
- See the Rock paintings of Nswatugi, Bambata, Inanke, and Silozwane Caves
- Matobo Hills is only 30 minutes south of Bulaweyo
