Tour Guide, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
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This small, easily accessible national park contains some of the region's most arresting scenery.
The Matobo Hills are located to the south of Bulawayo - Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. The area covers about 3,000km2in total, of which about 400km2 is protected by the Matobo National Park, formerly the Matobo Hills National Park and before that the Rhodes Matopos National Park.
The landscape of Matobo is breath-taking, consisting of an abundance of small hills, massive granite outcrops and boulders which balance on top of each other, creating spectacular forms, known as Kopjes. Looking at these Kopjes, you can see figures, similar as in clouds. Some of them are recognizable for everyone, e.g. ‘the camel’ or ‘the mother and child’; others are unique and exclusively reserved for your own imagination.
The Matobo National Park is right in the middle of the Matobo Hills area. The area was declared a National Park in 1926. It is a beautiful, but a sparsely visited area that’s easily reached either by road from Bulawayo or Hwange National Park. This rugged landscape receives better rainfall than the surrounding areas. As a result, it can sustain a high diversity of vegetation and a variety of faunal species.
This is one of the best parks where one has a realistic chance of encountering the black and white Rhinos spotted hyena and leopards in their natural habitats. Caves with impressive Rock art paintings are easily accessible, and Cecil John Rhodes is also buried here, and his grave is one of the main attractions.