Reviews of Matobo (From 10 Acclaimed Safari Experts)

Expert

Dale R Morris –

ZA

Visited: Multiple times

Dale is a multi-award-winning writer and photographer with more than 500 published magazine articles featured in magazines such as National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Travel Africa, and CNN Travel.

Granite Whalebacks and Invisible Leopards

Overall rating

4/5

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“Go take a hike,” said my tour guide once we had set up our tents in the Unesco World Heritage Matobo National Park. “It's awe-inspiring territory out there”.

He wasn’t wrong.

The smooth granite hills that typify Matobo are easy to walk upon, and the scenery is to die for (especially if one gets too close to some of the precipitous drop-offs). Impossibly poised boulders, some as large as houses, sit like ill-balanced eggs atop rounded domes, which are, in turn, surrounded by grasslands and forests. The larger specimens are known as whalebacks because, well, they look like pods of whales arching out of a sea of trees.

My wife and I sat upon one of these, beneath the shadow of a huge split boulder, and watched the African sun disappear below a horizon cluttered with bizarre and wonderful rock formations. A big troop of baboons were going berserk on the dome opposite us, probably because they had seen a leopard on the prowl, but alas, even though Matobo is reputed to have one of the largest densities of these cats in all of Africa, they are seldom observed by people. I’ve been to this park numerous times, and the most I’ve seen of them are their footprints and scats.

Although the leopards might well be elusive, the grand scenery of Matobo is always on full display. Be it the numerous geological formations (some of which sport ancient rock paintings) or the lovely lakes and forests, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else quite so beautiful in all of Zimbabwe.

Wildlife can be a bit thin on the ground. There is a specially guarded section of the park where rhinos can be seen, but you won't encounter lions or elephants at all.

Birding is great though, and you’ll also have the opportunity to spot common game such as zebra, kudu and eland. Klipspringers and rock hyrax are two a penny.

Cecil John Rhodes (after which Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, was named) is buried on a prominent lookout atop one of the largest hills of Matobo. Even if you don’t feel like paying homage to such a divisive colonial figure, the views alone make it well worth the climb.

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Expert

Emma Gregg –

UK

Visited: April

Emma is an award-winning travel writer for Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller, Travel Africa magazine and The Independent.

1 person found this review helpful.

Ancient Hills in the Heart of Matabeleland

Overall rating

4/5

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I felt a strong spiritual presence when visiting the dwalas, or eroded granite kopjes, of the Matopos. Many others, apparently, feel the same; some of the dwalas appear precariously balanced, as if held in place by supernatural forces, and the rock art that adorns their caves hints at age-old secrets. Coloured grey, pink, ochre and gold by swathes of lichen, there’s an appealing, sculptural quality to the formations. I scrambled up a couple of them to admire the view of the surrounding bushland, which has been stocked with white rhinos – rangers will take you out on a tracking expedition on request.

The park was very quiet when I visited – it was just me, my guide and a couple of soaring eagles – but for me, that only added to the atmosphere.

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Expert

Brian Jackman –

UK

Visited: Dry season

Brian is an award winning travel writer, author of safari books and regular contributor to magazines such as BBC Wildlife and Travel Africa.

2 people found this review helpful.

Lost in a Lonely World of Granite

Overall rating

4/5

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It was Mzilikazi, the first great leader of the Matabele, who called these bare granite summits the Matobo because to him they resembled a huddle of bald heads. Today these strange, brooding hills are still a holy place, riddled with caves whose walls are covered with prehistoric rock art, and Mzilikazi himself is buried here. No wonder the Matabele still call this Malindidzimu – the Place of Spirits. One of the best views is from Cecil Rhodes’s grave, perched on one of the highest points in the Matobo. From here what you see is a tumbledown landscape cast in granite, with weathered pinnacles and dizzy rock castles looming over deep, boulder-strewn valleys. Leopards are common here, although not easy to see, but you should have better luck if you go rhino-tracking, or spotting klipspringers clattering on tiptoe over the rocks. For birders the main attraction here are the Verreaux’s eagles that circle endlessly over the wind-blown summits. The Matobo Hills are the world’s number one stronghold for these magnificent raptors, with a current population of around 200 breeding pairs.

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Expert

Mark Eveleigh –

UK

Visited: April

Mark is a travel writer who grew up in Africa and has written over 700 titles for Condé Nast Traveller, Travel Africa, BBC Wildlife and others.

3 people found this review helpful.

Iconographic Zimbabwean Scenery With Its Stunning Kopjes

Overall rating

4/5

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More than just a wonderful scenic spot or a wildlife refuge, Matobo National Park is one of the cultural highlights of Zimbabwe. It should in fact be considered one of the world’s ‘power places’ – right up there alongside Great Zimbabwe Ruins as an African counterpart to Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat! Trek in Matobo and you will see great troops of baboons (and perhaps the leopards that feed on them). Fantastic eagle sightings await, too. But there are also ancient lookouts and fortifications, and the storage areas and forges where the warriors of Lobengula once made their fearsome assegais. In this park lies not only the ancient ‘Rain Shrine’ of the Ndebele but also the grave of Cecil Rhodes, who asked to be buried here on what he called ‘the view of the world’. Rhodes was a realist – I guess he figured that if he was going to have to spend eternity in one spot, he might as well give himself something interesting to look at!

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