Matobo National Park
Matobo National Park is the oldest in Zimbabwe, having been set-aside in 1926. The area is of significant natural beauty and cultural significance, and is famed for its extensive granite kopjes (small hills) and wooded valleys. The Matobo Hills themselves cover an area of some 3 100 square kilometres, of which 424 square kilometres is the actual National Park, and are only 35 kilometres from Bulawayo. The hills date back approximately 2 billion years, when the granite was forced to the surface. The unique granitic boulders and formations in the area caused Mzilikazi (founder of the Ndebele Nation), to name them Matobo (bald heads).
The park itself extends along the Thuli, Mtshelele, Maleme and Mpopoma River valleys. Part of the national park has been set aside as a 100 square kilometre game park (the Whovi or Hove Wild area), which has been stocked with a number of game species, including black and white rhinoceros; you are also liable to see zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, eland, sable, klipspringer, leopard, hyena, cheetah, hippo, warthog, rock hyrax, waterbuck, wildcat, springhare, common duiker, crocodile, and baboon. Birding can be excellent and the Park is known for its excellent numbers of black eagle.
In general, for a small Park, there is an excellent diversity of fauna: 175 bird, 88 mammal, 39 snake and 16 fish species having been recorded.
The Matobo Hills is also an area of high botanic diversity, with over 200 species of tree recorded in the Park, including the mountain acacia, wild pear and the paperbark tree. There are also many aloes, wild herbs and over 100 grass species. The highest point in the hills is the promontory named Gulati (at 1 549 metres above sea level) just outside the north-eastern corner of the park.
The Park and surrounds offer a surprising variety of activities. The many dams in the Park allow for some good fishing, notably for Tilapia and bass, without the risk of crocodile! Bass were stocked into seven of the park’s dams from the research station at Maleme Dam and the park entry fee includes a fishing license. Boating is possible on the larger dams, such as Maleme, Mtshelele, Toghwana and Lake Matopos.
Other than the wonderful scenery, game viewing, fishing and hiking, the Matobos are also known and cherished for their magical quality; and have great spiritual significance for the Shona and Ndebele people. Many rituals and other religious ceremonies are still performed in the hills. Before the colonial era, it was the headquarters of the spiritualist oracle, the Mlimo.
The San (Bushmen) lived in the hills about 2,000 years ago, and have left an incredibly rich heritage in hundreds of rock paintings. There are over 3,000 registered rock art sites, with the main periods of painting between AD 320 and 500. In the many crevices and caves, clay ovens and other pre-historic artefacts have been found. Other archaeological finds date back as far as the Pre-Middle Stone Age, around 300 000 years.
This rich history is partly why the Matobo Hills were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
Of the archaeological riches in the area, some have been make accessible to visitors:
Bambata Cave is a major site, located in the west of the national park, north of the game park on the Kezi-Bulawayo road. The rock art frieze includes elephants, giraffes, warthogs, tsessebe and mongoose.
Inanke Cave has the most extensive paintings, located in a remote cave accessible by a three-hour hike from Toghwana Dam. Along the route of the hike is an Iron Age furnace.
Nswatugi Cave contains beautiful friezes of giraffes, elephants and kudu. Access is from Circular Drive, west of Maleme Dam.
Sadly Pomongwe Cave, near Maleme Dam, was damaged by a preservation attempt in 1965, where linseed oil was applied to the paintings. Archaeological digs within and downslope of the cave revealed 39,032 stone tools, several hearths, with the main fire-making areas in the centre of the cave floor. Bone fragments showed that hyrax formed a major part of the meat component of the diet of early human inhabitants of the cave, which also included tortoise and larger game animals. The oldest material on the site is probably pre-Middle Stone Age.
White Rhino Shelter is a small site near Gordon Park, on the main tarred road through the park. The frieze includes the outline of a large rhino, which is said to have inspired the re-introduction of the species in the 1960s.
The Hills also have great historical significance, as the 1896 revolt took place here between white settlers and the Ndebele. Cecil John Rhodes acted as a mediator in this war, and Robert Baden-Powell learned woodcraft here.
Cecil Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson and several other leading early white settlers, including Allan Wilson and all the members of the Shangani Patrol killed in the First Matabele War, are buried on the summit of Malindidzimu, the 'hill of the spirits'. The legendary Mzilikazi is buried in the Matobo Hills just a short distance from the park.
Access to the Matobos National Park is via road from Bulawayo.
The park itself extends along the Thuli, Mtshelele, Maleme and Mpopoma River valleys. Part of the national park has been set aside as a 100 square kilometre game park (the Whovi or Hove Wild area), which has been stocked with a number of game species, including black and white rhinoceros; you are also liable to see zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, eland, sable, klipspringer, leopard, hyena, cheetah, hippo, warthog, rock hyrax, waterbuck, wildcat, springhare, common duiker, crocodile, and baboon. Birding can be excellent and the Park is known for its excellent numbers of black eagle.
In general, for a small Park, there is an excellent diversity of fauna: 175 bird, 88 mammal, 39 snake and 16 fish species having been recorded.
The Matobo Hills is also an area of high botanic diversity, with over 200 species of tree recorded in the Park, including the mountain acacia, wild pear and the paperbark tree. There are also many aloes, wild herbs and over 100 grass species. The highest point in the hills is the promontory named Gulati (at 1 549 metres above sea level) just outside the north-eastern corner of the park.
The Park and surrounds offer a surprising variety of activities. The many dams in the Park allow for some good fishing, notably for Tilapia and bass, without the risk of crocodile! Bass were stocked into seven of the park’s dams from the research station at Maleme Dam and the park entry fee includes a fishing license. Boating is possible on the larger dams, such as Maleme, Mtshelele, Toghwana and Lake Matopos.
Other than the wonderful scenery, game viewing, fishing and hiking, the Matobos are also known and cherished for their magical quality; and have great spiritual significance for the Shona and Ndebele people. Many rituals and other religious ceremonies are still performed in the hills. Before the colonial era, it was the headquarters of the spiritualist oracle, the Mlimo.
The San (Bushmen) lived in the hills about 2,000 years ago, and have left an incredibly rich heritage in hundreds of rock paintings. There are over 3,000 registered rock art sites, with the main periods of painting between AD 320 and 500. In the many crevices and caves, clay ovens and other pre-historic artefacts have been found. Other archaeological finds date back as far as the Pre-Middle Stone Age, around 300 000 years.
This rich history is partly why the Matobo Hills were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
Of the archaeological riches in the area, some have been make accessible to visitors:
Bambata Cave is a major site, located in the west of the national park, north of the game park on the Kezi-Bulawayo road. The rock art frieze includes elephants, giraffes, warthogs, tsessebe and mongoose.
Inanke Cave has the most extensive paintings, located in a remote cave accessible by a three-hour hike from Toghwana Dam. Along the route of the hike is an Iron Age furnace.
Nswatugi Cave contains beautiful friezes of giraffes, elephants and kudu. Access is from Circular Drive, west of Maleme Dam.
Sadly Pomongwe Cave, near Maleme Dam, was damaged by a preservation attempt in 1965, where linseed oil was applied to the paintings. Archaeological digs within and downslope of the cave revealed 39,032 stone tools, several hearths, with the main fire-making areas in the centre of the cave floor. Bone fragments showed that hyrax formed a major part of the meat component of the diet of early human inhabitants of the cave, which also included tortoise and larger game animals. The oldest material on the site is probably pre-Middle Stone Age.
White Rhino Shelter is a small site near Gordon Park, on the main tarred road through the park. The frieze includes the outline of a large rhino, which is said to have inspired the re-introduction of the species in the 1960s.
The Hills also have great historical significance, as the 1896 revolt took place here between white settlers and the Ndebele. Cecil John Rhodes acted as a mediator in this war, and Robert Baden-Powell learned woodcraft here.
Cecil Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson and several other leading early white settlers, including Allan Wilson and all the members of the Shangani Patrol killed in the First Matabele War, are buried on the summit of Malindidzimu, the 'hill of the spirits'. The legendary Mzilikazi is buried in the Matobo Hills just a short distance from the park.
Access to the Matobos National Park is via road from Bulawayo.