Matobo National Park
The Matobo Hills are a visual wonder of giant ancient granite formations and balancing boulders, or “kopjes” as they are called locally. They commence some 35 kilometres south of Bulawayo, in southern Zimbabwe. The area was given its name by the great Mzilikazi, founder of the Ndebele nation. The smooth granite boulders apparently reminded him of a gathering of his old indunas or tribal council and he called the area amatobo, “the bald heads”.
The brooding and majestic Matobo Hills have been formed over a period of two thousand million years, as rock and sand on a previously flat and unremarkable surface were washed away by wind and water to reveal the hard granite below. The balancing boulders are the result of natural faults along the weakest lines, and weathering and erosion did the rest.
Although the granite outcrops are a highlight of the region, the 440 square kilometre national park - within which the Matobo Hills lie - is an area of incredible botanical variety with wooded valleys, grassy marshlands and streams. Part of this area has been set aside as a Game Park, which is home to a large population of white rhino and the elusive black rhino, plus a variety of antelope species including the nimble klipspringer, baboon, rock hyraxes and significant numbers of leopard.
Birdlife is prolific with the high cliffs and craggy outcrops a favourite haunt of various raptors. In fact the Park boasts the world’s largest concentration of black eagles. Other raptors include Wahlberg’s eagle, tawny eagle, secretary bird, snake eagle and Peregrine falcon.
The Hills are also an area of considerable historical and cultural significance. San (Bushmen) lived in this region for thousands of years, leaving a rich heritage in hundreds of rock paintings. This rock art is some of the best in southern Africa, showing an incredible diversity and animation. In the many crevices and caves, clay ovens and other historic artefacts have been found. The Hills are still regarded as sacred; the local Ndebele claim this land as a sacred shrine and pray to Mwali, the God of their ancestors, to petition for rain.
The Matobo Hills are also the final resting place of the controversial and famous British Imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, who requested that he be buried here on one of the massive balancing rocks – a formation called World’s View.
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Chizarira National Park