Matopo’s – by request, Bald Heads and Land of Grandfathers

It is hard to choose which National Park in Zimbabwe is my favourite. Sure Mana Pools has that spell casting ability and Chimanimani‘s granite mountains, cathedralesque in carved beauty, the rough untamed lands of the Matusadona’s or the vastness of Hwange‘s thirst quenching richness but when you have spent a day or a night in the Matopo’s you can feel the spirits of the earth around you, the significance they hold to the local people. My most memorable conversation with my Grandfather, in a small restaurant in Bulawayo, was about the history of the Ndebele and the Matopos…

Established in 1953, re-stocked with Rhino in the 1960’s (protected and fenced) and as recently as 2003 designated UNESCO world heritage site the Matopos has much to offer!

Tip 1: take a wide angle lens with you, when visiting the national park!

Tip 2: spend a few days out here, one or two is not enough and as soon as you see the stars without light pollution you will understand why!!

There is so much History among the rocks it is hard to ignore when history blends with beauty you have something indescribable, something not quite tangible as to reach out and touch and yet not so ethereal as to blind to.

History is written on the walls of many caves but it is the grave of the famous Rhodesian nation builders, King Mzilikazi (buried in the Matobo Hills a short distance from the park), Cecil John Rhodes (buried on Malindidzimu -‘ hill of benevolent spirits’ with a ‘View of the World’) and Leander Starr Jameson, that many travel here to see. From the top of these hills the clean and clear air makes colours stand out so vividly it adds to the tapestry of mysticism and folklore to a land of buried chiefs, Black and White.

And then there is the Shangani Patrol Monument to those of whom the victorious Ndebele said, “They were men of men and their fathers were men before them.” The Shangani Patrol incident, equated at the time to that of “Custer’s Last Stand” or the “Battle of the Alamo”! A little known fact here – the bodies of those killed in the Battle of Shangani were initially buried at Great Zimbabwe but Cecil John Rhodes, in his will, asked for their re-internment beside him at World’s View. The Monument’s design by Herbert Baker is based on the Pedestal of Agrippa at the Athens Acropolis. Around the area bronze plaques are found dotting the hills, indicating past skirmishes or forts of the Matabele rebellions.

So much is about these famous granite hills either by historians or earlier travelers that this blog will a drop in the ocean and nowhere near comparable to any. But never the less a short blurb you shall get.

Getting to the Matopo’s is very easy. Tar roads lead into the park and a good road system (albeit a poorly maintained) will help you get around the park or other special places in the Matopo’s. The roads are mostly good enough for any car but depending on the season or the extend of your travel desires a 4×4 is required!

The Matobo National Park (some of which is a game park) is 424 square kilometers and is found 35 kilometers south of  Bulawayo and forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills. The Matopo’s range comprises an area of granite kopjes,  smooth “whale-back dwalas” and broken kopjes formed over 2 billion years ago. Matopo’s means “Bald Heads” in the local language of sindebele. The Matopo’s range covers an area of about 3100 square kilometers and is not all national park – but also farmland and communal land. The highest point in the Matopo’s is Gulati (1549 m) just outside the north-eastern corner of the park. The National Park also incorporates the Lake Matopos Recreational Park.

Most tourists are locals, loading the cooler box into the back of the car and heading out the dams or picnic sites dotted around the park. The biggest draw for most is Cecil Rhodes grave atop Malindidzimu, (“Hill of the spirits”) – a place of great controversy in modern Zimbabwe, for it is a sacred place to Ndebele. Amazingly in the face of pressure from war veterans, President Mugabe‘s appointee to the post of Director of Museums and Monuments and one of the country’s foremost archaeologists, Godfrey Mahachi, has held fast that Cecil Rhodes remains should not be exhumed and the grave removed – his stance is that it is integral to the country’s history… Additionally the tourism revenue, generated by the historical site could be lost, should it be tampered with and losing the monument is unlikely to be supported by those in government.

For those looking for more than the exceptional scenery of the Matopos there is a lot more to be explored. Cyrene Mission is found about thirty-six (36) kilometers down the Plumtree road and you can return to Bulawayo via Matopo’s on a circular road from here. Diana’s pool is located about the same distance, south of Bulawayo, but the road once you turn off on, at Essexvale, is difficult going. Even the well-known Boy and Girl Scout movements have roots here in Gordon and Rowallan Parks, respectively, and there is a M.O.T.H. Shrine Historical Site (Memorable Order of the Tin Hats founded in 1927 re: W.W.1, by Charles Evenden as a brotherhood of south African front line ex-servicemen) for those history buffs. Cave paintings by the San peoples found at Nswatugi (the most accessible), White Rhino, Bambata and Pomongwe caves dating as far back 2,000 years – all definitely worth the visit and short walk into the hills. Another fun-fact is that over 50% of the animals drawn on cave walls are of Kudu, which the San Peoples associated with good health, virility, rain and growth! There are 3,000 registered rock art sites in the hills and other historic artifacts dating back as the pre-Middle Stone Age. If you have an interest in rock art, Peter Garlake’s book, “The Hunters Vision” is highly recommended: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hunters-Vision-Prehistoric-Zimbabwe/dp/029597480X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351708949&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Hunter%27s+Vision%3A+The+Prehistoric+Art+of+Zimbabwe .

Monuments to Sir James Gordon McDonald (Lieutenant in the Home Guard, of Bulawayo, Rhodesia, South Africa and retired Government Official) and Shangani Patrol, as well as the already discussed graves of Cecil Rhodes, Dr. Jameson and Sir Charles Coghlan (the first premier of Rhodesia). The ring road around the Matopos has a number of picnic sites along the road at which to stop at. The Rhodes Memorial car park has newly jacked up ablutions for your convenience as well – but to see the site you need to pay an entrance fee as well as show your ID!)

Back to the Boy Scouts – even I was short on information about this (being a MaShona by location)… Lord Baden Powell, called “Impisi” (meaning “The Wolf that never sleeps”) by the Matebele, learned much of his trade in these parts during the Matabele wars from an American Scout, Frederick Russell Burnham, from whom he learned of the American Old West and woodcraft i.e. scout-craft. Commanding Reconnaissance missions into enemy territory was a formative experience for him and many of his Boy Scout ideas took hold during this time. It only seems fair that there are two parks here that carry on the scouting traditions!

If you have read the book – Mukiwa, by Peter Goodwin you will see how recent the violent history has affect the area and the local people. Conflict is never far from the granite hills, nor are the spirit mediums, known as amawosana in Kalanga and ihosana in Ndebele, who will view any disruption in the hills, bit it falling boulders or drought, anything seen as a sign from angry ancestors, will result in a religious ceremony to appease them.

Accommodation abounds out here – the park itself has National Park run campsites, caravan parks and chalets as well as privately run lodges! If you are here on a budget try the National Park accommodation at one of these camps:  Sandy, Arboretum, Lake Matopos, Toghwana, Mwesilume, Mtsheleli and Maleme. Maleme is the main camp and houses the park’s HQ and has “luxury” accommodation in Imbila, Black Eagle and Fish Eagle lodges which over look the Maleme dam and gorge.

The commercial / privately owned lodges include Camp Amalinda, Matobo Ingwe Lodge and Big Cave Camp offer incredible accommodation (4 star!) and wonderful walks / guided tours of the area!

So now you have booked a place to stay you probably want to find something to do while here – check with the tourism office on what activities are available…

The list is almost endless but here are a few:

• running (the annual 33 miler road race),
• horse riding,
• fishing (for sixteen (16)  including: yellow-fish (Barbus mattozi), tilapia, robustus, bottle fish?, catfish / barbel and bass),
• various hiking trails or escorted walks through woodlands made up of Mopane and Acacia species, Brachstegia species, Figtree and Azanza species, Zizphus species, Strychnos species and Terminalia species and savanna grassland (watch out for any of the 39 snake species) with armed guards arranged and available through main camp,
• mountain climbing (don’t take this literally) up Mount Shumbashawa (the Red Lion), Njelelem, Halale or Mount Nyahwe,
• birding (of the 175 bird species it is the Black Eagles who are most famous in these parts),
• game viewing of the 88 mammal species (by car or in two hides), which is best in the western areas of the National Park,
• boating on the many dams in the park!
• At the end of your trip there are curio shops from which to buy a memento but I can assure you it will be your photographs of the unique balancing rocks and beautiful lichens that will be most viewed weeks after your trip!

One last little piece of useless information: The name “Matobo” was also used for the fictional Democratic Republic of Matobo in the film The Interpreter!!!

For more information and a better, in-depth, review of the Matopos please visit these web-sites:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matobo_National_Park
2. http://www.zimparks.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=47
3. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g477980-d478685/Matopos-National-Park:Zimbabwe:Matobo.Hills.html

and this exceptional blog:

1. http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2011/01/bulawayos-rhodes-matopos-national-park.html

While the rocks hallowed and the history rough, the people are simply wonderful with smiles as wide as the skies! I think my greatest sorrow is not having had a camera on my various travels among the granite hills… walking with friends, camping beneath the stars, sitting and gazing across “the bald heads” wishing they could talk.  Having photographs of some of these moments to share with you, to show more of the rocky beauty, would most certainly give more weight to this blog than words – it is here a picture would tell a thousand words and more.