Most of the Matobi area to the south of Bulawayo has been set aside as a 43,000ha (106,253 acres) national park, sanctuary for white rhino and girraf, sable, impala and an unusually large leopard population. The Matobo Hills, famed for their massive boulders and balancing rocks, are especially renowned for their birds of prey, and notably for what is believed to be the world's largest concentration of the black eagle. Graceful in flight, this magnificent raptor can often be seen hugging the precipitous cliff faces, from which it suddenly swoops down on an unwary hyrax (commonly known as a dasie or rock rabbit), its favourite prey.

The name Matobo means 'bald heads', an epithet said to have been conferred by Mzilikazi, founder of Zimbabwe's Ndebele nation, in one of his more whimsical moods: the landscape characterised by ancient and massive granite domes, reminded him of an assembly of his aged councillors.

Among the jumble of rugged hills, too, there are (whale-back mountains), and caves and cliffs adorned with the paintings and engravings of those finest of prehistoric artists, the Bushmen.

It was here, in these mysterious and hauntingly beautiful hills, that the elders of the ancestral Shona communed with their great god Mwari through human oracles; here, in the 1890's that the Ndebele warriors made their last stand against Cecil Rhodes' well-armed horsemen, and here that peace was finally negotiated at a succession of dignified indabas. Mzilikazi chose to be buried in the Matobos; so too did Rhodes, whose hilltop resting place, known as World's View, is a natural amphitheatre embraced by colossal boulders.

Visitor amenities, are focused on the Mleme Dam, where there are one- and two-bedroom lodges and chalets available for hire. The road network is well maintained, and walking routes, pony trails and picnic spots have been established.

At least five of the so-called Painted Caves have been documented in detail. Especially recommended is the museum at the Pomongwe site, where thousands of Stone and Iron Age artefacts are also on display. Some of them are thought to date back as far as 14,000 BC. At the Nswatui cave there is a fine interpretive exposition of paintings, while the Inanke's decorations are exceptional in their beauty. Silozwane, just to the south of the park, contains a fascinating range of painted subjects, including a 2m(6.5ft) tall giraffe and a snake with an antelope's head.

A wealth of treasures surrounds the park and includes the Bambata Caves, and Fort Usher, where Lord Baden-Powell conceived the idea of the Boy Scout Movement.

Matobe      J     F     M     A     M     J     J     A     S     O     N     D     

Average     72    70    69    66    59    54    54    59    66    70    72    70    
Temp F                                                                              

Average     22    21    21    19    15    12    12    15    19    21    22    21    
Temp C                                                                              

Hrs of Sun  8     7     8     8     9     9     9     9     9     8     8     7     
Daily                                                                               

Rainfall    5     4     2     1     0     0     0     0     0     15    4     5     
ins.                                                                                

Rainfall    134   97    50    28    7     2     1     1     8     36    99    131   
mm                                                                                  

Days of     11    9     6     4     1     1     0     0     1     4     9     11    
rainfall                                                                            

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