Matobo National Park, National park near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Matobo National Park is a protected area in Zimbabwe, south of Bulawayo, covering grey granite hills, wooded valleys, and rocky uplands. The landscape shows round rock formations that appear stacked on top of each other, and dense bush vegetation in the lower areas.
The area was placed under protection in the early 20th century and initially carried a different name. Later, additional land was added to reach the current size of the protected area.
The name Matobo is an Isindebele play on madombo, the word for the granite domes, which Mzilikazi Khumalo likened to bald heads. The hills remain sacred to the Shona and other southern African peoples, who still hold rituals here. Over 3,000 registered rock art sites survive, painted mainly between 320 and 500 CE; Bambata Cave's frieze shows elephants, giraffes, warthogs, tsessebe and mongoose.
Visitors need entry tickets for different parts of the grounds and should consider guided tours for wildlife viewing and access to rock paintings. The roads inside the reserve are unpaved and can become slippery when it rains.
Leopards find particularly good living conditions here because of the many small mammals that live among the rocks. Hyraxes make up a large part of their food and are often seen on warm stones during the day.
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