A Visit to Zimbabwe's Matobo National Park

On a recent business trip to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city and the capitol of Matabeleland North Province, I decided to visit Matobo National Park, located 50 km south of the city in Matabeleland South Province. The park, in addition to being the site of World View - location of Cecil Rhode's tomb - also has the Rhino Conservation Project which is run by Marwell Zimbabwe Trust with a grant from the U.S. Government. My wife, Myung, and two colleagues, Amanda Porter and Lori Enders went along on the trek with me.

We arrived at the park around nine in the morning, a beautiful day if you're a photographer; a deep blue sky with piles of white and grey clouds; just the right intensity of light to make colors in photos really stand out.

After a briefing on the project from Marwell director Verity Bowman, we piled into one of the project's Land Rovers for a morning ride in search of some of the parks charges; black and white rhinos. Myung, Amanda and Lori rode inside with Verity, but ever the adventurer, I jumped on top of the vehicle along with John Mvula, the park's senior ranger, and a couple of his assistances who were loaded down with GPS tracking equipment.

It was a bumpy ride, and along with the rangers I spent most of the first hour ducking low hanging branches that arched over the dirt track. Other than some fantastic rock formations and a profusion of flowers, the only animals we spotted were birds. Just after fording a small stream, John spotted a message that had been carved into the dirt by one of the ranger foot patrols, directing us to an area north of where we'd been traveling. They'd spotted a group of three white rhinos; a bull, a cow and a calf, and were tracking them. Verity turned the Land Rover around, went back a few hundred meters and took an even bumpier road to the north.

We encountered the patrol after about 20 minutes, but were told that the rhinos were deep in the bush; we would not be able to see them from the vehicle. John suggested that we get off and track them on foot, and I readily agreed. Amanda was game enough to go along, but the rest decided to wait in the vehicle.

We hiked through the bush for nearly an hour before we finally found our quarry: A big bull that kept his distance, but didn't run away. John said he was probably drawing our attention to allow the cow and calf to get away to safety. White rhinos are social animals, often traveling in family groups of four or more. Their cousins, the black rhinos, are solitary creatures who prefer to graze alone, and prefer to stay deep in the thickets.

We carefully and quietly stalked around this magnificent animal for half an hour before I got into a position for a clear shot. I was able to snap one picture before he whirled and plunged deeper into the bush. That one shot, though, was worth it. After a few more photos, mostly of parts of his body that were not obscured by the foliage, we decided to call it quits and hike back to the car.

Our adventure wasn't over, though. About halfway back to the road, John, who was walking point, froze in place, held his hand up and signaled us quietly to change direction. I looked in the direction he was looking and saw the midsection of a snake, greenish-black with specks of gold, lying across the trail. "What kind is it?" I asked John. "Mamba." He replied simply.

That was all he had to say. I had no plans to try and get closer for a photo. The mamba is a fast snake, and will attack if irritated, especially during mating season. If John had not been alert, our group would have irritated one of the deadliest snakes in Africa. We made a wide circle around the trail, leaving him to his territory.

We only spent half a day at Matobo, but it was one of the most fascinating days I've had in a long time. Trekking Matobo National Park is definitely not your normal "walk in the park."