Our National Bounty

12/03/09

In the last edition of Zeal we showcased some of Zimbabwe’s National Parks’ uniquely beautiful characteristics, and as such a small collection of words could never do justice to the countries abundant inherent beauty we will continue extolling their virtues in this edition.

Anyone who has ventured into Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland South province and invested time in exploration will always invariably reflect, with the onset of a nostalgic longing in their eyes, about the priceless time spent in another of Zimbabwe’s World heritage sites, the Matobo National Park. Accorded this status in 2003 for its outstanding cultural and ecological importance for which the park boasts impressive and worldly unique attractions.

The Matobo hills cover an area of about 3500 square kilometres, 44 500 hectares of which constitute the Matobo National park which is sectioned into the Whovi wild area and several wilderness areas which visitors are allowed to explore on foot. The Whovi wild area is one of the most ecologically significantly areas of the country as it hosts a Intensive Protection Zone for one of the largest population strongholds of Black and White Rhinoceros (Diceros Bicornis and Ceralatotherium simum respectively) in southern Africa. In addition to this huge draw card the park hosts one of the densest populations of one of Africa’s most secretive and awe inspiring predators, the Leopard (Panthera pardus), which when sighted can immediately draw the breath from any hardened bush aficionado.

One of the lesser known, and sought, but no less important species to be found almost exclusively in the park is the small Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) whose habitat requirements of steeply dissected mountain ranges and escarpments are provided in abundance by the geological morphology of the region.
Playing host to this abundant ecological diversity is the unique, mystically hilarious shape that dominates the geography of the region. The area was first named Amatobo (later bastardised to Matobo by the white settlers) by the warrior king Mzilikazi which means ‘bald heads’ and aptly describes, with a touch of mirth, the shape that dominates the Matobo horizon. Also known as Dwala’s these distinct geological features have been formed over time by the erosion of fault lines in a 300 million year old exposed granite batholith and form one of the unique geological and geographic landscapes in southern Africa.

Standing between and under these great arching monoliths, with the blue sky a distant shape and colour, the wind plays tricks on the ears as it whispers distant secrets of time and events heralded. Standing with the wind coyly addressing your imagination one can sense the culture and history that has been indelibly embellished in the hills through time and space.

This is evidenced in the 3000 plus Bushman painting sites dotted around the area whose diversity in artistic impression and subject matter attest to the vibrant ecology of the region and its influence on the San culture. One could spend an infinite amount of time attempting to demystify these alluring images, especially when sites such as Pomongwe, Mtsheleli, Bambata, Solizwane and Nswatugu offer such bountiful opportunities.

The Amatobo hills also play a significant role in the post-San culture of the Ndebele who hold the hills in reverence as the resting place of Mwari, the God of the ancestral spirits. The hills still echo to the beseeching cries of traditional ceremonies that are still carried out on the hallowed ground.

The caves play further host to history as the backdrop to the peace talks held between Cecil John Rhodes and the Ndebele Indunas in 1896, Rhodes was later interred on the summit of Malindidzimu, the 'hill of the spirits’ a spiritually significant hill commonly known as worlds view. King Mzilikazi is buried in an undisclosed location near Malindidzimu adding further to the significant spiritual and cultural aura exuded and reflected in the granite shaped beauty.
Moving further north another regrettably under visited jewel of Zimbabwean beauty lies waiting, resplendid in an azure tinted shimmer, for its moment of grandeur. One may surmise that the Zambezi National Park may by default lie in the wake of the mighty Victoria Falls but this would be a mistake beyond reckoning, as the park offers some of the most unique spectacles in northern Matabeleland.

The 56 000 hectare park offers the discerning or aspiring hydrologist a breathtaking 45 kilometer stretch of the mighty Zambezi river which not only affords the opportunity to revel in the power and beauty of the continents fourth largest river, but also the viewing pleasure of watching crocodiles and hippopotamus on ones right while simultaneously spotting four of the big five on your left. This opportunity does not present itself in many other National Parks around the country and so should be taken to hand enthusiastically at any opportunity.

To further bolster the grandiose feeling one gets when quietly idling on the banks of the Zambezi the Zambezi National Park will play a vital role in an initiative that will link conservation areas in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Angola to form the largest trans-frontier conservation area in the world. The Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) is a peace parks initiative, which by September 2008 will offer the largest and most diverse ecologically managed tourism area in the world, allowing the unrestricted movement of animals within its 210 000 square kilometre territory, which is roughly the size of Italy.

This monumental project will afford the discerning visitor the opportunity to observe some of Africa’s biggest and rarest animals. The significant combined regional numbers of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) will ensure that visitors to the park will never be far from a breathtaking encounter with the gentle giants. Augmenting these scintillating sightings is the opportunity to see one of Africa’s most strikingly elegant, and dangerously endangered, mammals the Cape Painted Dog (Lycaon pictus) whose dapper appearance never fails to impress.
The one guarantee that any traveller to Zimbabwe’s National parks can be assured of is that once the many splendours of Zimbabwe’s natural jewels have been beheld they inspire a fervent desire to discover and attain yet more and more, a task that the countries wild beauty accepts with grace.