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Matobo National Park travel info Mzilikazi, who was the second-last king of the Ndebele, was so impressed by the Matobos that he requested 43 200 hectares be turned into a National Park. It was here that he asked to be buried, and a train from Cape Town brought his body. About one kilometre before the Park, the palatial white building on the right, now an agricultural college, was Rhodes' summerhouse.
A short way into the Park is 'View of the World', a massive granite dome at the highest point of the hills, where Rhodes is buried. The locals called it Malindidzimu, 'place of the spirits', long before Rhodes gave it his own, rather uninspiring name. Rhodes is not alone, however, as his right-hand man and leader of the Jameson Raid (the 1895 revolt against South Africa's President Kruger), Leander Starr Jameson, is buried a short distance away .And on yet another boulder is a large and imposing Memorial to the Shangaan Patrol, a tribute to the twenty men who died in battle with 30 000 Zulu warriors during the Matabele Wars of 1893.
The mixture of history, art and culture make for a heady adventure in the African bush, and the remarkable set of San paintings at Ntswatugi, that lie an easy 25km south of Rhode's grave, serve only to enhance the experience. The painting at Ntswatugi, which are clear, even dramatic and perhaps the best preserved of all those on view in the Matobos, are a mere staircase away, just above the car park. The joy and privilege in seeing such well-preserved and fine work is hard to describe, no doubt urging one to visit the other worthwhile paintings in the area; the White Rhino Shelter, bambata, Inanke, and just south of the park, Silozwane.
The western sector of the National Park has been fenced off as a reserve for small game and is known as Whovi Wild Area, where most animals except elephants and big cats can be seen. Close by and really well worth visiting is the Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) of the park, the section where the threatened black rhino is kept back to Matobo National Park top
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