Mataposo Park - Day 17

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Ian’s birthday - he had his last one at Dongola on the Nile in Sudan - which meant he opened several cards from his family at breakfast. We set off early for the Park, some 30 kms to the south and east of Bulawayo and paid our entrance fees at the gate.

Everywhere was extremely dry and the evidence of burning was distressing. There were very few animals about but we did manage to see 5 Rowan antelope, quite a rarity in these parts, and indeed a couple of white rhino grazing by a dam. Otherwise there was little to see other than the exquisite scenery.

The whole area was peppered with rocky outcrops, some of them very large indeed, with huge boulders balanced precariously on them. We saw several Black eagles, which are unique to this area, but the bush was so dry that birds were, indeed, quite scarce.

Cecil Rhodes’ grave is located here in the park and we called in to have a look at it. But when we were charged $10 per head to see it, we politely declined, took in the atmosphere of the place, and left.

We ended up at the campsite next to a dam in the centre of the park, again provided with excellent toilet blocks and plentiful supply of hot water - something which really surprises us in this country. We parked up under some huge acacia rees and our evening meal we ate under the light of a waxing moon which bodes well for our camps for the next week or so.

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