Are you planning to visit Zimbabwe and looking for a unique experience? In Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe, you can walk with rhinos, how cool sounds that!? We never thought we’d have the chance to get up that close and personal with the most majestic and endangered creatures on the planet. During our overland camping tour with Acacia Africa, we were lucky enough to meet the rhinos in Zimbabwe. More specifically in Matobo National Park as it is one of the country’s best-kept secrets. Believe us, a once-in-a-lifetime experience you don’t want to miss!
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Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe
Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe is located near the second-largest city, Bulawayo and perhaps it’s also the most unique National Park in the world. The Matobo Hills in the park we’re even declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site. When you enter Matobo National Park, you’re feeling like you’re on a different planet. With breathtaking views, historic heritage, bushmen paintings, and huge rock formations, it’s such a beautiful place. Besides the large numbers of rhinos, the park is home to other amazing wildlife like the cheetah, leopard, zebra, giraffe, hippo, crocodiles, as well as many more other species. As there are no lions or elephants, the park is a safer place to go on a guided safari walk. And the memorable safari you can do here is the rhino tracking on foot.
Our experience in Matobo National Park
We have been on many safaris, but this one was by far the most unique one. The “walking with rhinos” experience in Matobo National Park was part of our overland camping tour with Acacia Africa and is truly a must-do for everyone. It felt like a detective story, a thriller, and a romance, all in one. It’s hard to describe, being so close and personal with these massive and wild creatures, was such a unique and unforgettable moment. A moment of full adrenaline, silence, trying to breathe normally, and thinking the whole time WOW, WOW, WOW. Especially, our encounter with a 9-day-old baby rhino and its mom standing only a few meters in front of us will be a memory that will last forever.
‣ Watch the video: Zimbabwe: travel movie
Saving the rhinos in Zimbabwe, how can we help?
Together with elephants, rhinos have a very important role in our nature and their environment. Protecting them is not only crucial for the vegetation but also for the survival of many other species. And rhinos are, sad to say, critically endangered due to poaching – due to the high value of rhino horn – and habitat loss. Many people are working and tracking day and night to safeguard them, which is wonderful to know. But their survival also depends on our help. A visit to Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe means you’re part of saving the rhinos and supporting their wonderful “Matobo Rhino Trust” program. This program includes a fencing project, anti-poaching, dehorning, and a community that plays a crucial role to protect these amazing creatures. We really hope you can meet them soon too. (before it’s maybe even too late)
And please don’t hesitate to spread the word and share this information with all your friends and family to bring an end to the needless murder of the rhinos. Together we can help raise awareness and change the future for them.
We all have the responsibility to save the wildlife and take care of our planet. Every day we have on this earth is a chance to make it a better place.
With love,
Mik & Valerie
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