Hi All

Life in the city goes along like a flash in a blur and most folks seldom take a true break from it all. I was travelling down to Bulawayo for the Inter-District Bowls tournament over the long weekend. So, I took the opportunity to drive out to my spiritual heaven (The Matopos) to spend four nights camping alone, nestled in my tent surrounded by large granite kopjes (dombos) and very attractive, wooded forests of mountain and paperbark acacia. 

The Farmhouse Lodge and Campsite is just 45 km south of Bulawayo and covers an area of 1000 acres stocked full of most of the plains game, along with about a dozen giraffe. Visitors can choose whether to just take in the views or walk/drive around well-marked dirt roads. My preference was to take a small rucksack of water and snacks to slowly climb up steep but manageable granite.  I must confess my quads were very stiff the next day, warranting a short trip into Bulawayo for what I consider the best, professionally applied leg massage I’ve ever had. I was straight back climbing other gomos that very afternoon

On my first night there, I was the only camper and sat by a whopping big campfire with a nearly Full moon slowly creeping over the horizon just after sunset. The Moon came up much later the other nights, so I was able to view the millions of galaxies twinkling high overhead – these are always so much better to view in the bush when there is no other light interference.

A trip to the Matopos would not, of course, be complete without a cycle ride around the park which I duly did on my last morning. I flew back to Harare on Saturday giving myself a full day to slowly reorientate myself back into the city life.

If you are looking for a really good, cheap place to take your kids (any age) for 4 or 5 days these August school holidays, I highly recommend you drive down for a stay at the Farmhouse campsite in the Matopos. 

Ciao Mike G.