Farmhouse Lodge, Matopos

The Farmhouse sits on roughly one thousand acres of private land along the Kezi Road, forty-eight kilometres into the Matopos hills south of Bulawayo. Matopos National Park borders the property directly, and the twelve stone cottages are built beneath a granite kopje — the rounded rock outcrops that define this landscape. Rooms are configured as doubles or twins, and nine of the twelve can accommodate a third bed. Each has its own outdoor sitting area, a small fridge, a tea and coffee station, and an en-suite bathroom.

The property has marked walking and hiking trails, and management provides a map. Game on the land includes giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, and warthog. Guided bush walks lead past cave paintings, grain bins, and an Iron Age smelter; some of the rock art on the property dates back ten thousand years. Rhino tracking runs into Matopos National Park through a preferred operator, Black Rhino Safaris. Mountain bikes are available to hire for the dirt trails and gravel roads. The Mabazvi rock outcrop behind the lodge can be climbed unguided — the trail begins behind Lodge Four.

The restaurant serves three meals a day, adjusted for dietary requirements. A bar, pool, and braai facilities sit in the central garden area.

Separate from the lodge, the Worlds View campsite occupies higher ground inside the Granite Ridge Wildlife Reserve, with a communal dining and entertainment area, hot showers, campfire pits, and braai areas looking out over the national park.