The park was named after the local Matuzviadonha Hills, these hills are a stunning combination of flat plains and rugged mountains. The meaning of “Matuzviadonha” is “falling dung” – thought to be the sight of elephants dropping dung balls as they make their way up hills. The name is often abbreviated as “The Matus” in colloquial speech by locals. Matusadona offers a unique combination of pristine and rugged wilderness, with the water along Lake Kariba. It is one of the last remaining sanctuaries of the endangered Black Rhinoceros. Matusadona is also recognized as having the second largest concentration of wild lions in Africa after the Ngorongoro Crater. Its relatively poor accessibility by road and extremely harsh internal network of roads keep visitors and vehicle numbers low, though accessible by boat from Kariba and from the Bumi Hills airstrip. Our guests will sometimes take a houseboat safari to the shores of Matusadona. Many of the animals rescued during Operation Noah when Lake Kariba was filling (following the construction of Kariba Dam) were released into Matusadona, which now holds strong populations of most mammals occurring in the Zambezi Valley. Buffalo are especially prominent and herds of up to 1,000-strong often congregate along the shoreline of Kariba in the dry season. We encourage our guests to take advantage of the walking safaris in Matusadona.
