Not all of us who live near the Matobo Hills
really appreciate just how majestic those rocks are. Instead of the girls going to a restaurant in town for our regular get-together, we decided to have a sleep-over in the Matopos at one of the girls little country residence. We toddled off in the late afternoon so that we could get settled down in time for sundowners. One of our gang of merry girls only made it after dark, just as we were planning how we were going to go about organising our search party without the benefit of cellphones .... no signal where we were, hidden in the hills. Luckily it didn't come to that, so we made a big fire, got our munchies together, the cold boxes were nearby, and there we stayed for HOURS, discussing everything possible under
the sun - well moon, actually, it was a full moon that night, which just adds to the mystic of the hills. We sat under a brilliantly lit bright sky, watching satellites orbiting in the earlier hours, spotting Jupiter's 4 moons by telescope, listening to the nightjars, deeply breathing in the clean bush air. Deciding in the wee hours that after sitting next to the fire all this time a hot bath was definately on the cards, the next hour was spent on my hands and knees worshipping the chip-boiler. Funny how the staff on hand always seem to get those things going within seconds, and the 2 of us who were lighting this hotwater fire are no sissies when it comes to fire-building, let me assure you, but it did take a full hour's grovelling in the ash to get the water piping hot, but
which time I DEFINATELY needed a bath !! We all slept amazingly well, and it seemed like it was time to wake up in just minutes ... Early morning consisted of sitting round in our jarmies drinking gallons of coffee and basking in the early sunshine like lizards. But, seeing as we were in the heart of walking and rock climbing territory, we donned our taakies and head off down the road in search of ... well anything really !! We kept an eye out for the Black Eagles nest which we spied on through the binos, and we just kept on walking. The route we were sent on came to an end far to quickly, so we kept on going. Around one bend in the road we surprised a beautiful bushbuck which we got a good look at as it was so shocked to find us there, it just froze and stared at us for a while before
melting off into the bush. A vehicle ferrying guests out of the neighbouring safari camp stopped to ask if we were ok, were we lost ?? No no, we know exactly where we are !! And so we headed back to base, found things there still quiet, and decided to tackle the adjacent kopje. Once atop, the view was astounding, and one can just sit and stare for ages and ages, picking out the odd landmark, and just marvelling over the rock structures and quietness of it all. Its always been said of the Matopos that it is a spiritual place, and a power centre, and boy !, when you are there it certainly feels like it. We eventually headed back down the rocks to find that the dear young thing that accompanied us this weekend had cooked up a slap-up bacon, eggs, sausage-
and-the-rest brunch. It was delicious, and just what we needed after our exercise. After more chats and bird-watching, 2 of us had to head off home, deciding to take the long way round so that we could take in more of the Matopos. I was very happy that I had made the decision to go out in the Landy, as the road was atrocious in parts and a Landy was just what we needed ... We meandered through the Park, and I don't think we saw single soul until nearing the main gate - and this on a Sunday !! We really don't make enough use of that Park.....
Not all of us who live near the Matobo Hills really appreciate just how majestic those rocks are. Instead of the girls going to a restaurant in town for our regular get-together, we decided to have a sleep-over in the Matopos at one of the girls little country residence. We toddled off in the late afternoon so that we could get settled down in time for sundowners. One of our gang of merry girls only made it after dark, just as we were planning how we were going to go about organising our search party without the benefit of cellphones .... no signal where we were, hidden in the hills. Luckily it didn't come to that, so we made a big fire, got our munchies together, the cold boxes were nearby, and there we stayed for HOURS, discussing everything possible under 
the sun - well moon, actually, it was a full moon that night, which just adds to the mystic of the hills. We sat under a brilliantly lit bright sky, watching satellites orbiting in the earlier hours, spotting Jupiter's 4 moons by telescope, listening to the nightjars, deeply breathing in the clean bush air. Deciding in the wee hours that after sitting next to the fire all this time a hot bath was definately on the cards, the next hour was spent on my hands and knees worshipping the chip-boiler. Funny how the staff on hand always seem to get those things going within seconds, and the 2 of us who were lighting this hotwater fire are no sissies when it comes to fire-building, let me assure you, but it did take a full hour's grovelling in the ash to get the water piping hot, but 
which time I DEFINATELY needed a bath !! We all slept amazingly well, and it seemed like it was time to wake up in just minutes ... Early morning consisted of sitting round in our jarmies drinking gallons of coffee and basking in the early sunshine like lizards. But, seeing as we were in the heart of walking and rock climbing territory, we donned our taakies and head off down the road in search of ... well anything really !! We kept an eye out for the Black Eagles nest which we spied on through the binos, and we just kept on walking. The route we were sent on came to an end far to quickly, so we kept on going. Around one bend in the road we surprised a beautiful bushbuck which we got a good look at as it was so shocked to find us there, it just froze and stared at us for a while before 
melting off into the bush. A vehicle ferrying guests out of the neighbouring safari camp stopped to ask if we were ok, were we lost ?? No no, we know exactly where we are !! And so we headed back to base, found things there still quiet, and decided to tackle the adjacent kopje. Once atop, the view was astounding, and one can just sit and stare for ages and ages, picking out the odd landmark, and just marvelling over the rock structures and quietness of it all. Its always been said of the Matopos that it is a spiritual place, and a power centre, and boy !, when you are there it certainly feels like it. We eventually headed back down the rocks to find that the dear young thing that accompanied us this weekend had cooked up a slap-up bacon, eggs, sausage-
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