Bulawayo is Zimbabwe’s second largest city and from our experience, a lot more relaxed and cleaner than the capital city, Harare.

Our drive here was a little challenging with some the roads exhibiting crater fields which slowed us down and tested our little hire car, but we eventually arrived unscathed.

We stayed just outside of the city centre and took a trip out to visit Matobo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The park is known for it’s hanging rocks, ancient San rock art, the resting place of Cecil Rhodes and Rhino tracking.

The cave art was actually quite impressive given this is in a cave that has been exposed to the elements over thousands of years.

The views from the higher rock areas are stunning.

We headed up to a granite hilltop with views across the Matobo hills.

This area has been inhabited for over 500,000 years.

This is where Cecil Rhodes was buried. He remains a controversial figure, as thr founder of Rhodesia (now Zambia/Zimbabwe) and a key figure in the British colonial expansion in Africa.

The monument below is in memory of the Shangani Patrol who were killed during the First Matabele War.

We didn’t manage to see any wildlife in the park but as we left our guide managed to contact two park rangers who knew where some Rhinos were located.

We left the jeep and followed the armed rangers into the bush, ducking through prickly bushes and difficult terrain, they led us to mother and it’s young one.

They are powerful creatures and we kept our distance both for their comfort and our safety!

A fabulous ending to our time in Zimbabwe.

Tomorrow we drive six hours back to Harare, expecting more challenging driving across crater fields before we fly on to Malawi.