Matusadona National Park Zimbabwe

on the shores of Lake Kariba

Geography

Matusadonha has three distinct ecological areas:

1. the lake and shoreline grassland

2. the Zambezi Valley floor, a mass of thick jesse
and mopane woodland

3. the Escarpment area of Julbernadia and
Brachystegia woodlands.
The Jesse/ Mopani area is sparsely grassed, but
provides habitat for browsers, most notably the black rhino.

Elephants range throughout the Park, seeking the
shade of the Jesse in the heat of the day.

The Escarpment rises some 700 metres above the
Valley floor and is extremely rugged.

Over the years, elephant and fire depredations
have caused the once substantial woodlands to
dwindle, and in parts, grasslands have taken over

Wildlife

elephant and buffalo.

Common species are :
night ape, honey badger, civet, small spotted genet,
slender & banded mongoose, spotted hyaena,
wild cat, lion, leopard, yellow spotted dassie, black rhinos,
zebra, warthog, common duiker, grysbok, klipspringer,
waterbuck, bushbuck, scrub hare, porcupine, vervet
monkey, chacma baboon, side-striped jackal,
hippopotamus, roan, kudu and bush squirrel.

Some of the more elusive species include:
clawless otter, white-tailed mongoose, reedbuck,
sable antelope, eland, civet, rusty spotted genet,
caracal and bush pig.

Rare sightings include wild dog, cheetah,
roan and pangolin.

Birdlife

240 species have been recorded.
Fish eagles are common with grey herons,
goliath herons, great white herons and
saddle bill storks.

Plovers, waders, osprey, woolly necked storks,
open billed storks, white winged plovers<
red winged pratincoles.

Bee eater colonies are found in the
sandstone banks and cliffs.

Accommodation

Visiting times

open all year round

Getting There

By Air
A small, 800 metre landing strip is available at
Tashinga Camp and can take small aircraft.
The strip is licensed Category II.

By Boat
Visitors can come in from Bumi Hills located 14 kms
from Tashinga, or 50 kilometres across the Lake from
Kariba town.

By Road
Normally the Park is reached via Karoi, but it can also
be accessed from Victoria Falls, via Binga.

If traveling from Karoi, 8 kilometres north of Karoi on
the Harare-Chirundu Road turn left through the
Hurungwe communal land. 115 kilometres from Karoi
you cross the Sanyati River.

You continue on the Binga Road for a further
62 kilometres and then turn right and continue
for 82 kilometrs to Tashinga which is the headquarters
of the Park.

Except for a short distance of narrow tar, when one
leaves the Harare-Chirundu Road, the roads are
either gravel or dirt.

The last 82 kilometres are rough and not suitable
for saloon and low clearance vehicles. I

t is advisable to enquire about the condition of the
road before starting your journey.

Game viewing roads are closed during the rainy season