Matusadona

Rupert Fothergill led Operation Noah between 1958 and 1964, lifting more than 6,000 animals stranded by the rising waters of the newly forming Lake Kariba to higher ground. Much of that ground became Matusadona, declared a protected area in 1958. The Tonga people, who had lived along the valley for generations, were displaced by the same rising water. That history sits beneath the surface of the lake and the park alike, and you feel it in the drowned trees still standing in the shallows.

For decades afterwards, poaching pressed hard on rhino and elephant, and wildlife numbers fell. In 2019, African Parks took on management in a 20-year partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Their work centres on law enforcement, wildlife monitoring and community engagement. The rebuilding of lion, buffalo and broader populations is the measure they hold themselves to, and the lake’s shoreline is the focal point, watched from boat, houseboat and the lakebed itself.

A place where the black rhino can hold its ground again.

Matusadona is also an Intensive Protection Zone for black rhino, with relocated animals held under high-security protection. The park is considered a critical refuge for the species in Zimbabwe. The combination of anti-poaching enforcement and habitat management under African Parks has given the population a more stable footing than it has had in years, and Matusadona has become a place where the species can hold its ground.

Houseboats moor in the park’s lagoons for a night or two, serving as floating bases for game viewing, fishing and slow cruising along the drowned valley. Vehicle drives cover the floodplains and woodlands, and walking safaris with armed guides explore the foothills and grasslands. The park remains quiet and little-visited, a function of its remoteness and the harsh internal roads that close in the rains. It pairs naturally with the elephants and pans of Hwange and the Zambezi spectacle at Victoria Falls.