Zimbabwe – Matetsi

The Matetsi Safari Area situated in North Western Zimbabwe close to the famous Victoria Falls is Zimbabwe’s oldest and best known hunting safari area. The game rich Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s largest totaling some 13,000 square kilometers, together with Matetsi Safari Area, Kazuma National Park, Zambezi National Park and Pandamasui Forest area all combine to form one of Africa’s largest un-spoilt, wilderness areas over 20,000 square km in extent.

Unit 3 is located in the prime location which forms the corner bounded in the south by Hwange National Park, west by the Zimbabwe/Botswana international border, the north by Matetsi Unit 2 and the East by Matetsi – Unit 5.

Unit 3 consistently produces large elephant and averages over 50 pounds a side each season, bulls in excess of 65 pounds are regularly taken. Buffalo and lion are numerous whereas leopard are more difficult. Matetsi is famous for producing world class sable and Unit 3 is no exception, other species in abundance are kudu, waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, impala, hyena and warthog. In addition to the ‘big game’ hunting, clients can also take a day off to enjoy an afternoon of superb bird shooting, particularly – guineafowl, francolin and sandgrouse.

Access to Unit 3, is from Victoria Falls International Airport a relatively short 1 hours drive from the concession. This in turn makes for side trips to the Victoria Falls for sightseeing and shopping easy to arrange.

Matetsi – Unit 3

Tshowe Camp – Matetsi

The safari lodge in Matetsi –Unit 3 is known as Tshowe Camp and was originally built by Peter Johnston who owns and operates Rosslyn Safaris, one of the founding safari operators in Zimbabwe. The camp forms part of the main homestead on the concession and comprises of three very comfortable bedrooms all with private bathrooms, overhead fans and a verandah. There is a fourth separate thatched chalet also en-suite. A comfortable bar, lounge, dining room and fireplace round off the facilities.

Hunting in Matetsi

Elephant hunting in Matetsi is very good, the location of Unit 3 bordering Hwange National Park to the South and Botswana to the West means there is constant movement of quality bulls through the area. We average over 50 pounds a side in Matetsi and bulls in excess of 60 pounds are not uncommon.

Lion hunting in Matetsi is probably the best on offer in Africa today. The five year moratorium on lion hunting in the whole of the region has ensured that today there is a strong population of lion and success on big maned, free ranging, mature lion is close to 100%.

Buffalo hunting in Matetsi is generally very good, all the Matetsi Units are subject to transitory herds moving in and out of the areas and Unit 3 is no different. As such there is not an all year resident population of buffalo on the concession. However roaming rights between the units mean that we can hunt onto other neighboring concessions if the need arise and success rate on buffalo is over 90%. The quality of bulls taken is excellent and 2010 we took the number one and two bulls in Zimbabwe. Generally Matetsi buffalo have big curls and heavy bosses.

Leopard hunting in Matetsi is like most National Parks concessions restricted by the fact that it is daytime hunting only and as such success rate is 60%. The quality of leopards taken is very good with big bodied, heavy cats as opposed to the long, slender males found in the Zambezi Valley.

Plainsgame hunting in Matetsi is excellent with solid populations of antelope across the board. Sable are particularly good and Matetsi is world famous for this, unit 3 is no exception. Trophy quality waterbuck, kudu, eland, impala, warthog, hyena and reedbuck are common. There is also species such as giraffe, steenbok, grysbok and zebra all common.

Trophy Fees

Important Note: We operate to strict quotas and cannot offer all species to every client, as such please ensure at the time of booking your safari, the specific species you want to hunt are available.

Additional Costs over and above trophy fees, daily rates and transfer costs