Self-drive camping
Inside the park, on the dam; per person
…
… per person
Money, honestly
What a visit to Matobo actually costs
Two of you, your own car, three nights camping at Maleme Dam: about $161 in camping, park fees and the monuments ticket at 2026 rates. Matobo is one of the cheapest national parks in southern Africa to do yourself. This page shows where each dollar goes, then prices the same three nights at a mid-range lodge and at the top of the local market.
If you only want the answer
For two international visitors with a foreign-registered car, three nights camping at Maleme comes to about $161: $72 for camping, $60 in park entry at the sleeping-inside rate, $9 for the car and $20 for one visit to World's View and the caves. Food and fuel come on top. The same three nights cost about $818 at Farmhouse Lodge on dinner, bed and breakfast, and about $3,678 fully inclusive at Amalinda in the August to October peak.
Price your own trip
Set your party, your nights and your rates, pick a place per budget and add the monuments ticket. Everything recalculates from the dated rates on this page.
Travellers
Nights in the park
Your rates
Lodge with meals
Dinner, bed and breakfast; rates valid from Jan 2025
…
… per person
Fully inclusive
All meals, two guided outings a day, 2026
…
… per person
Add what NMMZ charges separately
The NMMZ amount is the non-resident adult price and is not adjusted by the residency switch. Guided activities are sold by the lodges at their own prices; ZimParks publishes no activity tariff for Matobo.
Estimates, rounded, at the dated rates sourced at the bottom of this page. Food, fuel and getting to Bulawayo are not included. Maleme camping is charged per person, so each traveller counts as one pitch. Lodges outside the park, and those whose boundary is unconfirmed, are costed at the day-visitor entry rate. The residency switch changes only the ZimParks lines; lodge rates are published international rates.
Budget one: self-drive camping at Maleme
About $161 for two people over three nights. Camping at Maleme is charged per person, $12 a night for international visitors under the ZimParks tariff of February 2026. Sleeping inside puts you on the lower entry rate of $10 per person per day, and a foreign-registered car pays $3 a day at the same rate. Add one NMMZ ticket each for World's View and the painted caves, $10 per non-resident adult, read from NMMZ's shop on 24 September 2026.
We count three fee-days for three nights. If the gate bills your departure day as a fourth, add $20 for two people and $3 for the car. A car hired in Bulawayo is Zimbabwe-registered and pays $2 a day instead of $3.
| Line item | Per day (2 people) | 3 nights (2 people) |
|---|---|---|
| Camping at Maleme, 2 × $12 (2026 tariff) | $24 | $72 |
| Park entry, sleeping-inside rate, 2 × $10 (2026 tariff) | $20 | $60 |
| Vehicle, foreign registered, staying inside (2026 tariff) | $3 | $9 |
| NMMZ ticket for World's View and the caves, 2 × $10, once (Sep 2026) | $20 | |
| Total | ±$161 |
Food, drink and fuel are extra. Maleme has only a small shop, so bring supplies from Bulawayo. For a roof, a one-bedroom chalet at Maleme is $55 a night per unit (2026 tariff), which replaces the $72 camping line with $165 and brings the trip to about $254.
Budget two: Farmhouse Lodge, dinner, bed and breakfast
About $818 for two people over three nights. Farmhouse Lodge, on a private reserve on the park boundary along the Kezi road, charges $110 per person sharing for dinner, bed and breakfast, including VAT and levy, on rates its own site dates from 1 January 2025. Because it is outside the park, every day you drive in costs the day-visitor rate: $18 per person and $10 for a foreign car.
Matobo Hills Lodge is the other mid-range choice, from $154 per person sharing for bed and breakfast in 2026 and $184 with dinner. It says it is inside the park, which we have not confirmed, and its own rate sheet quotes the $18 entry fee on top.
| Line item | Per day (2 people) | 3 nights (2 people) |
|---|---|---|
| Farmhouse Lodge, 2 × $110 DBB (lodge rate page, valid from Jan 2025) | $220 | $660 |
| Park entry, day-visitor rate, 2 × $18 (2026 tariff) | $36 | $108 |
| Vehicle, foreign registered, day visit (2026 tariff) | $10 | $30 |
| NMMZ ticket, 2 × $10, once (Sep 2026) | $20 | |
| Total | ±$818 |
With a Zimbabwe-registered hire car the vehicle line falls to $15 and the total to about $803. Lunches, drinks and guided activities are extra; the lodge sells concession drives at $20 per person.
Budget three: fully inclusive at Amalinda
About $3,678 for two people over three nights between August and October. Amalinda's Fully Inclusive Plus rate of $613 per person sharing covers meals, selected drinks, activities, park fees and transfers within 20 km, on the reseller rate card we read in September 2026; the lodge does not print rates on its own site. From November 2026 to April 2027 the same package is $447, or about $2,682 for the trip.
Big Cave Camp is the lower-priced inclusive alternative, from $295 per person in its green season (October to March, Hideaways Africa 2026/27), covering meals, local drinks and camp activities. Park fees, the NMMZ ticket and a conservancy levy of $35 per adult per night are extra there.
| Line item | Per day (2 people) | 3 nights (2 people) |
|---|---|---|
| Amalinda, 2 × $613, 1 Aug to 31 Oct (reseller rate card, Sep 2026) | $1,226 | $3,678 |
| Park fees, meals, selected drinks, activities | Included | Included |
| Total | ±$3,678 |
Whether the NMMZ monuments ticket is covered by Amalinda's park-fee inclusion is not stated; ask when you book.
Sleep inside the park and your entry fee nearly halves
ZimParks prices Matobo entry on where you sleep: $10 per person per day for an international visitor staying inside, $18 driving in from outside, and $3 against $10 for a foreign car. Over three days, two people and a foreign car pay $69 staying inside and $138 commuting in.
Only ZimParks' own camps are confirmed inside the boundary. That makes Maleme the cheapest base by more than the bed price alone.
Two tickets, not one
The ZimParks entry fee does not include World's View or the painted caves. Those are national monuments with their own ticket from National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe: $10 for a non-resident adult, $5 for a child, $4 and $1 for residents. NMMZ does not publish what one ticket covers; visitors report that it covers World's View and the main caves on the same visit.
Pay both in US dollars cash. ZimParks publishes nothing about cards at Matobo, and the UK Foreign Office advises carrying cash in Zimbabwe because card acceptance is inconsistent.
Where the money surprises people
- Many websites and ZimParks' own October 2025 Matobo sheet still show $15 entry; the February 2026 tariff raised it to $18, and $10 for those sleeping inside.
- The monuments ticket is extra. An international day visitor with a foreign car who sees World's View pays $18 plus $10 plus $10: $38.
- ZimParks publishes no child entry rate for Matobo. NMMZ charges $5 for a non-resident child.
- The 2026 tariff lists no activity fees at all for Matobo. Walks, drives and horse rides are priced by the lodges.
- Some lodge rates include park fees and some do not: Amalinda and Matobo Hills Lodge's two top packages include them, Big Cave, Farmhouse and Shashani do not.
- One operator says the fenced game section has its own entrance fee. The 2026 tariff has no such line; ask at the gate.
Sources
- ZimParks De-Gazetted Tariff 2026 (checked 24 Sep 2026)
- NMMZ: Monument and Site Entrance Fee (read 24 Sep 2026)
- Farmhouse Lodge Matopos rates (valid from 1 Jan 2025, read Sep 2026)
- Matobo Hills Lodge rates 2026 (read Sep 2026)
- Amalinda rates via Siyabona Africa (read Sep 2026)
- Big Cave Camp via Hideaways Africa 2026/27
- UK FCDO: Zimbabwe safety and security