Farmhouse Lodge Matopos
Cape Dutch-style cottages and a campsite · Granite Ridge Wildlife Reserve, on the park boundary, 48 km from Bulawayo on the Kezi road · Farmhouse Lodge (formerly Granite Ridge Lodge)
Budget
Outside the gate
Owner/family-run
A former farm homestead turned into a restaurant, bar and reception in 1996, now with twelve cottages and a campsite on a private reserve on the park boundary. The lodge was previously called Granite Ridge. Reviews describe it as family-owned; the lodge's site does not say. The rates on its site are dated 2025.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Dinner and breakfast bundled into the room rate
- Its own campsite right beside the park
- Rock-art visits and concession game drives on site
- A rock pool, restaurant, bar and boma on site
- Camping from just $15 a person
Cons
- Published rates are dated 1 January 2025, so confirm they still hold
- Game drives need a minimum of four people
- Ownership is not stated on the lodge's own site
- No minimum age found for the cottages; camping gives a child price
What's here
- Swimming pool
- Wi-Fi
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Campsite
- En-suite bathrooms
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Guided walks
- Community visits
Read from Farmhouse Lodge Matopos's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Matobo National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entryThe ZimParks rate if you drive in from outside.
- $18per person, per day
- VehicleForeign-registered car, $10 a day visiting and $3 staying inside; a Zimbabwe-registered hire car pays $5 and $2.
- $10per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $138 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
World's View and the painted caves need a separate NMMZ ticket, $10 per non-resident adult, which is not included in these sums.
The full fee schedule for Matobo National ParkRates at Farmhouse Lodge Matopos
From $110 pp sharing, dinner, bed & breakfast. Rates on the lodge's own site, valid from 1 January 2025 and including VAT and levy: $110 per person sharing, dinner, bed and breakfast; single $125. Camping $15 per person, children 6 to 11 $8. Concession game drive $20 per person (minimum four), half-day cultural tour $80.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Rates checked in September 2026. Where a lodge publishes its own rate we use it, with its date; for Amalinda, Big Cave and Shashani, which do not print rates on their own sites, the figure comes from a named reseller or agent and says so. The price filter and sort use per-person rates only; lodges that price per room or per unit show their rate in the text but carry no sortable figure. ZimParks entry is extra almost everywhere: $18 per international adult per day driving in, $10 sleeping inside, and the NMMZ ticket for World's View and the caves is $10 on top.
Questions about Farmhouse Lodge Matopos
Is Farmhouse Lodge Matopos good for families?
We found no published minimum age for the cottages, but its camping rates give a children's price: $15 a person for an adult, dropping to $8 for ages 6 to 11. Ask about the cottages specifically when you book, since no equivalent child rate is published for them.
What does the rate at Farmhouse Lodge Matopos include?
The per-person sharing rate of $110, dated to 1 January 2025 on the lodge's own site, covers dinner, bed and breakfast and already includes VAT and levy; a single room is $125. Camping is $15 a person. Concession game drives cost $20 a person with a minimum of four, and a half-day cultural tour is $80.
Can you self-drive to Farmhouse Lodge Matopos?
Yes. It sits on the Kezi road about 48 km from Bulawayo, on the Granite Ridge Wildlife Reserve boundary with the park, and the lodge publishes GPS coordinates for the drive. There is no airstrip, so driving is the way in.
Who owns Farmhouse Lodge Matopos?
Unclear from the lodge's own site, which does not state ownership; reviews describe it as family-owned. It opened as a restaurant and reception in 1996 on a former farm, previously traded as Granite Ridge Lodge, and now has 12 cottages plus a campsite.
Does Farmhouse Lodge Matopos have its own campsite?
Yes, beside the lodge on the same reserve, with a dining and entertainment area, an ablution block with hot showers, solar lights and geysers, and open campfire and braai sites. Camping is $15 a person, $8 for children aged 6 to 11.