Shashani Lodge
Lodge rooms on a game ranch · Private game reserve bordering the western Matopos, about 59 km from Bulawayo · Shashani (family business)
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Mid-range
Outside the gate
Owner/family-run
A game ranch sectioned off in 1995 by a family business, with the lodge added after 1998. Ten rooms, a pool, restaurant and bar, and the widest activity list around the park: drives, walks, birding, hiking to World's View, rock paintings, fishing and horse riding. The booking office is in Hillside, Bulawayo.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Horse riding on the ranch
- Solar power and Starlink keep you connected
- Fishing days on a local dam
- Breakfast, dinner and laundry included in the rate
- The widest activity list of any lodge near the park
Cons
- The lodge's own site publishes no rates at all
- Park fees, drinks and transfers all cost extra
- No child policy found; ask what applies when you enquire
- No self-drive directions published on the lodge's own site
What's here
- Swimming pool
- Wi-Fi
- Restaurant
- Bar
- En-suite bathrooms
- Solar or 24h power
- Laundry
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Guided walks
- Birding
- Fishing
Read from Shashani Lodge'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 Shashani Lodge
From $250 pp, double occupancy. From $250 per person per night sharing, on Jenman Safaris' listing, with no year or basis stated. The lodge's own site publishes no figures; it says breakfast, dinner and laundry are included and park fees, drinks and transfers are not.
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 Shashani Lodge
Is Shashani Lodge good for families?
We found no published minimum age or child policy on the lodge's own site, so ask what applies when you enquire. It does list horse riding as an activity without stating an age limit, so confirm that too if you are travelling with children.
What does the rate at Shashani Lodge include?
The lodge's own site says breakfast, dinner and laundry are included, with park fees, drinks and transfers charged separately. It publishes no figures itself; a listing on Jenman Safaris quotes about $250 per person per night sharing, with no year or basis stated, so confirm the current rate directly.
Can you self-drive to Shashani Lodge?
The lodge's own site gives no self-drive directions; its booking office is in Hillside, Bulawayo, and the property itself sits on a private game reserve bordering the western Matopos, about 59 km from Bulawayo. There is no airstrip, so confirm the route when you book.
What activities does Shashani Lodge offer?
One of the widest lists near the park: game drives, walks, birding, a hike to World's View, rock-art visits, fishing on a local dam and horse riding on the ranch. The lodge also runs on solar power with Starlink, so connectivity is better than most bush properties here.