Matobo Hills Lodge: Paragon of hospitality

Look at the CVs of personalities in leading restaurants, lodges and hotels around the country, and discover what an important role this resource in the City of Kings/Queens has played in developing the local hospitality industry.
At Matobo Hills Lodge, a resort built on granite outcrops in the extraordinarily beautiful National Heritage site of the Matopos, Chef Thandiwe, a graduate of the hotel school, cooks three meals a day for holiday makers visiting Zimbabwe from all corners of the globe. Two Saturdays ago, George and I arrived at Matobo Hills in time for lunch.
The tented dining room, pegged into an expanse of smooth granite, with a 360-degree view of honey-coloured boulders, Silver-leafed Terminalia, and blue skies, looked inviting. Our waiter, Anophie, who also acted as barman in the evenings, took our lunch order.
I asked for fish and chips, which was freshly made and tasty. The chips were hot, crisp and tender inside, and obviously fried in clean oil: there was none of the stale odour of frying that hangs around many a gloomy restaurant in Harare. The fish was a large piece of hake, fried in a crispy batter in the style of Heston Blumenthal, the adventurous TV chef. A salad of crisp Iceberg Lettuce, tomato, onion and green pepper, and a side dish of Tartare sauce, provided contrast.
In the afternoon, we toured the game park and watched the white rhinoceros Swazi with her young calf, and a large paternal male, contentedly grazing in a stretch of savannah grassland.
A group of daring young tourists had crept up to observe the nuclear rhino family as they enjoyed their evening meal, but when the imposing male rhino kicked the ground behind him and pointed his horns in their direction, they beat an ungainly backwards retreat.
Back at the camp in the evening, we showered and changed for dinner. A drumbeat summoned us to the dining room at 7 o’clock, where Anophie took our orders for J&B on the rocks. Chef Thandi had laid out a tasty buffet for us, starting with hot onion soup, followed by a choice of main courses. Beef stir-fry was particularly delicious, served with rice, potatoes and a variety of vegetables.
A large group of Russian tourists, who had arrived in the Matopos via South Africa, seemed to be enjoying the local cuisine, although the chef was kept on her toes with requests for extra cucumber, tomatoes and apples.
I awoke early next morning, hoping to photograph the sunrise as it tinged the western rock formations with its glowing pink and rose-coloured light.
Breakfast was available between 7 and 9 o’clock, and the smartly dressed Anophie was on duty to direct us towards the buffet of fruit juice, muesli, corn flakes and rice crispies. Thandi was resplendent in her crisp white chef’s uniform and before long, she was cooking up a storm on the barbecue.
We all ordered bacon, tomato, sausages, and baked beans, and given the choice of eggs to order, I asked for a cheese, tomato and onion omelette.
Whether we sat facing north, south, east or west, the view was one of uninterrupted granite kopjes, trees and valleys. A gentle breeze barely disturbed the tablecloth and our previous busy city lives became a distant memory.
Chef Thandiwe is but one of numerous graduates of the Bulawayo Hotel School, that has equipped so many young people with the means to make careers as chefs and hoteliers.
Matobo Hills Lodge
Matopos
E-mail: matobo@rtg.co.zw
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