Contested histories: the grave of Cecil John Rhodes

In the first week of the 2024 WhyAfrica Road Trip through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya, we visited the Matobo National Park and the last resting place of the divisive historical figure Cecil John Rhodes. Rhodes was buried in 1902 on top of a granite peak in the Matobo National Park which he called 'View of the World'. The following is an extract from the case study by Contested Histories called Cecil John Rhodes Memorial Gravesite, Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe https://contestedhistories.org/wp-con... “Despite the scale of his self-claimed crusade to 'save Africa from itself,' Rhodes chose the simplest of epitaphs: 'Here lies the remains of Cecil John Rhodes'. “The hill on which Rhodes is buried has long been considered a sacred place of spirits, known as Malindidzimu, by the Karanga before they were conquered by the Ndebele around 1840. “Mzilikazi, the first King of the Ndebele, who had settled in Rhodesia around 1838, is buried in a cave just a short distance away. Rhodes died on the 26th of March 1902, not yet 49 years old, in his little sea cottage at Muizenberg near Cape Town, South Africa. Since his initial burial in 1902, Rhodes's grave and remains have remained untouched in the Matobo’s, now a UNESCO world heritage site. #whyafricaroadtrips #whyafricaroadtrips #heritage #zimbabwe #history #mining #nationalparks #endorphinexpeditions #overland #camping