Homeowner Beks Ndlovu takes us off the grid to Zimbabwe | FULL INSERT

The best of the good life is a home off the grid, out of cell range, in Matobo Hills and a vintage Model T Ford to get you there.

We’ve come a long way over The Limpopo, up here to Matobo Hills to see this and it’s worth every mile it took to get here.

This is the weekend escape of Beks and Sophia Ndlovu, near the World Heritage Site of Matobo Hills. It’s a brief drive from Bulawayo for Beks and his family. He founded and is the CEO of an adventure safaris operation in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia. When he wants to get away from it all it’s here, to the land of his ancestors, that he comes.

They called the house Khayelitshe, Ndebele for “house in stone”, but one of the first features you notice is the auto-parts outdoor lounge suite - born of Beks’ fertile design mind. Designing and building their home from scratch, Beks conceived the blueprint in his head, a good while before the build. The wood and stone were far more than stylistic choices.

Colour brings textures and prints together out here on the veranda. Mixed in with Indian pieces, some features have been locally crafted in keeping with Beks’ desire to make the most of homegrown skill – from across the continent.

The Ndlovus see their feet as firmly rooted in African soil, but equally as citizens of the world. It shows in their mix of North, East, West and Southern African styles. Come three on a Friday afternoon its destination Matobo with no Wi-Fi or cell signal – just the family connecting with nature.

It’s first and foremost a family home to the Ndlovus and their nine, eight and five year old children.

It was a unique privilege being able to buy a two hundred and forty-hectare tract of land in this magical area and even if you find yourself with nothing but a rock to sit on – it’s a pretty impressive rock!

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