Highlights
Wildlife
We recommend that your tailor-made itinerary in Zimbabwe includes at least one national park. Hwange National Park is the country's largest, covering some 1.4 million hectares over a variety of different habitats. Overlooking the Zambezi, Mana Pools National Park offers you the chance to spot wildlife as you cruise along the river. For those seeking remoteness and pristine wilderness, Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve is where to head, with just one lodge nestled in 130,000 acres! Game drives, walking safaris and bird-watching expeditions can be enjoyed in all these enchanting areas.
Victoria Falls
Perhaps Zimbabwe’s most famous attraction, Victoria Falls lies at the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Named after Queen Victoria, the locals refer to it as ‘Mosi-o-Tunya’ or, ‘the smoke that thunders’, due to the spray created by the water. There are plenty of walking trails to view the falls... but expect to get wet from the spray! One of the best ways to appreciate the scale of the falls is to take a scenic helicopter flight over them. During a full moon, ‘moonbows’ are sometimes created over Victoria Falls. This natural phenomenon is when rainbows created by the spray are illuminated by the light of the full moon.
Cruising the Zambezi River and Lake Kariba
Sunrise and sunset are some of the best times to cruise Zimbabwe’s wildlife dense waterways, during which the light is perfect for photography, especially if there are animals at the shoreline. The MV Matusadona offers a three-night luxury cruise on Lake Kariba, mooring at a different location each evening. Meanwhile, for the more adventurous, canoeing safaris are available on the Zambezi River from Mana Pools National Park.
Culture and Community
With 16 official languages, Zimbabwe has a fascinating, rich and diverse cultural heritage. Many camps and lodges have their own engaging programmes through which you can interact with the locals and learn more about their communities, while many also have schemes in place to support these local people, teaching everything from cookery to poacher tracking.