Hwange National Park is the largest and most popular park in Zimbabwe. It offers excellent wildlife viewing, and most big safari animals can be seen, including the Big Five. Hwange is most known for the impressive concentration of elephant that are attracted to the park's waterholes during the Dry season.
With over 100 species present, Hwange has the widest variety of mammals of any national park in the world. It also has one of the largest elephant populations. There are 20,000 to 70,000 individuals that congregate around the waterholes toward the end of the Dry season. The park has an impressive variety of antelope, including some of the unusual species such as sable antelope and greater kudu.
The park is situated on the eastern edge of the vast Kalahari sands and scrublands. Habitats include teak forest, thornveld and mopane woodland. There is little natural water in the park and animals are dependent on artificial waterholes.
Weather & Climate
Hwange has two clear-cut seasons. The Dry season (April to October) starts off warm before temperatures dip in the middle of the year. Then the heat quickly gets turned up, culminating in the blazing heat of October. The Wet season (November to March) cools things off at first with its stormy weather before settling into a pattern of hot, humid days.
Hwange is at its best in the dry months (July to October), when animals crowd the waterholes. You pretty much have Hwange to yourself in the Wet season (November to April), but animals are more scattered at that time.
Paul is a travel writer, author of the Bradt guidebook to Zimbabwe and is closely involved in promoting tourism to Zimbabwe.
Big Game Metropolis
5/5
Hwange, the size of Belgium, is Zimbabwe’s premier park, one of Africa’s finest. And these days with Zimbabwe’s low tourism figures, you’ll have the park to yourself giving an excellent, uncrowded, wildlife experience. And with 108...
Hwange is a vast area and requires patience and travel over great distances to see the wildlife. There is no fencing so the animals wonder over large areas. We prefer to get away from volumes of commercial tourism so Hwange is the ideal...