Expert Reviews of Zimbabwe (13 Reviews)

If ever there was an underappreciated destination, it’s Zimbabwe – something every safari expert will tell you.

The country continues to experience tough times. The 2018 election promised a new chapter – but resulted in a slide backwards. The economy is in the bin and the country needs tourism.

Despite its problems, Zimbabwe is a safe country for tourists and there’s an incredible safari waiting for those open-minded enough to visit. Zimbabwean guides are, I think, the best in Africa; the country also has one of the continent’s best standards of education, which is immediately apparent. High-end camps are far better value than in neighbouring Botswana and South Africa. Make sure you pay for as much as possible in advance and note that there’s little cash access on the ground.

These days, most safaris start in Victoria Falls, with its new international airport (Kenya Airways flies between Cape Town and Nairobi with a stop in Vic Falls, which

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is convenient for those on a multi-destination trip). There’s so much to do here: bungee jumping, white-water rafting, sundowner cruises and walking safaris, to name a few.

From there, Hwange National Park is a great option, as you can drive there within three hours. There you’ll find lions, leopards, cheetahs and humongous herds of elephants, especially during the dry months of September and October. You can self-drive and camp or stay in one of the long-established high-end camps. I’ve visited Hwange three times to date and often recommend it to friends travelling to southern Africa for the first time.

Further afield, Mana Pools, on the banks of the Zambezi, still feels really wild – and it’s a great place for walking safaris (you can even walk unguided). Lake Kariba is a holiday favourite of many Zimbabweans; stay on a houseboat or at a lakeside lodge. Then there are lesser-visited places, such as Matusadona National Park (managed by the non-profit African Parks) and Gonarezhou National Park in the south – ones for those who like to veer off the beaten track.

Like many, I once associated Zimbabwe solely with tales of corruption, a downtrodden populace, and unchecked wildlife destruction. Yet, my repeated visits to the country have shattered these assumptions. Zimbabwe is a paradoxical gem, where the warmth of its people contrasts sharply with its troubled politics, and what’s more, wildlife can be surprisingly abundant in the right places.

One of my very favourite National Parks in all of Africa is Mana Pools; a beautiful locale where acacia forests, hills, and semi-open plains meet the great Zambezi River.

This is where big bull elephants are known to stand on their hind feet, like circus performers, to reach for succulent leaves on high-up branches.

There are luxury lodges in the park (and they are very nice), but to be honest, I much prefer the ambience of sleeping in a tent in one of the riverside campgrounds, with elephants all around, and the sounds of hippos and lions keeping me awake.

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/> Take a walk with an experienced guide, and you will likely find the animals a bit more accommodating of your presence than in other areas that provide on-foot excursions. I’ve had huge tuskers nonchalantly walk past me within metres.

Another place well worth a visit is the Hwange National Park. It’s famous for its enormous herds of pachyderms, which not everyone will see due to the park’s immense size. But on my last visit, I went to a salt pan near the Ivory Lodge and was astonished to encounter a herd of elephants numbering in the hundreds. I’ll never forget how exciting it was.

Matobo National Park is also lovely. It isn’t all that game-rich, but the scenery is drop-dead gorgeous. There are whale-back granite formations that get their name for, well, resembling whales sailing through an ocean of forest, and there are balancing boulders and stone domes aplenty.

Mosi-oa-Tunya is a must-see, and for those who like a bit of adrenalin to go with their safari, you can do a spot of class 5 white water rafting or partake in a bungee jump over the falls.

It’s a great way to scare yourself half to death while enjoying one of the most magnificent views on the planet.

Zimbabwe might perhaps still have negative connotations – but it really feels it is finally on the rebound, with significant new investment in infrastructure and the tourist industry. It is a beautiful country with a wide variety of safari destinations, visitor attractions and activities. Perhaps best of all are the Zimbabweans themselves, such joyful, positive people and with a reputation for being some of the best guides and trackers in Africa.

Key safari destinations are Hwange and Mana Pools National Parks – both have healthy populations of elephant and a good chance of seeing wild dogs. Mana Pools has the added attraction of visitors being able to walk on foot as well as canoe on the Zambezi River. In the far southeast is the little visited Gonarezhou National Park where you can wild camp. Victoria Falls is a well-deserved bucket list destination (I personally prefer the more spectacular Zimbabwean side to Livingstone, on the Zambian side), perhaps best of all appreciated

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from the air, with a scenic flight. Other top Zimbabwean destinations include the photogenic Matopos Hills and the Unesco World Heritage Site of Great Zimbabwe. The Eastern Highlands offer spectacular mountain scenery and are one of the best birding destinations in southern Africa.

Forget everything negative you’ve heard about Zimbabwe. This is one of my favorite safari destinations. Hwange, in the country’s east, belongs among the elite of African national parks. I especially love it for its elephant and lion sightings. Mana Pools National Park in the north is also a favorite, not least because it’s one of few parks in Africa where you can walk in wildlife areas without a guide. Add the history of Great Zimbabwe, the splendor of Victoria Falls and the dramatic cliffs of Gonarezhou, and there’s plenty to keep you occupied for weeks. But one of the most underrated aspects of visiting Zimbabwe is its people. Obscured for too long by political instability and the shadow of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s people could just be its greatest asset. More than anywhere else in Africa, I have found Zimbabweans to be highly educated, professional in their work, and unfailingly warm in their welcome. This is especially true of those working in the safari industry. Even if

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your time is limited, Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls are world-class destinations that are worth making room in your itinerary for.

Zimbabwe has a generous sample of the Africa many people hope to see – untamed savannah, mighty rivers, thundering waterfalls, and a good variety of African animals. The Victoria Falls are the principal attraction, where the Zambezi spills dramatically into the Bakota Gorge, and Hwange, Mana Pools and Gonarezhou are just some of the immensely rewarding parks in which to see big game. I particularly love the distinctively Zimbabwean landscapes: balancing boulders, giant baobab trees and ubiquitous beehive hut settlements scattered across the veld.

Probably my favourite highlight of Zimbabwe is the wonderful people, and every time I visit I’m always struck by their warmth and friendliness. Service is impeccable with well-trained staff, and Zimbabwe is renowned for its professional safari guides who have gone a long way to lifting guiding standards across Africa.

The diverse habitats are home to impressively large populations of elephant and buffalo and usually-rare

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species like roan antelope and wild dog. Safari options are not confined to the back of a vehicle: there is also some excellent walking and canoeing. The endless list of activities based around Victoria Falls includes bungee-jumping and white-water rafting, while excursions like scenic flights and river cruises offer the chance to see wildlife along the banks of the life-giving Zambezi.

Despite its well-publicised political and economic problems, Zimbabwe’s tourist industry has rarely been affected and it’s always maintained its strong reputation as an attractive safari destination. It has a good choice of hotels, lodges and camps, and Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority has been proactive about protecting its wild spaces, assisted in some parks by NGOs such as the Frankfurt Zoological Society and Peace Parks. Added advantages for visitors include an international airport opening at Victoria Falls and being able to pay for almost everything in US dollars. Strategically, too, a big advantage is the proximity of Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park in the west to attractions in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.

The pivotal tourist attraction in Zimbabwe is the mile-wide Victoria Falls, a not-to-be-missed sight whose scenic magnificence has hit me afresh on each of half a dozen visits – and ensures that it is officially listed as one of the seven wonders of the natural world. Vic Falls – as it’s known locally – is also a great centre for adrenaline junkies, with adventure activities ranging from the intimidating bungee jump from the bridge facing the mighty waterfall to white-water rafting in the torrential Zambezi Gorge below the falls or canoeing on the more placid hippo-infested waters above it.

As singularly impressive as Vic Falls in its own right is the ruined stone city of Great Zimbabwe, a medieval trade centre that qualifies as the most haunting African historical site south of Ethiopia.

Zimbabwe is no slouch when it comes to game viewing, either. My favourite among its national parks, Hwange, a short drive south of Vic Falls, is justifiably renowned for

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its immense concentrations of elephants, but it is also good for lion, giraffe, buffalo and other safari favourites, along with the rather localised sable antelope. Nearby Matobo National Park, the burial place of Cecil John Rhodes, is famed for its balancing rocks, and is one of many sites in Zimbabwe rich in prehistoric rock art. Matobo is also the most reliable park in Zimbabwe for rhino sightings, though to be reasonably sure of seeing these impressive creatures, you should arrange to track them on foot with an armed ranger.

Other great safari destinations in Zimbabwe include Mana Pools NP (on the lower Zambezi), Matusadona NP (on Lake Kariba) and Gonarezhou NP (which lies in the far south of the country and forms part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park). An important aspect of all three of these parks is they are geared largely towards guided walking safaris, which is a far more exciting way to see wildlife than viewing it from a vehicle, though maybe not suited to nervous first-time safari-goers.

If you’re into off-the-beaten-track hiking, head to the Eastern Highlands, a region that offers some wonderfully scenic (and very affordable) walking possibilities. These range from serious overnight hikes in the Chimanimani Range to some wonderful forest walks in Vumba and Chelinda, both of which offer superb bird watching.

A feature of Zimbabwe at present is the relatively low tourist volumes associated with the country’s negative international profile during and after the Mugabe regime. Despite this, Zimbabwe is very safe to visit, its beleaguered tourist industry deserves support, and it offers a refreshingly untrammelled experience away from the few main tourist centres.

For many years I’ve been travelling around different parts of Africa experiencing safaris in many different parks and environments. Throughout all this time whenever talk has turned to safari guides, training or community conservation one word above others kept cropping up, ‘Zimbabwe’, but over the past ten to fifteen years that word has inevitably been followed by a sigh from the speaker. Zimbabwe, so everyone who knew the country said, was once in African safari royalty. It had some of the best parks, finest infrastructure and some incredible wildlife. But not just that the country had also earnt a solid reputation for its guides (particularly the walking guides) who were considered among the best trained and most professional in Africa. Zimbabwe could also be credited with giving birth to the original community conservation movement which is now making in-roads in conservation and tourism in many other parts of Africa. Sadly, though the country is today a shadow of its former self.

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More than a decade of misrule from Robert Mugabe has stripped the country of much of its safari credentials and left its once ground-breaking community conservation programme in tatters.

Having listened to these kind of tales for what seems like years, in late 2015, I finally got my chance to go to Zimbabwe. I really had very little idea what to expect. What I found though truly left me impressed. My experiences were confined to the far southwest – the legendary Victoria Falls (infinitely more impressive from the Zimbabwean side than the Zambian side where, thanks to a major hydro-electric project, the falls are often just a trickle of bathwater) and huge Hwange National Park. Late November, when I visited, is not considered an ideal time of year to visit southwest Zimbabwe and, thanks to an extended drought in southern Africa, November 2015 was considered even worse than normal. But the truth is I was quickly hooked on the place. Yes, okay, so the famously large elephant herds of Hwangwe were nowhere to be seen but the sense of isolation was superb. Compared to South Africa, Kenya or Tanzania there was literally nobody else here and I frequently spent entire days without seeing a single other tourist vehicle. I also found the villages I visited fascinating. The houses here had a level of love plastered onto them that I don’t think I have ever seen anywhere in eastern Africa. Made of mud they might have been, but they were covered in bright, hand painted murals of animals and landscapes and as often as not had masses of flower pots filled with pink and orange blooms outside the doorways. And again and again, as I walked past these houses I would hear a call of invitation shouted out, “Please, you’re welcome. Come in” and one thing is for sure, despite the bad news that so often comes out of Zimbabwe I certainly would travel half-way across the world to be welcomed there again. For me this was one of the most refreshingly enjoyable places I have visited in many years.

Zimbabwe is a country of great variety, with lots of highlights packed in a relatively small area. This makes it equally suitable for a guided tour as a self-drive adventure.

The biggest draw is Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I love to head out to the Rainforest Walk at dawn – long before the crowds arrive and when the orange sky reflecting in the spray makes the waterfall picture-perfect. Adrenaline junkies should schedule a few extra days. Activities on offer range from bungee jumping, zip-lining and rafting Grade 4 rapids on the mighty Zambezi River to canoeing on the hippo- and crocodile-infested waters above the falls.

The country is home to iconic wildlife destinations, as well as several low-key wilderness destinations where you might spend days without seeing another tourist. I love Hwange in the dry season for its big concentration of elephants. Matobo National Park is known for its rugged landscapes. The granite domes and balancing

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rocks give shelter to numerous rock-art sites. Wildlife is thin on the ground here, but the guided rhino tracking activity is a winner. Walking safaris are recommended in all the parks but especially so in Mana Pools. Getting up close to a big tusker on foot is an experience I’ll never forget. One of Zimbabwe’s most underrated destinations is Gonarezhou National Park, a raw wilderness perhaps most appealing to repeat visitors looking for some off-the-beaten-track exploration.

Zimbabwe is also known for its historical sites. Most notably the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, a medieval city built entirely without mortar (dry stone). Less well known, but equally worth a visit are the Khame Ruins outside the bustling city of Bulawayo.

Most of Zimbabwe’s highlights are situated in the Zambezi Valley. For a total change of scene and to get a break from the valley’s heat and humidity, I love to get out to the Eastern Highlands. Here you can enjoy long forest hikes, trout fishing and horse riding. And the area is a birding hot spot as well.

In recent years Zimbabwe has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with its ongoing political difficulties having reduced a once thriving tourist trade to a mere trickle. This is a tragedy, as the country is a superb safari destination, with a huge variety of landscapes and wildlife. Its largest parks, such as Hwange and Mana Pools, offer a classic lowland safari experience, with large herds of game – especially elephant and buffalo – and abundant predators. A variety of smaller parks, meanwhile, are set in completely different landscapes, from the weird granite moonscape of the Matobo Hills to the lush montane forest of the eastern highlands, and here you will find many more unusual species – including a rich variety of birds. The Zambezi River forms the country’s northern border with Zambia, and flows through the popular tourist attractions of Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba, both excellent wildlife areas in their own right.

I admit that I have a particular

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affection for Zimbabwe, as I lived in the country during the late 1980s and it provided my introduction to African wildlife. At that time it was an extremely easy and good-value safari destination, with an excellent national park infrastructure developed along similar lines to South Africa’s, and – even as a low-budget, independent traveler – there was little that I didn’t see. The wildlife and parks have since suffered from the inevitable poaching and neglect that comes with hard times. But the landscape is resilient, and the last few years have seen many safari operators increasing their activities. Game populations in key areas remain healthy, but conservation is in dire need of support. The more visitors that return, the more this situation will improve.

Yes, Zimbabwe is still beset with political and economic difficulties but none of this affects visitors much, especially those who book their stay with travel agencies and prepay most of the trip. Despite everything, Zimbabwe remains many people’s favorite country in the region, with great wildlife viewing, wonderfully friendly and welcoming people, fascinating cultures and stunningly photogenic scenery and geological features.

Zimbabwe has a number of national parks and each is excellent in its own way, although not all of them offer the ‘full-on’ game-viewing opportunities that many people are looking for on their first safari. True, as with all its regional neighbors, poaching and illegal hunting has become a problem in some parks, but in others, the impact is hardly noticeable with rich and diverse concentrations of wildlife. The Big Five are still present in some of Zim’s parks, and if you take the critically endangered rhino out of the equation, the remaining

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‘four’ obligingly present themselves regularly. Other parks with fewer animals on show will blow your mind away in scenic terms. Two of them, Gonarezhou and Chizarira offer an unparalleled wilderness experience such that you can spend a week in them and hardly see any other tourists, while some other national parks simply offer marvelous relaxation breaks. Humans have had no noticeable impact on the magnificent birdlife in all the parks and this attracts serious birders to Zimbabwe in their droves.

So my recommendations for the safari visitor are various. If this is your first trip and you want to ‘tick off’ all the major animals on your checklist, be sure to start with Hwange National Park, which has huge concentrations of game in the dry season. If you’ve been on several previous safari trips and want something different, more than just the Big Five and you especially want to get away from the crowds, Zimbabwe’s parks are for you. Either way, I would definitely recommend booking with a small or specialist safari operator and making sure you are not ‘consolidated’ into a much larger group for your game drives.

And if you don’t want to sit in a bumpy, dusty game drive vehicle for your whole holiday, but want to combine great game viewing with scenic and cultural pursuits – well, you won’t find a better all-round destination than Zimbabwe.

Finally, to optimise your game-viewing opportunities, you should visit in the dry season – wildlife viewing is best throughout the country from June through October.