Zimbabwe Travel Guide

Natures wonderland

Recently my girlfriend and I visited Zimbabwe and stayed athe Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. I was born there and left very young so this was my chance to go and experience what I missed out on as a child.

When many people think of Zimbabwe they may think of all the financial trouble, poverty and hard times that the people have have to face becase of the current governments greed and corruption.

I can happily say that the zimbabwean people, despite their situation, are some of the most welcoming and friendly people I have had the privilege of meeting.

We had the most amazing view from the lodge and private balcony, overlooking a water hole where wild elephants and buck came to drink every night. Lying in bed at night we could hear them trampling the bushes. In the evenings we had the chance to lie poolside or sit on the deck and watch the sunset knowing one of the friendly staff would soon be there to help quench our thirst.

The weather at this time of the year is perfect! Around 28degrees and sunny nearly everyday.

The staff at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge are exceptional! The food was unreal! A variety like I have never seen before with the choice of a traditional feast at the 'Boma' a short walk from the lodge itself. Rooms were in tip top shape and the mosquito nets surrounding the bed really made you feel like you were in the wild!

Transfort to and from the Victoria Falls was always on time and our guide was very knowledgable and so friendly!

One thing to do that i would HIGHLY reccomend is a quick flight over the falls in a helicopter! INCREDIBLE!!

Another highlight of our trip was taking an elephant back safari in one of the nearby reserves. This was something I would never forget!! The whole experience from start to end was truely unimaginable! Getting to meet the elephants, some of whom had been rescued from poachers snares, and seeing wild giraffe running through the veld was amazing! You even get the chance to buy a footprint painting of your elephant and all the funds go to the anti-poaching scheme in that area!

I would suggest the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge to anyone you wants to relax, enjoy being close to the wildlife and see and experience things that make you appreciate the world we live in.

I feel proud to say that I was born in Zimbabwe! It is one of the most beautiful parts of the world I have been fortunate to visit so far!

Pure excitement! One of the best places I've ever been in my life!

I was on an organised safari trip with a company called Absolute Africa when I visited Zimbabwe, so my visit was unfortunately only 4 days. Despite this, I had the best time in Zimbabwe and it left a real impression on me. There is so much to see and do here and it really is beautiful. The majority of my time in Zimbabwe was spent not too far from the border near Vic falls, on a camp site called Shoestrings (a fantastic place to stay, I highly recommend it to anyone thats camping and likes a bit of socialising!) Obviously here a big attraction is Victoria falls, which is fantastic on the Zimbabwe side (having visited the Zambian side as well I'd say that the view is better from Zimbabwe, even if it is a bit pricey!). I really wanted to go into the "devils pool" (a pool right on the edge of the Vic falls where the water goes over, a real adrenaline activity!) as I had read about it before visiting but infortunately as I was there in June the waters were too high for it to be safe, so if thats something you're interested in make sure to visit in the drier seasons!
I did get to do elephant riding in Zimbabwe. This was such a fantastic experience. It helped that I was with a large group of friends and we all had an amazing laugh, but the company was great. It was nice to see how much they cared for the elephants. After the ride we were required to watch a short film about the conservation work the company does and how the elephants are looked after and rehabilitated. (however the elephant riders were using the sharp sticks when the elephant misbehaved. They said it wasn't hurting them but if you're against this it would probably be best to avoid it!)
Lion walking was a real highlight to my safari. Once again a short video was shown about how the company works. Basically it tells you how the lions there were orphaned, unable to live in the wild or bread in captivity. At the point where you walk with the lions, they are getting used to the bush, and the walks help them get familiar with the surroundings, play, swim and learn. As they get older contact with people is limited and the aim is to eventually release them into a reserve and them possibly into the wild. Because of this you will only ever be walking with young lions, but that doesn't mean they will be small! The two I walked with were 14 months old, a shock to me because they were huge. It really was a once in a lifetime experience sitting with those lions, stroking them, walking with them and watching them play. It's quite pricey (£80 I think?) but its so worth it! How many people can say they walked with lions!?
Although I didn't take part in these activities, other available sports were bungee jumping (one of the best in the world, over the zambezi. On the bridge between zimbabwe and zambia, you need your passport to get on the bridge!), zip lining across the victoria falls gorge, flying fox (I think it was called?). There are so many adrenaline activities here it is hard to choose! Also one of my friends did the helicopter ride over the falls and she said it was one of the best things she did the whole time we were in africa. White water rafting was another activity that was unavailable because of the high waters.
Another thing arranged by Absolute Africa was a cruise along the zambezi. We were lead to believe this was a bit of a booze cruise, which we were all greatly looking forward to. It was a great boat and yes, the drink was unlimited. However the captain of the boat told us many times that we were drinking too much and being too noisey (which although yes we were drinking and having fun, I didn't feel was disruptive or out of hand. Just loudness and laughing really!) and eventually told us that we weren't allowed any more drinks, which seemed pretty bad to us considering unlimited drink was a part of the price we paid!!
Many people have heard a lot of horrible stories about zimbabwe. I can only speak for myself and the destination I visited of course. I was nowhere near central zimbabwe where all the problems have been, but I found that everyone I interacted with in Vic Falls town were very friendly and welcoming. We went out for a fantastic meal at a place called Bomas (all you can eat meat and fantastic entertainment!!!) and went to local bars and clubs and didn't feel at all in danger or unwelcome, however I would not recommend going anywhere at night alone, but that goes for pretty much everywhere!
The only thing that can get quite annoying are the people trying to sell you things on the streets. The will see you from a mile away and follow you, constantly pleading for you to buy or trade for their products, and no matter how many times you say no they will keep persisting! Although, back to the trading; this is fantastic! In the markets and stalls the locals will trade for almost anything, particuarly clothes, socks, pens/pencils, soap. Small things that seem like nothing to us. And you'd be surprised how much you get for these things, so if you have anything in your luggage that you feel like chucking away... DON'T!
The weather was nice and hot in the days, but as I was there in the colder seasons the nights were quite chilly, so if you're camping be prepared for a chill! Nothing too drastic though.
Generally it was just a fantastic 4 days. Go! Enjoy yourself, and get ready to meet a really fun interesting bunch of people! Whether they be other travellers or locals!

A top-notch safari experience

I stayed at the Linkwasha camp in Hwange National Park as part of an organized tour that also visited camps in Botswana and Namibia. The terrain at Hwange is a bit different from these other parks as it is more flat, less bushy, more like a savannah where you can see open areas of flat land and many animals together in the same environment. It was in Hwange where we saw large groups of giraffes, together with zebras, wildebeest, etc all in the same area. We also were fortunate to see many lions here, including a family with cubs who came out to play a few feet in front of our vehicle while we watched the parents on a hunt for ostrich. We also were very lucky to spot a leopard in Hwange - our guides hadn't seen one for a few months! Linkwasha camp was very comfortable, and had a spectacular view of a watering hole very close to the camp deck, where elephants were on view during any given time of the day. Our guide, Temba, was excellent. He always seemed to have a sense of when animals were close by, and would find them for us. He had a great sense of humor, too. Other highlights in Zimbabwe were visiting a village and school, as well as a flight to view the spectacular Victoria Falls. August was a great time to go, with sunny days that were cool in the mornings, with layers coming off and sunscreen needed for middays. Ideal for animal viewing! I would go back to Zimbabwe in a hearbeat!

Zimbabwe was a fantastic wilderness experience with a great cultural vibe.

Our trip was absolutely fabulous - a trip of a lifetime! The scenery was gorgeous; the weather was perfect while we were there. Our accommodations in the bush were way better than expected, but still provided the rustic feel we were going for. I don't know who cooked our food, but if it was over an open fire, that chef was brilliant and way better at cooking in the bush than I would ever be. Our trip incorporated land rovers, station wagons, canoes and more. All worked out well for each situation. The wildlife was incredible and our walking safari guide, Gary, from Sengwa Safari's was top notch. I had a very up close encounter with an elephant that was just amazing and we saw several lions with their cubs while out for a drive. There were too many other animal sightings to mention, but that was a good thing! We ended our trip in Victoria Falls where we had a great white water rafting and bungee jumping experience. Seriously, this was the best vacation I've ever been on. I hope to repeat it some day with my husband.

Adventurous Self Traveller? Get off the beaten track in Zim.

Zimbabwe? Are you mad?! You'll get killed!

That was pretty much the standard answer when we told people that we were spending our summer holiday in Zim. We being me, my wife, my Father in Law and two children, 8 and 10. My wife had been born there "back in the day" and so we were making a trip down memory lane as well as spending some time in South Africa and Botswana.

Our first exposure to Zim was the border crossing at Beitbridge. We had been warned it would be difficult and would take a while to get through. Three and a half torturous hours later (including the time and cash it took to temporarily import our hire car and write down the serial numbers of the money we paid our visa fees with) and we were in country.

We spent some time visiting old haunts and so it was a few days before our first trip to a national park proper, Matopas (also known as Matobo). As always with national parks in Zim we were met at a guarded gate by a pair of uniformed officials. And as always they were friendly, polite and honest - one enthused about how wonderful it was that we had come all the way from Ireland to his country and the other listing all the Irish soccer players he knew! Once we had found out that we supported the same team we were friends for life!

We made the well worn trek up to the heights to visit Rhodes grave and were rewarded with some of the most spectacular views across raw bush that looked like it hadn't changed in thousands of years and from there we followed the route through the park recommended by my new best buddies at the gate. The viewing was partly restricted by the time of day but we saw the usual small game - impala in particular are very common in the area. Other than that we had some close encounters with giraffe and several large herds of elephants, including at least two nursing mothers. The scenery in the park itself was also outstanding - the trip down around the dam is a must. One warning though - many of the roads are tar but we branched off onto the "Scenic Route" which was a dirt track and it quickly deteriorated to the point where our standard jeep couldn't go on and we had to turn in the bush - a larger 4x4 such as a Land Cruiser could have coped but do be wary if you are in anything smaller (we were in an X-Trail). I have been told by several people that the largest concentration of wild leopard in the world are in the park but we didn't see any.

We then carried on to Antelope Park, a lion rehabilitation centre near Gweru. It's not a safari experience in the truest sense but it is well worth a detour for the experience.

Our next proper camp experience was at Miombo Lodge on the edge of Hwange National Park. This is a Lodge that has recently changed hands and the treehouses were undergoing renovation during our trip. That said I have rarely had a friendlier welcome and I would recommend this camp without hesitation - great food and atmosphere. One of it's best features is the waterhole just on the edge of the property and early in the morning we had a knock on the door from the owner to tell us that water buffalo were on their way to drink barely 200 yards from our room door - a very nice way to start the day!

Hwange itself we barely scratched the surface of as we were on a pretty tight schedule to see friends but it was much the same as Matopas - zebra, giraffe, lots of small game and herds of elephants. I should point out that we were self driving and self guiding and someone who knew the area better may well have seen more.

We rounded off the Zim leg with a short stay at the superb Elephant Camp in Victoria Falls - probably the highlight of the entire trip. It's an astoundingly high quality camp with fantastic lodging and world class food. Best of all was using the "bush shower" on our private veranda (complete with plunge pool) as the sun rose over the Zambezi and with the spray of the falls in the distance while a herd of wild Water Buffalo wandered through the bush just a few hundred meters away. And we did have a close encounter with a cheetah that most of our friends refuse to believe...!

We chose to set our own itinerary and travel independently through Zim and it was a pleasure and surprisingly easy. We paid in advance using Paypal and Bank Transfers to minimise costs and cash/bank risks in country. Travel throughout the country was on fairly well maintained and clearly signposted roads and we had very few issues with navigation although I wouldn't recommend driving at night. Fuel was reasonable and plentiful and everyone we met, from petrol station attendants to street vendors and lodge or park staff were friendly and polite. The food was of a high standard and fresh.

We didn't do a standard tour at any point in Zim so I can't comment on how organised trips and tourists are treated or what they are like but I would highly rate and recommend it for an independent safari traveller who is looking for a destination that isn't overrun and where you have more chance of seeing animals than other peoples backs!

Wonderful experience - loved every moment

We had nervous expectations of travel in Zimbabwe. However, from our arrival in Victoria Falls to the day we departed we
had nothing but positive experiences. This was largely based on the friendly, helpful and kind people we met along the way.
Zimbabweans are resilient. Despite the tough economic hardships they are experiencing they continue to find ways to keep their lives and their businesses operating and they do it with a sense of humour and a smile. We were encouraged by their endurance.
The weather was very hot on the Zambezi and rain was desperately needed. Our guide was a natural bush man - passionate about the flora, animals and birds. He kept us well informed on what we were seeing along the way and helped to educate us on the interactions of the wildlife in the ecosystem. We had plenty of bottled water, good healthy food and comfortable accommodations with warm water for showers and morning washes. Safety was a high priority with the guides and we felt safe both on land and in the canoes.
The highlight of the trip was sitting around the dinner table and to have the guide say 'don't move anyone' - as an elephant walked right past our table.
Our only concern was to see plastic waste on the river banks and to hear powerboats and generators - ruining the pristine nature of this beautiful wilderness area.

Amazingggggg & Breathtaking

I first went to Zim on the year 2011 the experience was of out of this world,friendly accommodative warm people..There is no such thing as poverty in Zim like they show on TV.i visited almost every corner where many tourists don't get to go and mixed with the locals. A place called Mbare(a flea market of its out style) ,the Chinoyi caves(natural caves beautiful)Lake kariba,flea market at Borrowdale one of the most expensive well maintained beautiful structural houses in Zimbabwe. I did not do the obvious "Lake kariba" the eastern region of Zimbabwe where you have mysterious mountains. I went to Zimbabwe from that year every year three times a year. The local food I couldn't stop eating. I have visited Harare in and out(from the city to the villages)went a braai in Bulawayo. Experience Zimbabwe as it is a great country with a rich culture and visit where not may goes.

To be quite honest you can never talk about Zimbabwe and not see my eyes popping. Its a country I will visit as many times. I suggests tourists start going into the depth of the country not only what is shown when you google.

Zimbabwe is probably southern Africa's most diverse country, in terms of its landscapes and national parks. Incredible Highlands exist along the eastern border. There are vast wilderness areas in the north and west, including Hwange, Lake Kariba and the Zambezi river valley. In the south east, the country's lowest point, there is Gonarezhou National Park, which is bordered by vast wildlife conservancies. Victoria Falls is the crowning jewel in the far north west. All these areas are home to vast populations of wildlife. The best parks to go on Safari and have a chance to see some, or even all of the big five, include Hwange, Mana Pools and Gonarezhou. All these parks are well maintained and have vast road networks, as well as a multitude of accommodation venues, ranging from comfortable self catering options to 5 star lodges. Zimbabwe is renowned for its professional guides, who have to go through a rigid training period that lasts no less than four years and involves hands on practical application. This makes Zimbabwe an amazing place to go on a walking safari. Overall Zimbabwe has so much to offer the safari entusiast!

Beautiful country, wildlife and culture

I didn't stay in Zimbabwe very long. We stayed right outside of Victoria Falls and the town was really interesting. It's completely different from anything you could ever imagine! The town was a poor area, but there was a lot of surrounding land that had incredible scenery and wildlife. The weather was hot, humid and rainy. We camped in tents, which was an adventure too with all the wildlife living around us (monkeys, bugs, etc). We went rafting down the Zambezi River which was a BLAST and also visited Victoria Falls of course. Our guide, named Pastor, was great. We had a blast with him. We traveled in a big passenger van, but there was only 4 of us including Pastor so we had a lot of room. The food was amazing. On our last night, we went a restaurant called The Boma. The food, dancing, and entertainment was incredible.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country with amazing scenery, great animal sightings, & friendly people!

Our family (four adults) had an amazing time on our trip to Zimbabwe. We loved the scenery on our drive from the Vic Falls airport to our first accommodation stop (Robins Camp). We saw so many wild animals just on that drive alone including giraffes, warthogs, baboons, guinea fowls, & impalas. On the game drives we also saw painted dogs, kudu, elephants, female lions, vultures, African red-billed hornbill, more impalas, zebras, buffalo, & mongoose. Victoria Falls is one of the most stunning places we have ever been. The Falls are so large and there were double rainbows shining through the mist. It was such an experience to see these Falls up close, as well as from the air via helicopter, & in the Devil's Pool. The weather was also great during our trip. In Hwange National Park it was cool in the mornings & just right on the drives. Vic Falls was warmer, but there wasn't too much humidity so it felt nice.

Also, as far as the booking/planning, William was great from start to finish helping up set up our itinerary. We wanted to do Devil's Pool and zipline and he coordinated all of that into the preplanned itinerary. We had great drivers & guides on all of our safari drives and our walk to Victoria Falls. We LOVED the helicopter ride over the Falls and the Boma Dinner & Drum Show was such a fun activity on New Year's Eve.