REMOTE, EXCLUSIVE & WILD HWANGE SAFARI

REMOTE, EXCLUSIVE & WILD

HWANGE SAFARI

2025

Overview:

Interested in more information? This trip is operated by IMVELO Safari Lodges. Please contact Africa Easy by calling 1-800-617-2319 or (206) 284-2319. Click here to e-mail the Africa Easy Team with any questions or interest.

REMOTE, EXCLUSIVE & WILD

HWANGE SAFARI

2025

Day-by-day Itinerary:

Day 1 | The Elephant Express

After breakfast at your Victoria Falls accommodation, depart for a 2.5hr vehicle transfer to Dete station on the edge of Hwange National Park where around 2pm, you’ll board Imvelo’s one-of-a-kind game viewing railcar, the Elephant Express. Drinks and a tasty light lunch will be served on the Elephant Express before departing Dete, for the 2.5hr trip down the eastern border of Hwange National Park to Bomani Tented Lodge or Camelthorn Lodge. This historic railway line demarcates the border of the park so there will be plenty of game viewing along the way!

After arriving at Ngamo in the late afternoon, leave the Elephant Express and board 4 x 4 game drive vehicles for the short ride to camp. You’ll be escorted to your room where you can settle in, unpack and freshen up before returning to the main lodge for a pre-dinner cocktail or cool drink at the bar or around the campfire. A delectable 3-course dinner will be served under the Milky Way and the Southern Cross followed by coffee or a nightcap around the campfire.

Elephant Express Game-Viewing Railcar

The eastern boundary of Hwange National Park is marked by an historic railway line – part of Cecil Rhodes’ dream of an empire stretching ‘from Cape to Cairo’ with the railway line as its backbone. The section of track the Elephant Express travels was opened early in the 20th century (around 1904) and is perfectly flat and straight – the longest straight rail line in the world when built. Freight and passenger traffic still use the line, as well as our own custom-built rail car, the Elephant Express. This is the most unique and fun way to travel to Camelthorn Lodge or Bomani Tented Lodge in southern Hwange, a refreshing and welcome break from road travel, with excellent game viewing on the way.

The Elephant Express seats 22 passengers and the finishes are comfortable and elegant. They include individual coach seating, a chemical toilet, teak tables, plenty of space for luggage, and a large aisle that allows guests to walk around comfortably and provides unrestricted game viewing. Imvelo also provides drinks of all kinds and delicious snacks en route! Watch the video below for a preview of the Elephant Express experience!

Day 2 | School & Village Visit, “Look-up” Blind

Imvelo Safari Lodges is deeply committed to bringing together local rural communities and our safari guests, for their mutual benefit. Twenty minutes’ drive from the lodge our guests have the opportunity to enjoy an actual and un-orchestrated look at village life in rural Matabeleland.

This morning sees an early start with breakfast in the dining room before heading to nearby Ngunyana Village where guests can join the children on their morning walk to school or join the younger kids for a ride in our safari vehicles! Once at the school, guests meet the Headmaster and are welcomed with traditional songs sung by the students, followed by a short classroom interaction. This activity gives the school children a wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with people from all over the world who have come to see the wildlife amongst which they live.

After the school visit, head to a nearby village for an un-choreographed visit of a local homestead, including a meeting with the headman of the village. Guests will be able to see some of Imvelo’s community initiatives firsthand and gain insight into the day to day life of a rural Zimbabwean including learning about thatching roofs, tilling fields, milling maize and weaving baskets.

“Look-up” Blind

This afternoon, head back into Hwange in search of game before making a stop for a bush lunch next to our specially built underground game-viewing blind at Stoffie’s Pan aka the “Look-up” blind, named such because its located at the water level so you’ll be looking up at the elephants! After lunch, we’ll enjoy some time in the blind with snout-level viewing of thirsty elephants just feet way! The blind is furnished with comfortable seating and has running water for flush loos and hand basins.

In the late afternoon, we’ll continue to explore the Ngamo plains on foot and by vehicle. After sundowners, we’ll night drive back to camp, exploring the Bomani concession, looking for nocturnal species that prowl the plains after twilight.

Day 3 | Visit the Rhinos & Meet the Cobras

Today head to the Imvelo Ngamo Rhino Sanctuary where you’ll meet our new residents, Thuza and Kusasa, as well as the Cobra Rangers guarding them 24/7. Start with a behind-the-scenes look at the Cobras basecamp, where you’ll learn more about their work along with Imvelo’s many other community and conservation programs. Hear a short talk on the origins and ideas behind the formation of the Cobras unit and how they protect the rhino, as well as the future plans for our ground-breaking Community Rhino Conservation Initiative.

Head off on foot or by vehicle with the Cobras to meet Thuza and Kusasa! There will be lots of photo opportunities and quality time to watch and enjoy our rhinos in their natural environment on the Ngamo plains; how close you will be able to get to the rhino will be subject to conditions on the ground.

Each guest at Bomani and Camelthorn Lodges pays a rhino conservation and community levy; these funds all go into the rhino sanctuary along with community projects in the nearby villages.

The Southern Hwange On Safari

Vehicles must stay on the roads in the Park so we often combine a game drive with a spontaneous walking safari to explore more terrain off the roads. In this wild area every walk provides fascinating insight into Hwange’s circle of life; watch Hwange’s elephants shake trees to loosen and then eat the pods, while on a smaller scale, dung beetles roll up the elephant dung containing those tree seeds into balls, bury the ball and lay an egg to incubate in it, while the seed is now well-placed to germinate and start life as a new tree!

Day 4  | Full Day Safari to Jozibanini Camp

Enjoy an early morning tea or coffee on your veranda before a hot breakfast in the main lodge. Then grab your day pack for a full day safari or “pump run” deep into the southern part of Hwange.

Hwange National Park has no major rivers and for the past 70 years during Hwange’s dry seasons, wildlife has subsisted here on water originally pumped by windmills, later replaced by diesel engines and now solar power. In the southern sector of the Park, Imvelo Safari Lodges shoulders the responsibility for 16+ pumped waterholes. This means Imvelo is looking after approximately 20- 25% of the waterholes that sustain Hwange’s wildlife including upwards of 10,000 elephants in the dry season – a huge commitment of which we are truly proud!

Imvelo’s trademark “pump runs” combine game viewing in remote areas of the park with practical hands-on conservation helping to maintain 16+ waterholes and pumps which the wildlife rely on for water during the dry season. Many of these pumps have been converted to solar-hybrid pumps in recent years. We’ll learn about the challenges of maintaining this system in conversations and hands-on activities with your guide and the pump attendants who spend the dry season living at the waterholes to keep the pumps running.

We’ll also make a stop at the Makona ranger station near Jozibanini Camp and meet some of the national park rangers who patrol in this remote corner of Hwange (this visit is dependent on whether the rangers are at base at this time). Imvelo funded and installed a state-of-the-art solar powered water pump at Makona which provides water for the rangers, their organic vegetable garden and for wildlife at the nearby Makona pan. In addition, the solar array provides power for lights and radios at the station.

We’ll arrive at our rustic and wild Jozi camp just before sundowners.

The Jozi Story

Jozibanini has an interesting story which reinforces the importance of your visit here. A ranger station named Jozibanini was abandoned in the early 2000’s due to lack of park funds, leaving the south and west of the park largely un-patrolled by rangers and never visited by tourists. As a result, tragically elephant poaching raised its ugly head in this area in 2013. After these poaching incidents, Imvelo Safari Lodges decided to establish an outpost at Jozibanini which staff and a privileged few tourists could use as a base for both management of water resources and a safari experience unlike any other. Presence in the area would also deter poachers, and who better to employ to protect the new project than ex-poachers who have turned over a new leaf. By introducing tourism, the Jozi project has helped protect and conserve hundreds of kilometers of remote park, and regular traffic on the route has translated into reliable support for both parks pump attendants and about 25% of Hwange’s thirsty wildlife in the dry season.

Day 5 |  Mountain Biking & Walking Safari at Jozi

After breakfast over the campfire, grab your day pack and then head off on a guided mountain bike ride through the elephant paths along the inter-dune troughs around Jozibanini. The ecosystem here is semi-desert akin to the Kalahari in neighbouring Botswana. Ancient windblown fossil sand dunes are separated by shallow valleys where elephant paths have compacted the terrain, providing Imvelo with the opportunity for a unique experience of game viewing by mountain bike. These rides can be from 30 minutes around camp to a full day exploring deep into southern Hwange, depending on your energy, fitness and adventure level!

Enjoy a delicious lunch back at camp or for the adventurous cyclists, a picnic lunch under a shady tree where you can have a siesta before the bike ride (or vehicle if you prefer!) back to camp in the afternoon.

Jozi Star Beds

Day 6 |Game Drives & Walks or Village & School Visit

Enjoy an early morning game drive or a guided game walk through the area around camp once more experiencing Hwange’s magnificent elephant on ground level and go tracking for the different species to be found in this part of the park such as lion, wild dog and buffalo.

After returning to camp, relax and experience a fabulous brunch out in the open at the Jozi pan, enjoying the solitude of being in a completely untouched and isolated spot within the pristine African bush.

In the early afternoon, head off again on by foot, bike or game drive vehicle to explore another part of the far remote southwestern corner of Hwange National Park. You may also opt to visit the nearby Makona park ranger station and meet some of the park rangers who help protect and patrol the deep south of Hwange.

Enjoy an alfresco dinner under the Milky Way and the Southern Cross before retiring to your tent for the night.

Sundowners at the Jozibanni Look-up Blind

In the late afternoon, we’ll head into the underground “Look-up” blind for spectacular photographic opportunities of the wildlife, just feet away, at the Jozi waterhole. We’ll enjoy sundowners inside or atop the Look-up blind and once the sun has set, take a quick drive back to camp for a tasty dinner out under the glorious night sky.

Optional Visit St. Joseph’s School and Gibi Xegu Village

Day 7 | Game Drive Transfer to Nehimba Lodge

Your quick 30 minute charter flight will depart from Libuti airstrip and take a scenic flight over Hwange National Park, giving the opportunity to view the superherds from the air – a unique and breathtaking experience. The flight will land at Giraffe Springs where you will be transported to camp by road in a 4 x 4 vehicle ( 20 minutes). Your arrival will likely be met with 50 to 200 elephant in camp drinking from the lodge waterhole… its now time to relax and smell the elephant!

Sundowners & Dinner with the Elephants at Nehimba Lodge

After freshening up at the lodge, toast another magnificent day in Hwange with sundowners on the Nehimba deck, watching the sunset over the lodge waterhole as the herds of elephants and other game arrives for their own sundowner drink. A 3-course dinner under the stars follows, surrounded by elephant drinking from the pool just steps away from the dinner table!

Day 8 – 9 | Explore Northern Hwange

After breakfast, we’ll depart for the morning exploring the Nehimba concession and the beautiful northern part of Hwange National Park. As you’ll see, the north is distinctly different from the southern part both in topography, habitats and species of wildlife. Nehimba is situated right on the edge of the mopane woodlands of northern Hwange and the Kalahari sandveld of the west, and so offers the full spectrum and diversity of fauna that Hwange has to offer. The elephant-hunting lions of this area are famous. The area is well watered so is host to large numbers of animals throughout the year but particularly during the dry season. We’ll return to the lodge for a leisurely lunch and then afternoon siesta or perhaps relax by the lodge swimming pool, frequented by Hwange’s thirsty herds during the dry season.

Sundowners at the Nehimba Seeps

Day 10 | Farewell to Hwange

After a final breakfast and morning game drive (time permitting) at Nehimba, climb aboard your air charter for the flight lasting an hour or less, covering the scenic territory between Nehimba’s Giraffe Springs airstrip and Victoria Falls International, where you will glimpse Mosi oa Tunya, “the Smoke that Thunders.” from the air.

*Please note: This itinerary is subject to change. In the spirit of expedition travel, plans may change slightly to take full advantage of encounters with the destination and its people, culture, and wildlife.

REMOTE, EXCLUSIVE & WILD

HWANGE SAFARI

2025

Dates:

Trip dates are offered year round, contact Africa Easy with preferred dates.

Rates:

Rates vary depending on season of travel. Contact Africa Easy to get rates.

International Airfare:

Africa Easy does not make international air reservations and international air is not included in your quote. However, please do let us know if you would like assistance with booking your international air. We would be happy to put you in touch with our airline partner, Exito Travel to assist you with your international air reservation.

General Information:

Medical Evacuation insurance is mandatory for travel with Africa Easy and proof of purchase is required. Africa Easy also strongly recommends purchasing a policy that includes trip cancellation / interruption coverage.

Deposit & Payments:

A completed & signed Africa Easy Reservation Form, along with your 25% trip deposit and full regional and/or domestic air payment (if applicable) is required at the time of booking.

Reservations:

This itinerary is subject to the availability of all services at the time of making a reservation. No space is being held at this time. Please contact Africa Easy for the full terms and conditions that apply. We are happy to answer questions and discuss your trip.

To reserve space on a trip on the Africa Easy website, please contact Africa Easy by calling 1-800-617-2319 or (206) 284-2319. Click here to e-mail the Africa Easy Team.