Top 5 Reasons to Choose a Zimbabwe Safari

 1. Diversity of activities
2. Exclusivity
3. Flexibility
4. Value
5. Benefits to the local community

1.     Diversity of activities

In Zimbabwe, there are a wide variety of unique safari activities beyond the traditional vehicle game drives. 

1. 1. Walking safaris: The Zimbabwe Professional Guides have long been considered the best trained in Africa. The criteria and system for licensing is the most intensive program on the continent and requires a minimum of 4 years but is usually more like 6 or 7 years. Due to the quality of their guides, exploring the African bush by foot on a walking safari is a must-do while on safari in Zimbabwe. There is nothing like departing camp in the early morning, the sweet pungent smell of the damp savannah being warmed by the rising sun. On a walking safari, all your senses are heightened and you can see, hear, smell and feel the bush. You begin to understand the interconnectedness of the flora and the fauna, how each small part plays an important role in the greater ecosystem. Small mysteries of the bush are unlocked and explored; tracks are investigated; and the wide variety of animal poop becomes an unexpected and fascinating learning experience! And while generally speaking, walks are more focused on the little things in the bush, tracking big game on foot is not uncommon and an always thrilling experience!

1. 1. Canoe/kayaking safaris: Several camps that we partner with, including Imvelo’s flagship lodge on the upper Zambezi River, Zambezi Sands River Camp, offers guided canoe trips along the mighty Zambezi River in the network of islands close to the camp. These trips can range from less than a kilometer or an hour of paddling to 5-10km and a half or full day excursion. Zambezi Sands has its own fleet of hard rubble inflatable canoes, which are safe and very stable, as well as at least one professional canoeing guide on staff for these excursions. Picnic lunches and sundowners on the islands and banks of the Zambezi are a great way to enhance the canoeing activity!

1. 1. Elephant Express rail car: If there’s a more fun way to travel between Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park, we haven’t seen it yet! The Elephant Express is Imvelo’s one-of-a-kind rail car which travels 80km from the small railway town of Dete to Ngamo siding, just minutes from Camelthorn and Bomani lodges. 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. Drinks and delicious snacks are also provided en route.

4. 4. Mountain biking: At another great remote adventure camp Jozibanini, guests can explore the area around camp on mountain bikes! Jozi is located in far southern Hwange, where for millennia, sand from the Kalahari has blown and piled into small dunes. In between these dunes are hard packed, fossilized troughs that elephants and other wildlife use to transit the area. These are the paths that will be used for the mountain bike safaris, providing a solid surface for biking. The team is developing these circuits with the help of some of the older san bushmen who originally inhabited the area and who know the paths and routes extremely well. The goal is for the bushman to be the advance scouts for the biking activities, providing updates on the terrain and wildlife ahead of the group. Our biking excursions are flexible and generally short, less than 15km. There is always a vehicle available for support and refreshments!

4. Hiking the Batoka Gorge: There are 2 hiking options at Gorges Lodge: Explore the indigenous gardens around the lodge accompanied by a guide and when you’re done enjoy refreshments and freshly prepared snacks while you watch the sun set at Peregrine Point. Or for more energetic hikers, the second option is to hike to the bottom of the Batoka Gorge (it is about 200m (600ft) – this is a whole morning activity – and does require a good level of fitness and some good shoes! The hike out the Gorge is quite strenuous but not difficult – no equipment needed just some strong legs. Once at the bottom of the Gorge, the guests will have snacks and drinks and relax there for a while before beginning the ascent.

2.    Exclusivity

• With 14, 651 km² of wilderness to explore, Hwange is almost the same size as Serengeti National Park in Tanzania (14,760 km²) and slightly smaller than Kruger National Park in South Africa (19,480 km²). However, visitor numbers for these parks differ drastically.
• Hwange has about 43,000 visitors per year, a density of 3 people per km² per year. Compare that to the Serengeti with 350,000 visitors per year or 23 people per km² or Kruger with 1.4 million visitors or 85 people per km² (the Masai Mara, a much smaller reserve has 192 people per km²)! In Hwange, it is likely you will spend most of your safari without seeing any other vehicles except those from the lodge where you are staying, making it a very exclusive experience!
• Imvelo’s lodges and camps in Hwange National Park are small and personal, just 8 – 10 rooms serving 16-20 guests max

3.    Flexibility (and spontaneity)

In Zimbabwe and at all our Imvelo lodges listed above, there is no set timetable for activities. We don’t have a daily schedule of meals, game drives or other activities. Our guests have the flexibility to create their own timetable and choose their own activities. Upon arrival, the lodge manager and guide meet with the guests to discuss their interests and update them on what has been happening recently with the wildlife in the area. They then make a plan for the following day’s activities and then each subsequent evening at dinner, the guide and guests discuss the plan for the following day.

In addition, because Zimbabwean Professional Guides can take guests on walking safaris, even game drives allow for a lot of flexibility and spontaneity. If the guide or the guests spot something while on a game drive, they are able to get out of the vehicle and explore on foot.

4.    Value

Zimbabwe offers a high level of exclusivity, the best guides in Africa, a wide variety of activities, exceptional game viewing, lots of flexibility and many newly built and recently renovated safari lodges/camps. All that AND extremely competitive rack rates!

5.     Benefits to the local communities

Visiting Zimbabwe on safari provides vital jobs, economic assistance and social services for local Zimbabweans. The central government in Zimbabwe provides very little in the way of economic assistance or social services to local communities, especially those rural villages bordering Hwange National Park. It is those responsible tourism operators like Imvelo Safari Lodges who provide much needed jobs in a country with 90% unemployment as well as deliver much needed social services including water wells, medical/dental care, school supplies, new school blocks and teachers accommodations. Since 2011, Imvelo Safari Lodges has sourced and provided social service benefits valued in excess of $1.5 million dollars to communities bordering Hwange National Park and outside Victoria Falls. These include drilling 77 village water wells (providing clean water for over 18,000 people), construction of eight schools and eleven teachers accommodations, feeding 2500 school children per day during the drought of 2016 and treating over 10,000 patients in Imvelo’s annual Mobile Dentist Safari.

Content provided by Imvelo Safari Lodges

Ready to Experience Zimbabwe for yourself?

Join Nadia Eckhardt August 03-17, 2018 as she leads Cape Town, Hwange Safari & Victoria Falls.