Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Recently voted one of the top twenty tourist destinations in the world, Zimbabwe has something to offer to everyone.
The majestic Victoria Falls is the highlight of Zimbabwe’s attractions. Apart from the spectacle of the largest water curtain in the world, Victoria Falls has an impressive variety of activities. It is known as the adventure capital of the world.
Zimbabwe is a top safari destination offering an authentic wilderness experience. It is considered the best country for walking safaris as well as canoeing safaris for the more adventurous. Zimbabwe’s professional guides are renowned for being the best in Africa and greatly enhance this experience. National parks like Hwange, Mana Pools, Matusadona, Gonarezhou, Matobo and Zambezi are complemented by recreational parks, safari areas as well as private game parks to create an incredible variety for the safari enthusiast. With nearly 200 mammal species, over 650 bird species,over 150 reptile species and over 70 amphibian species,Zimbabwe’s biological diversity means that it caters for a wide variety of interests.
The Great Zimbabwe monument is the epicentre of the country’s history and culture.The name Zimbabwe is derived from this iconic 12th century monument. Great Zimbabwe is a World Heritage Site.The monument is close to the Lake Mutirikwi National Park that hosts a healthy population of white rhino.
Lake Kariba on the north eastern border with Zambia is largest man-made lake in the world by volume and offers great fishing,birding and wildlife encounters The Lake hosts the Tiger Fishing tournament in October every year.The adjacent Matusadona National Park is known for its huge lion population and a black rhino Intensive Protection zone at Tashinga.The houseboat experience is one not to be missed and provides a relaxed way of enjoying the lake and its many activities.
Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands offers spectacular mountain scenery,waterfalls, and interesting flora and fauna endemic to the area.The Vumba Mountains,Chimanimani Mountains,Bunga Forest Reserve,The Mtarazi Falls,Nyangombe Falls as well as the Bridal Veil Falls all make this area a must visit.
- Victoria Falls
- Hwange National Park
- Mana Pools
- Lake Kariba and Matusadona National Park
- Gonarezhou National Park
- Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve
At more than twice the height of Niagara Falls, a width of nearly 5700 feet and 1, 4 billion gallons of water passing over its edge per minute during flood times, The Victoria Falls have been billed as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world. It is not surprising that they are one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world and Zimbabwe’s most popular attraction. The local name -Mosi oa Tunya(The Smoke That Thunders) aptly describes this spectacle. On a clear day one can see the spray from these crashing waters from miles away. This awesome wonder is made up of five separate falls. The lush rainforest supports a wide range of flora and fauna including fig trees, palm trees, ebony trees, bushbuck, warthog, baboon, monkeys, trumpeter hornbills, Knysna turaco and white browed robin chat.
Victoria Falls offers a huge array of adrenaline activities and is rightly titled the adrenalin capital of the world. The range of activities includes white water rafting, bungee jumping, fishing, zip line, quad biking, canoeing, jet boat, flight of angels, microlight, crocodile cage diving and the more sedate game drives and boat cruises.
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Covering 14600 square kilometres, this is Zimbabwe’s biggest national park and the premier wildlife viewing spot. The park is half the size of Belgium and is slightly larger than the state of Connecticut. Renowned for its huge elephant population (30 000 strong by some estimates), the park offers a great diversity of animals and birds. More than 100 animal species and 400 bird species have been recorded in the park.
Apart from the elephants, the park is home to huge herds of buffalo,lion, leopard, rhino, cheetah, zebra, wildebeest, sable, eland, kudu, giraffe, hyena, painted hunting dogs, hippo and roan antelope.
You can also see the smaller but special animals like the bat eared foxes, genets, civets and jackals.
The Hwange terrain ranges from mopane scrub, open grassland and rocky outcrops. Kalahari sands dominate the southern part of the part, giving way to mudstone and basalt in the northern part of the park which support teak forests. In between, the open grasslands are lined with mopane and acacia woodland with ilala palm islands.
The best time to see the animals in huge numbers is during the dry season (May through to November) when animals congregate on the waterholes.
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Rated as the 5th best park in Africa by Gateway Magazine and with one of the highest wildlife concentrations in Africa, Mana Pools is a gem of a park and a favourite for many safari enthusiasts. Situated on the southern side of the Zambezi River, it offers some of the best walking and canoeing safaris. It is the only National Park in Zimbabwe where one is allowed to walk on their own.
The Park is named after the 4(mana) pools that were formed when the river channel turned northwards leaving fertile sand banks that support large trees that provide food and shade for the animals.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is also a RAMSAR wetland of international importance and is home to more than 12000 elephant and 15 000 buffalo. Mana Pools is also considered one of the best places to see the endangered but fascinating wild dog. Other species include lion, leopard, cheetah, kudu, eland, zebra, honey badger and large pods of hippo.
The park is also a birder’s paradise and species like Livingstone’s flycatcher, Lillian’s lovebird, African skimmer, long -toed lapwing, rufous bellied heron and Pel’s fishing owl have been recorded. The park is an IBA (Important Bird Area) and 380 species have been recorded.
The park also offers great fishing on the Zambezi River.The park is only open in the dry months (May to November) and closed during the rainy season.
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The largest man- made lake and reservoir in the world by volume, Kariba offers spectacular wildlife viewing and activities on the lake itself and in the adjacent Matusadona National Park. The area is home to large numbers of lions and other species like elephant, rhino, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, hippo, hyena, crocodile, wild dog, sable, kudu and eland among others. The lake also offers prolific bird watching with some special water birds being recorded.
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Gonarezhou is Zimbabwe’s second largest national park and is in the south eastern part of the country. It is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Gonarezhou means the “the place of the elephants” and there are plenty of them there. The park also has lion, buffalo, leopard, hyena, giraffe, zebra, nyala and sable antelope. Regarded as very wild with temperamental elephants a few years back, the park has been rehabilitated and the game has relaxed considerably. This is mainly due to great work being done by the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Gonarezhou offers a true wilderness experience.
The red sandstone Chilojo cliffs are one of the major highlights of this park and provide different viewing perspectives at any time of day.
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Bordering Gonarezhou National Park to the south is one of the best game viewing places on the continent. Malilangwe boasts of most of the species including black and white rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, kudu, eland, Liechtenstein’s hartebeest, tsessebe, nyala, roan antelope, and sable antelope among others.
Malilangwe also offers great fishing in the Malilangwe dam. The scenic reserve is also home to more than 100 san rock painting sites. This also a great place for walking safaris as well as great photographic opportunities provided by sitting quietly in a log pile or hide overlooking a waterhole.
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