ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe has some truly remote and lightly traveled areas to be explored such as Gonarezhou National Park which is as wild as it gets and the Matobbos, which is all about history, culture and spirituality. The views of Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi are simply the best and the area around the Falls offers a growing range of adventure activities including helicopter flights over the falls, white-water rafting, bungee jumping, sundowner cruises and many others.

Keep these camps and places in mind for your own customized Zimbabwe trip:

• Victoria Falls is the ideal gateway to a Zimbabwe (or even a Botswana or Zambia) safari. Spend your first two nights there, enjoy a peaceful sundowner cruise on the Zambezi (complete with hot canapes while you scan for hippos) and take a nice long walk along the edge of the Falls on the Zimbabwe side, with a local guide. Sunset over the Zambezi as seen from the verandah of the Victoria Falls Hotel is something every African traveler should experience at least once. I really can’t think of anywhere better than Vic Falls to give your body a bit of time to get over jet lag, before you set off on your first safari drive.

• The grassy pans in the southern part of Hwange National Park – and notably the greater Ngamo area – can be surprisingly good for game-viewing in the green or low-demand season. With the onset of the summer rain in December and January, the fresh emerging grass on the open pans acts like a magnet for the herbivores. It’s not unusual at all to see as many as six species of ungulates at the same time, including wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, impala, roan, sable, eland and buffalo. Predictably this abundance of prey animals leads to increased predator activity with cheetahs and lions – as well as hyenas and leopards in some spots – taking notice. The low-demand season offers the most affordable rates of any time of the year. The sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous and the baby animals outnumber the people and vehicles by a factor of hundreds to one. For the birdwatchers, there’s many birds in colorful – even extravagant- breeding plumage and lots of intra-African and Palearctic migrants in place.

• Most of the Zimbabwean parks are ideal for walking safaris, notably Mana Pools and Hwange. What we’ve done on several occasions lately is to embark on a game drive and then to hop off the vehicle on foot, when a suitable opportunity presents itself. For example to move close to a small breeding herd of elephants, when wind and other conditions are favorable. Zimbabwe guides are among the best in Africa and their ‘full pro’ guide’s licence – which takes as long as five to seven years to obtain – sets the gold standard for the rest of the continent.

• One of our most memorable recent Zimbabwe experiences was to learn more about the reintroduction of white rhinos into the Hwange area, and to spend time with some of these gentle giants while staying at camps such as Camelthorn and Bomani. Visiting the Ngamo Rhino Sanctuary and learning about the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative was fascinating. Even more so – walking with the rhinos and getting close to them in a safe, controlled environment. On one occasion a couple of them took a nap inside the Camelthorn camp grounds, while we were enjoying lunch. Lately they’ve even been seen using the main entrance to the lodge, much like any other visitor would!