Best of Zimbabwe Safari: Exclusive Camps and Experiences

In the Sotho language, Victoria Falls is known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, translated as “The Smoke that Thunders.” This name is stunningly appropriate, the roaring Zambezi River tumbling into a mist-filled chasm, sending clouds of condensation hundreds of meters into the air. Even from your lodge, 24 miles upriver, it’s possible to see the spray and hear the dramatic growl of the water. Matetsi Private Game Reserve has 17 miles of private river frontage and over 50,000 hectares of pristine wilderness. This safari oasis is within easy reach of the falls, yet fully surrounded by Zimbabwe’s four-legged wildlife. You’re greeted at the airport and transferred to your river lodge. Safari is private here, and you watch animals directly from your river-facing suite; hippos quarreling, baboons playing, zebras grazing, and buffalos wandering as you dip into the private plunge pool on your verandah. There’s also a fabulous circular bath that looks out over the Zambezi, a lazy space for recovering from the flight.

You’re in the perfect location here to access Victoria Falls. Travel downriver, and the growl of Victoria Falls looms louder. Stop at an island close to the precipice then explore the walking trails around the falls, enjoying wonderful vistas over a mile-wide sheet of water that plummets over 100 meters into the chasm. Or take a boat upriver, where pods of hippos wade through the shallows and migratory elephants are never far away. Transfers to the falls are included, and you can choose when you want to see the spectacle. For the rest of the time, the safari continues all around you, Springboks, and impalas among those that scamper past as you’re lounging on the verandah.

It’s a short flight south to Hwange, the light aircraft swooping over western Zimbabwe’s unbroken wilderness, low enough to spot herds of elephants traveling in and out of the woodland. You touch down in Zimbabwe’s longstanding and largest national park, Hwange National Park, a flagship destination on an astonishing scale. Enormous herds of elephants and buffalos roam here, sometimes hundreds of them seen in a single panorama. Gemsboks graze as packs of rare brown hyenas form. One of Africa’s largest populations of wild dogs can be found close to the camp, thriving on a floodplain in the heart of Hwange. This is a classic big game safari and the next three days are all about the expressions of wild Africa. Two game-viewing activities are included each day, and the camp’s central location allows you to explore the park’s diverse habitats and animals.

Wake to elephants, trumpeting far across the plains. Game drive at dawn, tracking a pride of black-maned lions on the prowl. The sun is rising, and the predators are getting desperate, lunging unsuccessfully at zebras. Wildebeests canter past, full of energy. Buffalos fill a waterhole, grunting and slurping without pause. It’s impossible to keep track of the elephants, especially when you journey north into the woodlands. Game drive south and the Kalahari Desert plains attract a rich abundance of antelope: bushbuck, eland, kudu, gemsbok, reedbuck, hartebeest, impala, steenbok, duiker, and more. This wide-ranging menu creates food for the complete cast of predators, and a 3-day safari is a great chance to see the iconic combination of lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, and hyena. Sometimes they’re resting, but often you follow them as they hunt and explore.

Providing a calm space after the wildlife drama is your next camp, where there’s a real luxury to safari under canvas. Sounds drift through the canvas walls, keeping you firmly immersed in the events of the bush. En-suite bathrooms feature beautiful alfresco bush showers, where you sometimes look out onto elephants. A pool and verandah overlook a flooded pan, which is lit up in the evenings. Evenings are majestic here, with a fine dining menu served as all manner of animals meet at the water below, while a soaring canopy of trees ensures none of them get too close to your wine glasses.

Take a flight north, the first of your chartered light aircraft journeys across Zimbabwe. These flights hop from wilderness to wilderness while offering sublime impressions of the landscapes down below. As you land, you spot herds and giants on the plains and then disembark to giraffes and buffalos close to the dusty airstrip. Backdropped by rugged mountains, Matusadona is a destination of remarkable beauty, where every panorama is a potential photograph. Stay at Changa Safari Camp on the shores of Lake Kariba, a camp that epitomizes ideas of waterfront escapism. Your spacious tented suite has a private deck overlooking the water, with curved stairs leading down to a wide beach and a large fire pit, where the warming flames are constant throughout the evenings. Some aspects of the Lake Kariba experience are reminiscent of a typical waterfront getaway. Boat safaris take you past a rich array of birdlife, while storks and fish eagles are familiar sights around your suite. It’s easy to spend lazy hours on the beach, watching the hippos and buffalos along the banks. And that’s where Lake Kariba is so different, this unique fusion of big game activity and waterfront tranquility.

Walk across the plains, surrounding yourself with zebras and waterbucks, admiring the horns of rare sables and roan antelopes. Cruise on the water, watching how the herons flit in and out of the hippo pods. Drive into the park and stop in a clearing, waiting for elephants and a dense concentration of lions to get close. This is a park with a full range of activities, and it’s compact enough to include all three modes of exploration in one day. Serene and sublime, it’s a park that helps keep you energized on a multi-day safari, while simultaneously continuing the big mammal encounters.

Enjoy a relaxed morning on the lakeshore before you fly south to Bulawayo, a short transfer away from the World Heritage Site of Matobo Hills. Remarkably high concentrations of leopards and black eagles occupy the jagged granite scenery, thriving in the broken landscapes. Other mammals are prolific in compact areas of open plains, including both black and white rhino subspecies. Today’s exploration is dedicated to the endangered giants, a conservationist leading you on a drive into the rhinos’ realm. Watch in awe as the white rhinos rumble past, fierce, and determined in their movements. Then wait patiently to see the smaller and shier black rhinos, which only emerge when they’re confident. From the vehicle, you continue on foot, a very rare chance to share the landscape with Africa’s most iconic endangered species.

Cecil Rhodes called these hills “World’s View.” It’s not difficult to see why, especially when you walk to the summit of the granite domes and castle kopjes. Up here, you find San rock art, history etched into caves and overhangs, interpreted by your local guide. Many of the paintings tell of wildlife nearby, and the hills continue to offer some majestic safari encounters. Walks are short and relaxed, exploring a compact area popular with different antelopes. Drives bounce into the hills, in search of the legendary leopard population. And when the black eagles soar, the guides know that there’s something intriguing down below, usually, a decomposing carcass fought over by scavengers. Your camp is a tranquil base for these activities, hidden in an ancient Bushmen shelter, with a swimming pool and bar overlooking a waterhole.

Completing the safari is one of Southern Africa’s ultimate private reserves. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is Africa’s largest protected area, spanning three countries and incorporating many reserves and parks. Most famously, this area includes South Africa’s Sabi Sands and the Kruger. There are no fences and animals move freely, with Zimbabwe’s section of the park just as rich in the big game as South Africa’s (the Mozambican side was heavily targeted by poachers during a long civil war, forcing many animals into South Africa and Zimbabwe). In particular, this is a haven for some of Africa’s largest elephants, big-tusked and often aggressive males, along with scores of rhinos and predators. Fly here and settle into the serenity of the safari experience, with twice-daily game drives complemented by game walks and boat cruises on the lake. This is Zimbabwe’s best private reserve, and there’s a very personal side to the safari as if the wilderness has become your own back garden.

While Malilangwe is charming and compact, neighboring Gonarezhou is vast and unpredictable. It’s one of Africa’s final unknowns, a landscape of red valleys and roving woodlands, where animals react differently to the other reserves you’ve visited. Large mammals are more aggressive, fiercely protecting their realm. Antelopes can be skittish, and you see them kicking up dust, galloping in large herds. Gonarezhou is another part of The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park and is a full-day trip from Malilangwe, with guides bringing a picnic for the journey. This is an optional activity, and you may choose to spend the day in the more relaxed private reserve.

The final day of the safari and you really appreciate the allure of Zimbabwe. It’s not just the animals and their interactions with each other, how the predators battle amongst themselves, and the smaller species bow down to an elephant’s giant footsteps. It’s the privacy of the experience, with so few other people in such a huge landscape. Almost always, you’re alone in wild Africa, watching hippos or lions without another vehicle spoiling the backdrop. This privacy is further enhanced by the flexibility of the safari program, as you tailor each day to your own interests, whether long adventurous drives or tranquil hours on foot or on the water.

Logistics also make Malilangwe a good place to finish a Zimbabwean safari. From here, there are scheduled flights across the border to O. R. Tambo International in Johannesburg, the biggest airport in Africa. After breakfast and the short flight, you then transfer to your homebound departure at O. R. Tambo International.