Hwange National Park
Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe’s largest national park, located in the far west of the country along the border with Botswana. Covering an area of over 14,000 square kilometres, Hwange is one of Africa’s finest havens for wildlife. It is actually sub-divided into three smaller parks, namely Main Camp to the south & east, Sinamatela to the north - near the Hwange coalfields - and Robins to the west. Hwange is named after the hereditary chief of this district.
Situated on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, this vast wilderness area comprises sands, saltpans, acacia scrub, vleis, Zambezi teak and large leaved false mopani forests. Ancient fossilised rivers have since become grassy plains in the region of Main Camp. Red lowveld and black cotton soils support mopani woodlands around Sinamatela and Robins. The semi-arid vegetation makes Hwange excellent for game viewing, and a scarcity of water means that man-made waterholes have been introduced to sustain the animals through the dry season. The game congregates at waterholes as the surface water diminishes making game viewing very easy.
The terrain supports over 100 species of mammals including zebra, buffalo, hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, sable, kudu, steenbok, eland, waterbuck and impala. It is the immense number of elephant that are truly spectacular though. With up to 30,000 elephant, Hwange is rated amongst the finest elephant conservation areas on the continent. The Park is also home to the largest concentration of giraffe in Africa and shelters a stable population of one of Africa’s most endangered species, the wild dog. The specially protected gemsbok, bat-eared foxes, roan, white rhino and brown hyena occur here in reasonable numbers.
Hwange is birders paradise with over 400 species identified to date. Bird life includes the kori bustard, secretary bird, red-crested korhaan, shaft-tailed whydah, violet-eared waxbill, shrike, martial eagle, crimson-breasted bush shrike including the yellow form, little grebe, dark-chanting goshawk, cape penduline tit, red-eyed bulbul and cape shoveller, along with red-billed, yellow-billed and Hottentot’s teals.
Hwange is a year-round destination. The driest months, September and October, are the prime game-viewing months when animals converge at water holes, providing excellent photographic opportunities. During the rainy season, mainly December to March, the game is spread out across the Park. For birding enthusiasts this is a wonderful time to visit, with all the migratory birds present and most breeding. This is also the best time for flora and is an opportunity to examine a variety of other small and interesting ecological features.
After the rains the vegetation is green and lush, with colourful wild flowers carpeting the ground. This is the ideal time to see an abundance of newly born animals cavorting with their parents on the plains. Prey and predator interaction hits its peak at this time, as snacks are readily available for the ever-hungry carnivores.
Matusadona National Park
Matusadona National Park is situated on the southern shores of Lake Kariba and is bound on the west by the Ume River and on the east by the Sanyati Gorge. The Park takes its name from the local Matuzviadonha Hills and is a stunning combination of flat plains and rugged mountain country. The meaning of “Matuzviadonha” is “falling dung” – or more literally “shit falls” - which was probably a comment on the sight of elephants dropping dung balls as they struggled up the hills.
The park size fluctuates depending on the high and low water mark of the lake. As the water recedes the game follows the lush green grass. Two thirds of this 1,500 square kilometre national park is only accessible on foot, ensuring a pristine wilderness experience for hikers. The terrain is harsh and rugged with streams and hardy mopani trees. The lake has estuaries and peninsulas teeming with bird life and game. The area is a photographers dream with “drowned forests” containing fossilised trees still standing from when the dam was flooded. Sunsets are irresistible.
Large herds of elephant and buffalo inhabit the area, along with plentiful antelope and lion. There is also a decent population of the endangered black rhinoceros. The Park is home to what is considered to be the highest concentration of lion per square kilometre in Africa – even greater than the Ngorongoro Crater of Tanzania. Leopard, hyena, cheetah and other predators also occur in good numbers throughout the Park. The cheetah population was introduced in the early 1990s to take care of the bursting population of impala.
Bird life is compelling, with over 240 species recorded in the Park. The fish eagle is common along the lakeshore, and there are good populations of grey and goliath herons, black cuckoo shrike, black-headed oriole, augur buzzard, black eagle, African jacana, bronze-winged, double and three-banded coursers, spotted and water dikkops, trumpeter and crowned hornbills, great white egrets and saddle-billed storks. Plovers, waders and geese are generally abundant and there are notable populations of osprey, woolly-necked and open-billed storks, white-winged plovers and red-winged pratincoles. Several large colonies of darters and reed cormorants can be found within the many fossilised trees on the lake.
The best way to explore this Park is undoubtedly on foot, although there is also the opportunity for game drives, boating and canoeing, making it an excellent all-round safari location.
Mana Pools National Park
The wild and remote Mana Pools National Park is situated at the northern tip of Zimbabwe on the Zambezi River. The Park is a breathtaking wilderness haven and World Heritage Site. Just across the river is Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park, forming a naturally defined peace park.
The meanders of the Zambezi in years gone by have left behind the remains of old ox-bows, shaping small seasonal pools scattered over an area of 2,000 square kilometres. The Park is named after the four main pools on the old riverbed, with Mana meaning “four” in the Shona language. The pools support a variety of game and numerous species of bird life, along with the unique vegetation of the Zambezi valley, dominated by Nyala berry, natal mahogany and winterthorn trees.
Whilst Mana Pools is bordered by Rukomechi to the south and the Sapi River to the east, it actually forms part of a 10,500 square kilometre Parks and Wildlife Estate that stretches from the Kariba Dam in the west to the Mozambique border in the east. There are no physical boundaries and wildlife can freely move through the area, even crossing the Zambezi River into Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park without clearing customs.
The Park attracts an abundance of big game including elephant, buffalo, kudu, eland, sable, zebra and waterbuck. Marine fauna like fish, hippo and crocodile are prolific. Lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and wild dog are all present although less frequently seen. The leguminous Acacia albida tree is common along the riverbanks and the protein-rich pods attract many herbivores, particularly elephants. Mana Pools also abounds with over 300 species of bird life. During August to December the banks of the Zambezi are burrowed by nesting carmine, white-fronted and little bee-eaters. Colourful kingfishers include the malachite, brown-hooded, chestnut-bellied, woodland, pied and giant. Black-winged stilts, African skimmers, goliath herons, little and black egrets are also found here.
The open Albida woodland provides good visibility and allows visitors the unique privilege within Zimbabwe of walking escorted by a guide or unaccompanied in an area with carnivores and larger mammals. A guided canoe safari is another unforgettable experience, as you negotiate your way past territorial hippos and sly ‘flat dogs’ as the crocs are known locally. As you drift slowly downriver herds of elephant and cantankerous ‘dagga boys’ – the nickname for old grumpy male buffalos thrown out of the herd - swim across the river in front of you.
Although Mana Pools can be visited year-round, the best time to visit is May to early October during the dry season. In June and July, the atmospheric early morning mists on the Zambezi are highly photogenic. July to November is the prime game-viewing period when animals concentrate around the Zambezi River in a quest for water. During October and November the valley gets incredibly hot, prior to the first rains. During the rainy season game drives become more difficult due to the thick silt soil of the floodplains and canoeing is the best option.
Victoria Falls
Described by the Kololo tribe, who lived in the area in the 1800’s, as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ or ‘the Smoke that Thunders’, the Victoria Falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world – are a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia.
From many kilometres away you can see the plume of spray rising into the air and hear the roar of the water, as the Zambezi River plummets over 100 metres down a huge chasm in a waterfall almost two kilometres wide. The wide basalt cliff, over which the Falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges.
For many years, Victoria Falls has captured the hearts, minds and adventurous spirits of people the world over. It was David Livingstone who, after that now famous entry in this diary - “scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight” - claimed it for the British crown and named it after his Queen.
The Falls and the surrounding rainforest have been preserved as a national park, ensuring that they remain virtually as they were when Livingstone first saw them in 1855. Although small in size, the unique nature sanctuary that overlooks the Falls is rich in wildlife, bird life and botanical glories and is a tranquil setting from which to view the cascades of water thundering over the cliff. The spray can be considerable, so protect your camera and take a raincoat.
The volume of water that flows over the Falls varies considerably. At its lowest, between late October and early November, as little as 20,000 cubic metres of water a minute flow into the gorge below. But when the rains are heavy, the flow increases swiftly and dramatically. The Falls are at their most spectacular between February and May, when more than 500,000 cubic metres of water a minute cascade over the edge.
In April and May, the peak of the flood season, the six falls - Devil’s Cataract, Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls, Armchair Falls and the Eastern Cataract - form the largest curtain of falling water in the world. At this time of year, visibility from the Zimbabwean side is reduced due to the high level of spray. In the dry season, however, between September and November, almost no water plunges over the Rainbow and Armchair Falls or the Eastern Cataract on the Zambian side.
There are many different activities based around the Falls, including the ‘Flight of Angels’, a short flight over the Falls in a small plane, helicopter or microlight. White-water rafting is run from the ‘Boiling Pot’ downstream of the Falls, through a sequence of rapids. In addition to an adrenalin kick, rafting provides a great opportunity to see Verreaux’s eagle and the African fish eagle, taita falcon, augur buzzard and rock pratincoles. Also on offer are bungee jumps from the bridge that spans the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, boat trips, elephant rides and the popular gorge swing.
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