Highlights of Zimbabwe Safari

Welcome to Zimbabwe! You will be picked up at the Bulawayo Airport and transferred about a 1.5 hours to your first safari camp, Amalinda. The granite domes and castle kopjes of the Matobo Hills echo the essence of tranquility and the majesty of untamed Africa, where mammal and bird species are prolific. Included here are the highest concentrations of Leopard and Black Eagle in the world, as well as a healthy population of the endangered Black and White Rhino. Activities include rhino tracking by vehicle or on foot, an unforgettable safari experience! This encounter is offered within the skills and knowledge of our experienced guides. Explore the hills where mysterious nomads once held their sacred ceremonies. The rocky granite topography boasts more than 2000 sites of the San (Bushman) tribes and is probably the richest source of San rock art known. This area, and several famous rocks here – known to the Ndebele people – hold spiritual significance of bygone rituals. Here, you can learn about their trials and tribulations, hopes and aspirations. Drive through the granite hills in the footsteps of Cecil John Rhodes. Visit his world famous tomb known as “View of the World”, it’s an historical experience not to be forgotten. Leander Starr Jameson is also buried here and together with the spirits of of soldiers killed in battle by Matabele warriors, they gather around at sunset, there is a definite spiritual presence . This “dwala” is known as “the dwelling place of spirits” or rather “Amalindidzimu”, the view will leave you breathless!

Take a tour to an African homestead and get down to earth with the local Matabele people. Enjoy their gracious hospitality as they show you around their “pole and dagga” huts. Use this opportunity to get an insight into the way of life for the local people and to experience their culture. We offer a chance to visit a clinic, traditional healer and local primary school where one begins to understand no matter what adversity children face, one of their basic wants is to learn. Many projects at the school, clinic and orphanage have been completed, and some are ongoing, through our social responsibility program, The Mother Africa Trust.

This morning you will be picked up after breakfast and head northwest by road about 4 hours to the Main Gate of Hwange National Park. There you will be met by your guide and step about the Elephant Express Rail Car for the 70 km journey to your final safari destination, Bomani Tented Camp! You will enjoy a gourmet lunch on the train, which travels with a chef, and see wildlife as you travel through the edge of the park. At the end of the line you will met by your guide and game drive through the park to your lodge.

Hwange National Park at 14,651 sq km is the largest National Park in Zimbabwe and one of Africa’s great parks.  It was granted Game reserve status in 1928 and proclaimed a National Park in 1961. Hwange has always been renowned for its incredible diversity of wildlife, and to this day it boasts more varieties of mammal and bird species than any other Zimbabwean National Park. There are over 100 species of mammals, including 19 large herbivores such as buffalo, eland, sable and wildebeest, and over 400 bird species. However, the area is particularly famous for its population of elephant, some 44,000 strong – based on the latest aerial survey – and combined with the elephants of northern Botswana this is the world’s largest contiguous elephant population and a flagship for the  Kavango Zambezi Trans Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).

At Bomani there are no have rigid schedules and timetables for you! Instead we prefer to tailor your time around you – it’s your safari after all! Choose to be woken with coffee in bed, before joining your guide on a sunrise game drive inside the Park. Or, opt for a relaxing lie-in before visiting the nearby village and school for insight into the daily lives of the local people. Game drives are conducted by experienced guides in traditional open safari vehicles. It’s well worth joining one of the shorter night drives through our private concession. Our trackers operate powerful spotlights to seek out some of the less-seen nocturnal creatures. Our land Cruisers seat up to 9 guests and Land Rovers seat up to 7 guests. Our game drives in this remote portion of Hwange National Park seldom see another vehicle and are a spectacular insight into the wildlife and environment unique to this part of the park. Game walks are an exciting option for photography of big game on foot. They are usually undertaken in the mornings and are conducted by a fully licensed and highly experienced armed professional guide.

Hwange National Park has no major rivers and for the past 70 years during Hwange’s dry seasons wildlife has subsisted here on water originally pumped by windmills, but which were later replaced by diesel engines. In the southern sector of the Park, Imvelo Safari Lodges shoulders the responsibility for 8 pumped waterholes. The engines require diesel, oil and monthly services and the pump attendants who operate them require rations and pay. A popular activity is to take an all day trip into the Park visiting the waterholes to drop off fuel and oil for the motors as well as rations and supplies for the pump attendants. A picnic lunch is then enjoyed near one of the waterholes followed by a leisurely game drive back to the lodge in the afternoon. Our Pump run usually ends with sundowners at one of the waterholes close to camp. In the green season our all day drives often roam across a huge section of the park and a picnic lunch under a cool tree near a lily-covered pan is a highlight.

Bomani’s owner is deeply committed to bringing together local rural communities and our safari guests, for their mutual benefit. Twenty minutes drive from the lodge our guests have the opportunity to enjoy an actual and un-orchestrated look at village life in rural Matabeleland. Hosted by one of Imvelo’s local guides, it is a fascinating tour of a variety of typical daily village activities. It is followed by a visit to one of the nearby schools, hosted by the Headmaster, where guests are given the opportunity to hear traditional songs sung by the children and enjoy a ‘class interaction’. This great opportunity is encouraged by our teachers as it is a wonderful way for the school kids to meet people from all over the world and learn about different cultures and countries. For both the children and our guests it is always a heart-warming and inspirational morning.

Enjoy one last game drive on your way to the airstrip, where you will meet the short light aircraft flight north to Victoria Falls. You will be met and transferred to your lodge, about 30 minutes outside of town on the town lies on the southern bank of the Zambezi River at the eastern end of the Victoria Falls. It is a lovely tourist town which is easy to explore on foot and which offers a wide range of activities from the challenge of white water rafting and to bungee jumping.

The Victoria Falls are one of the natural Seven Wonders of the World and is the largest sheet of falling water on earth – a spellbinding and mesmerizing spectacle. The sheer mass of water cascading down the 100 m drop across nearly 2 km makes a thunderous roar and creates a magnificent spray of water that can be seen for miles – hence the local name ‘Mosi oa Tunya’ meaning ‘the smoke that thunders’. Water flow over the Falls varies throughout the year. The river’s annual flood season is February to May when the spray can reach a height of over 400 m, this is spectacular from above but it makes it very difficult to see the Falls at ground level as it is under a heavy shower/mist. Water levels start dropping in August and are at their lowest October-December when much of the rocky face becomes dry. At times of low water, the falls are best viewed from the Zimbabwe side.

On day 8, the morning is at your leisure until it’s time for your return transfer to the Victoria Falls Airport to meet your departing flights. Breakfast included.