Hwange & Mana Pools: A Great Zimbabwe Safari

This morning you visit Victoria Falls, walking the rainforest rim on the Zimbabwe side, the bank with the most expansive, front-on views of the cataract. With your guide you move from viewpoint to viewpoint, gazing across the chasm at vast curtains of water thundering into the gorge, feeling the ground tremble and, in high water, being drenched by drifting spray as rainbows shimmer in the mist. Your guide brings the geology, history and ecology of the falls vividly to life. The afternoon is free to relax or take an optional adventure before the day's highlight: a sunset cruise on the broad upper Zambezi, gliding past hippos, crocodiles and drinking elephants as the sky blazes orange and the river turns to gold, drink in hand. Rest well, for tomorrow you fly into the wilderness of Hwange.

After breakfast you take a light-aircraft flight south to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe's largest protected area, landing at a bush airstrip deep in the wilderness. The change is immediate: the bustle of the falls gives way to teak forest, golden grassland and the deep silence of the bush. You are welcomed at your safari camp, settle in, and enjoy lunch and a briefing. In the cool of the late afternoon you head out on your first game drive, the golden light picking out giraffe, zebra, kudu and, very likely, your first great herds of elephant ambling to a waterhole. As dusk falls you pause for sundowners in the bush before returning to camp for dinner beneath a canopy of stars, the calls of the African night all around. Rest well, deep in wild Zimbabwe.

Today you immerse yourself in Hwange, with game drives in the cool of the morning and golden afternoon and a leisurely rest through the heat of the day. Hwange is famous for its elephants, and in the dry season the waterholes become stages for extraordinary gatherings, family after family emerging from the woodland to drink and bathe, calves splashing at their mothers' feet, so close from a hide you can hear them breathe. Between the pans, huge herds of buffalo, zebra, giraffe and antelope move across the grasslands, watched by lion and other predators. Your expert guide tracks the park's big cats and, if you are fortunate, a pack of endangered painted dogs. There may be a chance for a guided bush walk or, in a private concession, a night drive. Return to camp for dinner around the fire. Rest well.

Another full day in Hwange lets you go deeper into its wildlife at a relaxed pace. Morning and afternoon game drives follow whatever the bush offers, from a distant pan alive with game to fresh predator tracks to follow, and you might spend time in a waterhole hide watching the endless procession of animals coming to drink, or join your professional guide on a walk to learn the smaller signs of the bush. The dry-season concentrations mean there is always something to see, and this is the day to slow down, to notice the birds, the light and the rhythms of the wilderness. As the sun sets on your last evening in Hwange, gather for sundowners and dinner under the stars, reflecting on the great herds and predators of Zimbabwe's largest park. Rest well amid the wild, for tomorrow you journey to Mana Pools.

After a final morning drive or a relaxed breakfast, you take a light-aircraft flight northeast to Mana Pools National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the banks of the Zambezi and one of Africa's most beautiful and pristine wildernesses. Landing at a bush strip, you are transferred to your camp beneath the towering albida trees, with the great river and the blue escarpment beyond. After lunch and a briefing, you set out for your first experience of this magical place, perhaps a game drive or a gentle guided walk through the cathedral-like forest, where the dappled golden light and the concentrations of elephant, buffalo and antelope along the river are extraordinary. As the sun sets over the Zambezi, you pause for sundowners before returning to camp for dinner. Rest well in one of the wildest, most beautiful corners of Zimbabwe.

Today you experience the signature of Mana Pools, exploring this pristine wilderness on foot. With an expert armed guide, you set out through the floodplain forest, learning to read tracks, dung and the smallest signs of the bush, and approaching game on foot with skill and care. This is one of the few parks in Africa where such intimate walking is possible, and the thrill of sharing the wilderness on the animals' own terms is profound. You may encounter the park's famous bull elephants, and with luck watch one rise onto its hind legs to reach the nutritious acacia pods high in the trees, an extraordinary, photogenic sight seen almost nowhere else. In the afternoon you might take a game drive or another walk. As the golden light fades over the Zambezi, gather for sundowners and dinner. Rest well in beautiful Mana Pools.

Today you take to the water for a canoe safari along the mighty Zambezi, one of the most magical ways to experience Mana Pools. Gliding silently downstream with your guide, you pass pods of grunting hippos, crocodiles basking on sandbars, and elephants crossing between the islands, with waterbuck and buffalo grazing the banks and a wealth of birds, from fish eagles to bee-eaters, all around. The perspective from the water is intimate and serene, the only sounds the dip of the paddle and the calls of the wild. You pause on an island or sandbank for a picnic, and drink in the beauty of the river and the escarpment beyond. Later there may be time for a final drive or walk. As the sun sets on your last evening in the wilderness, enjoy a farewell dinner under the stars. Rest well, reflecting on an unforgettable safari.

After a final early activity or a relaxed breakfast in camp, you bid farewell to Mana Pools and are flown back towards Victoria Falls or Harare for your onward international departure. You leave having experienced the very best of Zimbabwe's wild country: the thunder and expansive views of Victoria Falls, the great elephant herds and predators of Hwange, and the pristine, UNESCO-listed floodplains of Mana Pools, where you walked and canoed among the game and watched its legendary elephants reach into the trees. The images stay vivid long after you land, the curtains of falling water, the elephants crowding the waterholes at dusk, the dappled golden light of the albida forest, and the silent glide of the canoe past hippos on the Zambezi. Zimbabwe offers spectacle, pristine wilderness and superb guiding in abundance, and you depart already dreaming of a return.