Zimbabwe: Hwange, Mana Pools & the Upper Zambezi at the Top Camps

Hwange, Mana Pools & the Upper Zambezi at the Top Camps

Victoria Falls • Hwange • Sapi Reserve • Mana Pools • Upper Zambezi
Duration: 13 Days

Overview

A longer trip through Zimbabwe at the most expensive camps in the country, with more time in each place and fewer compromises. You start with four nights in south-eastern Hwange, then spend six nights on the Zambezi: three in the private Sapi Reserve on the eastern side of Mana Pools and three on the western boundary of the park, so you see two different stretches of the river. The last two nights are at Royal Chundu, a quiet lodge on the Zambian bank upstream of Victoria Falls, before you fly home from Livingstone.

You land at Victoria Falls Airport, usually via Johannesburg, and fly straight on to Hwange in a small light aircraft, under an hour. The flight from Hwange to the Zambezi valley is the longest leg, roughly one and a half to two and a half hours depending on the aircraft and airstrips. The hop between the two Zambezi camps is short, and the flight from Mana Pools back to Victoria Falls is about two and a half hours. Luggage on these flights is limited, typically to around 15 kg in a soft bag. The camps on the Zambezi are dry-season camps and close from about late November to March, and the valley gets very hot in late October and November. July to October is the time to go, when the bush has thinned out and wildlife stays close to water.

Trip Highlights

Four nights on the Ngamo Plains side of Hwange, with a sunken hide at the waterhole and a night on the Star Bed

Day and night drives, walks and canoeing in the private Sapi Reserve, with an outing into Mana Pools National Park

A second Zambezi camp on the western edge of Mana Pools, with only a handful of tents

Painted dogs, lions and elephants feeding on albida pods along the river

Two slow days on the upper Zambezi, with a guided visit to the falls from the Zambian side

Ideal For

Couples and honeymooners • Repeat safari travelers • Photographers • Travelers who want walking and canoeing as well as game drives

Preferred Properties

Hwange: Wilderness Linkwasha

Sapi Reserve (eastern Mana Pools): Tembo Plains Camp

Mana Pools (west): Wilderness Little Ruckomechi

Upper Zambezi, Zambia: Royal Chundu

Day-By-Day Itinerary

Days 1–4: Hwange

Fly into Victoria Falls, where you are met after customs and taken to your light aircraft for the flight to south-eastern Hwange National Park. If your international flight lands too late to connect, I add a night at the falls first. With four nights here you have time to settle into the rhythm of the place: morning and afternoon game drives across the Linkwasha and Makalolo concessions, where two lion prides are established and wild dog and cheetah also turn up, and long afternoons at the camp's waterhole. The sunken hide puts you at ground level with drinking elephants, and you can spend a night out on the Star Bed. Activities here are built around drives and the hide rather than walking.
Overnights: Wilderness Linkwasha

Days 5–7: Sapi Reserve & Eastern Mana Pools

Fly north to the Zambezi valley, the longest flight of the trip, and transfer to Tembo Plains, a four-suite camp in the private Sapi Reserve, which borders Mana Pools and is part of the same World Heritage Site. Because this is a private reserve, you can go out on night drives as well as day drives, walk and track on foot, and take boats and canoes on the river, sometimes with lunch on a sandbank. Stays of three nights include one outing into Mana Pools National Park itself. Painted dogs, lion, leopard, buffalo and elephant are all seen here. Each suite has its own pool for the hot middle of the day.
Overnights: Tembo Plains Camp

Days 8–10: Western Mana Pools

A short light-aircraft flight takes you west along the valley to Little Ruckomechi, a handful of tents on a private stretch of the Zambezi on the park's western boundary, looking across the river to the escarpment in Zambia. With so few guests, meals and activities feel close to a private trip. Days mix game drives, river cruises, canoeing, guided walks and catch-and-release tigerfishing, and lion, leopard and wild dog are seen regularly in this part of the valley. Elephants walk through camp much of the time. Canoeing is for ages 16 and up and walks for 13 and up.
Overnights: Wilderness Little Ruckomechi

Days 11–12: Upper Zambezi & Victoria Falls

Fly back to Victoria Falls, about two and a half hours, then drive across the Victoria Falls Bridge into Zambia and upriver to Royal Chundu. With border formalities on both sides, allow about two hours for the road part. The lodge sits on a quiet, wide stretch of the river well above the falls, and the days are slow: boat cruises through the channels and islands, canoeing, island walks and a sundowner on the water. Use one morning for a guided visit to the falls in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park on the Zambian side. How much water and spray you see depends heavily on the month.
Overnights: Royal Chundu

Day 13: Depart

Transfer to Livingstone airport and fly home, usually connecting through Johannesburg. If your flight leaves late in the day, there is time for a last morning on the river.