Zimbabwe: Hwange, Mana Pools & Victoria Falls

Hwange, Mana Pools & Victoria Falls

Hwange • Mana Pools • Victoria Falls
Duration: 10 Days

Overview

A first safari in Zimbabwe that covers the country's two best-known parks and finishes at the falls. You fly straight from Victoria Falls Airport into Hwange for three nights among its elephants and waterholes, then north to the Zambezi for four nights in Mana Pools, split between an inland camp on a waterhole and a river camp for walking and canoeing. The last two nights are at Victoria Falls, with time to walk the Zimbabwe side of the falls before you fly home.

Between parks you travel in small light aircraft, either on shared scheduled flights or by private charter. The hop from Victoria Falls to Hwange takes under an hour. The flight from Hwange to Mana Pools is the longest leg, roughly one and a half to two and a half hours depending on the aircraft and airstrips, and the flight from Mana Pools back to Victoria Falls is about two and a half hours. Luggage is limited, typically to around 15 kg in a soft bag. Mana Pools is a dry-season park, and most of its camps open only from about April to November, so this trip works best from June to October, when wildlife gathers around the water in both parks.

Trip Highlights

Watching elephant herds drink from a ground-level hide in Hwange

Guided walks across the Mana Pools floodplain, under the albida trees

Canoeing the Zambezi past hippos and elephants at the water's edge

Evenings at Kanga Pan, where wildlife comes to drink in front of camp

The path along the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls, and a sunset on the river above them

Ideal For

First-time visitors to Zimbabwe • Couples and honeymooners • Active travelers who want to walk and paddle • Families with teenagers aged 16 and up

Preferred Properties

Hwange: Somalisa Camp; or Wilderness Linkwasha

Mana Pools (inland): Kanga Camp

Mana Pools (river): Nyamatusi Camp; or Wilderness Ruckomechi

Victoria Falls: The Victoria Falls Hotel; or Anantara Stanley & Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel

Day-By-Day Itinerary

Days 1–3: Victoria Falls & Hwange

Fly into Victoria Falls, usually via Johannesburg, where you are met after customs and walked to your light aircraft. The flight to south-eastern Hwange National Park takes about 40 minutes to an hour. For Somalisa you land at Manga airstrip and drive about 30 minutes to camp. If your international flight lands too late to connect, we add a night in Victoria Falls first. Spend the next two days on morning and afternoon game drives, with the afternoons at the camp's waterhole, where elephants come in to drink a few meters away. At Somalisa, walking safaris are also on offer. At Linkwasha there is a sunken hide on the waterhole and a Star Bed for a night out.
Overnights: Somalisa Camp, or Wilderness Linkwasha

Days 4–5: Mana Pools, Kanga Pan

Fly north to Mana Pools on the Zambezi, the longest flight of the trip, landing at Dandawa airstrip about 20 minutes' drive from camp. Kanga sits inland on Kanga Pan, which in the dry season is the only water for a long way around, so elephants, wild dogs, leopards and kudu come to drink in front of camp. Days combine morning and afternoon game drives with guided walks, and the hide below the deck puts you at eye level with whatever comes in. Kanga takes guests aged 12 and up, and walks are for ages 16 and over.
Overnights: Kanga Camp

Days 6–7: Mana Pools, the Zambezi

A game-drive transfer across the park takes you down to the river and Nyamatusi, in the remote eastern part of Mana Pools, looking across the Zambezi to the escarpment in Zambia. This is the walking and canoeing half of your stay: guided walks on the floodplain, where elephants feed on albida pods and guides track wild dogs when packs are nearby, and canoe trips on the river and its side channels past hippos and crocodiles. Midday is for your plunge pool. If you would rather stay in one camp for all four nights, Wilderness Ruckomechi on the western boundary offers walking, canoeing and game drives from a single base.
Overnights: Nyamatusi Camp, or Wilderness Ruckomechi

Days 8–9: Victoria Falls

From Nyamatusi, drive about 40 minutes to Mana Main airstrip and fly back to Victoria Falls, about two and a half hours. Settle in, then take a guided walk along the 16 viewpoints on the Zimbabwe side, from the Livingstone statue above Devil's Cataract to Danger Point. How much water and spray you see depends heavily on the month. Use the second day for a helicopter flight over the gorge, a sunset cruise on the upper Zambezi or, from the Anantara, the black rhino experience in the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve. If you want to see the Zambian side too, it is across the bridge, with border formalities on both sides.
Overnights: The Victoria Falls Hotel, or Anantara Stanley & Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel

Day 10: Depart

Transfer to Victoria Falls Airport and fly home, usually connecting through Johannesburg. If your flight leaves late in the day, there is time for a last look at the falls or high tea on Stanley's Terrace.