Arrive in the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare – an attractive city with wide tree-lined avenues and a good selection of restaurants, bars, museums, craft markets and gardens to explore. You will be met at the airport for a transfer to your hotel based in the city centre. Enjoy the day at leisure to discover the city.
Your tour guide will meet you at your hotel and you will set off on your journey. Travel south-east to the Eastern Highlands, a region of rugged mountains and scenic beauty. You will have the opportunity to experience the Bvumba Mountains, dominated by savannah woodland, offering spectacular views over the highlands and tropical lowlands of Mozambique. Although small in area, the mountains are a botanical paradise and home to some of the rarest butterflies in the region.
After breakfast, the journey continues to the home of the architectural magnificence of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. The majestic Lodge at the Ancient City sits spectacularly on a granite ridge, within the shadows of the iconic Great Zimbabwe national monument, offering its guests a royal level of comfort and hospitality upon which the ancestors would surely have nodded in approval.
Our day begins with a tour of the Great Zimbabwe Monument, a World Heritage Site. The Great Zimbabwe Monument is believed to have been fashioned between 1250 and 1450 AD, from regular rectangular granite blocks skillfully placed one upon the other without the use of tools, and gives us an idea of stone masonry few if any could emulate today. This World Heritage Site is a unique historical, cultural and archaeological landmark with many unusual artifacts, including the Zimbabwe bird (a national emblem and the subject of its own myths and legends), to be found there.
This morning we will set off to the Matobo Hills, a range of domes, spires and balancing rock formations which have been hewn out of the solid granite plateau through millions of years of erosion and weathering. Matobo National Park is also the burial place of Cecil John Rhodes and Mzilikazi, the great Ndebele King. The Park, another World Heritage Site, is home to a broad variety of wild game and bird species.
Enjoy a tour of the Matobo Hills National Park, a unique park with not only animals but some of the most breathtaking granite scenery. Our journey continues to Hwange National Park, world-renowned for its daunting size of 14,650 square kilometers, and for the wide variety of game that call the National Park home; Buffalo, Zebra, Giraffe, all the Big Cats, Hyena, Wild Dog, Rhino and the world’s largest concentration of Elephants.
Today we embark on a morning and afternoon open vehicle game drive on the Hwange concession. Hwange National Park carries 105 mammal species, including 19 large herbivores and eight large carnivores. Elephant make up the largest proportion of the biomass. All Zimbabwe’s specially protected animals are to be found in the park and it is the only protected area where gemsbok and brown hyena occur in reasonable numbers. The population of wild dog to be found is thought to be of one of the largest surviving groups in Africa today.
After breakfast we head towards the Painted Dog Sanctuary, also known as the African Wild Dogs. They are among the continent’s most endangered species. At the sanctuary they built on education, community involvement and international support to improve the equality and abundances of the dogs. We make our way to the district of Binga, a fishing, boating and cultural centre towards the western end of Lake Kariba’s southern shore. After arriving in the district, we embark on a scenic cruise, where we will have the opportunity to view some of Africa’s wildlife that makes this lake their personal water hole.
Enjoy a leisurely day at Lake Kariba, joining a relaxing boat cruise, in search of lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, cheetah, impala, kudu and eland as they make their way to the lake for water.
Travel to Victoria Falls, home to another of Zimbabwe’s World Heritage Sites. Check-in at your hotel which is conveniently situated within walking distance of the Falls and the many restaurants, shops and craft markets in the town.
You will have the rest of the day at leisure to relax at the hotel swimming pool, pamper yourself with a spa treatment, alternatively explore the town and plan some activities for the days ahead.
After a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel you will be taken on a short drive to the Victoria Falls for your first excursion of the day – a Guided Tour of the Falls on the Zimbabwean side lasting 1.5 hours.
The rest of the day will be at leisure. Perhaps go across the border to take in all the views of the Falls from the different vantage points on the Zambian side. You could also wander through the town and shop for curios or choose an optional activity. Victoria Falls is known as an adventure capital – with a wealth of adrenaline activities on offer:
– Bungee Jumping
– Bridge Swinging
– White-water rafting
– Helicopter and micro-light flights over the falls
– Upper Zambezi Canoeing
In the evening you will be collected for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.
Your journey ends with a transfer to Victoria Falls airport for your onward flight.
