Zimbabwe

Hwange National Park

Zimbabwe's largest and most accessible park, covering over 14,000 square kilometres of mopane woodland and savannah. Famous for its massive elephant herds, one of the highest concentrations in Africa, drawn to the park's productive artificial waterholes, which also bring lion, wild dog, sable antelope, and over 400 bird species within easy range. Walking safaris, night drives, and hide visits make Hwange one of the most versatile wildlife experiences in southern Africa.

Mana Pools National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the wildest places in Africa: a floodplain on the banks of the Zambezi where elephants stand on their hind legs to reach albida pods, lions hunt on open ground, and wild dogs raise their pups in full view of camps. Walking safaris here are unguided or led by some of Zimbabwe's finest professional guides. Canoeing the Zambezi past hippos and crocodiles while elephants drink on the bank is an experience that stays with you for life.

Matobo National Park

A UNESCO World Heritage Site of extraordinary beauty: ancient granite kopjes sculpted by billions of years of erosion into balancing boulders, arches, and cave systems sheltering some of the finest San rock art in southern Africa. Cecil Rhodes chose to be buried here, at a spot called World's View. The park also holds one of Africa's highest concentrations of both black and white rhino, trackable on foot with expert guides.

Victoria Falls

One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World: Mosi-oa-Tunya, "The Smoke that Thunders." The Zambezi pours over a 1,700-metre-wide basalt cliff in the world's largest sheet of falling water, visible from 50 kilometres away. The adventure offering here is unmatched in Africa: white-water rafting through Grade 5 rapids, bungee jumping 111 metres from the bridge, gorge swings, microlight flights, and helicopter rides over the falls. The Zimbabwean side gives the best full-width view.

Zambezi River

The fourth-longest river in Africa and the lifeblood of the region: canoe safaris drift past hippos surfacing metres from the bow, fish eagles calling overhead, elephants crossing at dusk. Tiger fishing on the Zambezi is some of the best freshwater angling in the world. Sundowner cruises at the end of a safari day, with the river turning gold in the last light, are one of those experiences that need no elaboration.

Lake Kariba

The world's largest man-made lake by volume, created in 1958 by the Kariba Dam and stretching 280km along the Zambezi Valley. Houseboat holidays here are unlike anything else in southern Africa: drift through channels lined with drowned trees, game viewing by boat, tiger fishing at dawn, and sunsets that turn the water red and purple in a way that photographs badly and looks extraordinary in person.

Eastern Highlands & Mutarazi Falls

Zimbabwe's cool, misty mountain spine along the Mozambique border, a complete contrast to the heat and dust of the lowveld. Mutarazi Falls plunges 762 metres down the Honde Valley escarpment, making it Zimbabwe's highest waterfall and one of the tallest in Africa. Nyanga offers hiking, trout fishing, and sweeping highland views; Bvumba's botanical gardens and montane forests are exceptional for birding; Chimanimani is remote, dramatic, and almost entirely unvisited.

Chimanimani

The wilder, quieter end of the Eastern Highlands, a remote mountain wilderness on the Mozambique border that sees a fraction of the visitors it deserves. Towering quartzite peaks, dense indigenous forest, and natural waterfalls including the Bridal Veil Falls make this one of Zimbabwe's most dramatic landscapes. The Chimanimani National Park is a backpacker's and hiker's paradise, with no fences and a raw, undisturbed quality that is increasingly rare in Africa.

Chinhoyi Caves

A series of ancient limestone caves north of Harare, concealing the mystical Sleeping Pool, a perfectly still, cobalt-blue sinkhole dropping 90 metres into crystal-clear underground water. The visibility here draws cave divers from across the world. Sacred to the Shona people for centuries, and one of the most quietly extraordinary natural features in Zimbabwe.

Great Zimbabwe National Monument

The largest ancient stone ruins in sub-Saharan Africa: a city of dry-stone enclosures built without mortar between the 11th and 15th centuries, capital of a Shona trading empire that controlled the gold routes between the interior and the Indian Ocean. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and the origin of the country's name. Standing inside the Great Enclosure, surrounded by walls that have stood for 800 years, is one of the most affecting historical experiences on the continent.

Khami Ruins

UNESCO World Heritage Site near Bulawayo, the successor capital to Great Zimbabwe, built by the Torwa state in the 15th century with the same dry-stone masonry tradition. Terraced retaining walls climb a rocky hillside to a royal enclosure at the summit, with Portuguese trade goods and carved soapstone found among the ruins attesting to the reach of the trading networks that once passed through here.

Bulawayo

Zimbabwe's second city and "The City of Kings", laid out with unusually wide streets (wide enough to turn a full ox wagon) by the early settlers, and still retaining a distinctly unhurried character. The Natural History Museum is one of the finest in southern Africa; the Matabeleland history it covers is essential context for understanding the country. The gateway to Matobo Hills and the Khami Ruins, both within easy reach.