Zimbabwe - Africa - 2016
We were fortunate to visit 4 camps in 3 different regions of Zimbabwe; Matobo Hills, Hwange, and Mana Pools. Below are separate slideshows for each region. Zimbabwe is a lovely country with very friendly people despite their many political problems. Each region was different and interesting in their own way. We met cool people from all over the world on Safari - Brits, Germans, Canadians, South Africans, Spaniards, Austrians, etc...it's really fun to talk to people who love safari and learn where they've been. We hope to make it back to Africa in a few years....It's my most favorite place in the world!
Matobo Hills...Amalinda Camp
Matobo Hills was the first region we visited. It is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. The area is filled with granite kopjes and wooded valleys with cave paintings dating back 13000 plus years. The national park has one of the largest concentrations of black and white rhinos for which there is a major poaching problem. We stayed at the stunning Amalinda "camp" and were lucky enough to get the honeymoon suite! We trekked for Rhino, hiked the Matobo Hills, viewed some cave paintings, met some really cool people from all over the world, visited a local school and orphanage, and got to experience a beautiful sunset at the stunning "World's View" peak. Not a ton of game viewing in the area but we did see Hippo, Giraffe, some really cool birds, zebra, kudu, impala, etc and rhino of course. It is an amazing place and we loved our guide, Howard!!
Hwange National Park - Somalisa Camp
The 2nd Region we visited was Hwange - the largest national park in Zimbabwe (approximately the size of Belgium). Somalisa has their own concession inside the park and it's pretty fabulous. Lots of game drives, lots of game, armchair safari from the camp, walking safari, great food (Chef Sandy knows whats up!). Lewis, our guide, was super knowledgeable and lots of fun. Somalisa was recently totally renovated and it is stunning!!!
Mana Pools - Zambezi Expeditions Camp and Kanga Camp
The 3rd region we visited was Mana Pools National Park - this too, is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site based on its wildness and beauty, together with the wide range of large mammals, over 350 bird species and aquatic wildlife. Zambezi Expeditions is a temporary camp right on the Zambezi river with animals frequently coming through the camp. We canoed and swam in the Zambezi river a definite trip highlight. But the very best part of this region was that our pals Michele and Greg decided to join us at the last minute and flew in for a long weekend. We weren't even positive they would make it (since they were flying standby and we had no internet to check in with them) but we actually passed each other on a game drive heading back to camp!!! SO MUCH FUN!
The second camp we visited in Mana Pools was Kanga Camp which is also included here. This was the perfect place to end our safari because there was large water hole right in front of this camp that happened to be the ONLY water in this area so EVERY animal comes here to drink. There was really no reason to go on game drives, because there wasn't much to see - all the action was at the water hole which is why the call this place "Arm Chair Safari". Relax on the deck with cocktails and watch the animals come and go taking their turns drinking at the water. We saw Elephant, baboon, all different kinds of antelope, lions, leopard, tons of birds, etc. Good times.
The second camp we visited in Mana Pools was Kanga Camp which is also included here. This was the perfect place to end our safari because there was large water hole right in front of this camp that happened to be the ONLY water in this area so EVERY animal comes here to drink. There was really no reason to go on game drives, because there wasn't much to see - all the action was at the water hole which is why the call this place "Arm Chair Safari". Relax on the deck with cocktails and watch the animals come and go taking their turns drinking at the water. We saw Elephant, baboon, all different kinds of antelope, lions, leopard, tons of birds, etc. Good times.