The Adventure

For those of you who were concerned about Zimbabwe, its people and its wildlife, fret no longer. This beautiful country is as alive as ever and remains an adventure traveller’s dream destination.

Our journey begins at Pandamatenga in Botswana and takes us to Hwange National Park, high up into the Zambezi escarpment to Chizarira National Park and back down to the inland man-made sea of Lake Kariba. We then move on to Mana Pools, by the far the wildest place in Southern Africa. Here, on the banks of the massive Zambezi River, game viewing can be compared to being at a busy bus station for animals. We then head south to Gweru and on to the ancient city of the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. Our last stop is the Motopos National Park with its massive granite outcrops. We leave Zimbabwe via the Plumtree Border Post into Botswana, thereby avoiding the busy Beit Bridge Border Post altogether.

Though this off-road safari will be "tough going" at times and will put your sense of adventure to the test, the rewards will far outweigh the hardships you might encounter.

The Team

Your tour leader is an experienced nature conservationist and adventure guide. He will be in radio contact with you at all times and impart a wealth of biological, cultural, historic and four-wheel drive knowledge.

Three meals a day will be prepared by our experienced bush chef in his mobile kitchen, with fresh salads, potjiekos, braais and many other surprises appearing on the menu. The good old "koffie pot" will be on the fire from six till late.

Our logistics crew will pitch and take down the camps at all the overnight stops we visit. Tents and tables are supplied by Bhejane Adventures.

The route we will be negotiating will be tough at times. Our tours are however never designed to be "vehicle breakers", and should you experience any difficulty, the Bhejane crew do have the "know how" and recovery equipment to assist with off-road problems. All the campsites we will be visiting have flush toilets and hot water showers most of the time, unless specified below. Though our bush-camps will be rustic and interesting, you will at all times be safe. The crew will spare no effort to make you comfortable, provide you with good wholesome food and, most importantly, see that you have a good time.

Please note that on some travel and game viewing days, breakfast and lunch may be combined as brunch and that on days that we make an early start, breakfast will only include coffee and rusks, hot porridge and cereals.

Adventure itinerary

Day 1:

We meet at midday at the Botswana/Zimbabwe border post in the town of Pandamatenga in north eastern Botswana. Your Bhejane guide will be on hand to assist you with border post procedures and give you directions to meet the Bhejane crew who will have set up at Robin’s Camp in Hwange National Park. As the group will not arrive together, the guide will remain at the border post until everyone is safely in Zimbabwe. That evening, while enjoying a delicious dinner, the guide will explain the rest of the tour and the itinerary to you.

Day 2:

As Hwange is the largest national park in Zimbabwe, and one of the largest in Southern Africa, there is no time to be wasted and we spend the whole day game viewing on the park’s good road network. There are numerous hides and, at certain times of the year, Hwange boasts the world’s largest elephant population, with up to 70 000 elephants in the park.

While you are out game viewing, the crew will move the camp to Sinamatella Camp in the northern corner of the park. We will arrive at the camp in the late afternoon and, from the cliff top where the camp is situated, we will experience a magnificent sunset overlooking the massive bushveld area below the camp.

Please note that we will not be game viewing in a convoy but rather everyone will go their own way on the good road network. It would be advisable to have a GPS with Tracks 4 Africa as park maps are not available.

Day 3:

Today we leave the national park and make our way to Hwange town to refuel and restock our supplies before we make our way to Chizarira National Park, almost a kilometre climb out of the Zambezi Valley to just over 1 500 meters above sea level.

Our campsite is so high up on the escarpment that we get to look down on Black Eagles soaring below us. This camp is the most rustic of them all, with pit toilets and a temporary shower which we will erect. The spectacular views will make up for any discomfort.

Day 4:

We spend the day relaxing and exploring Chizarira National Park. This beautiful wildlife area was created as a safe haven for all the wildlife rescued during Operation Noah, when the Zambezi Valley was flooded with the construction of the Kariba Dam.

Day 5:

Today we make our way back down into the valley and our narrow gravel track takes us over numerous low level river crossing bridges and a magnificent mountain pass with wonderful views of Lake Kariba.

Our destination for tonight and tomorrow night is a campsite on the lakeshore in the little tourist town of Kariba.

Day 6:

Today we have a well deserved day of rest as we are not moving camp and are in semi-civilization in Kariba town. However, beware! Nowhere else will you get to see people walking home from work no more than 30 meters away from browsing elephants.

There will be time to refuel and restock. For those of you who want to, a visit to the Kariba Dam wall is close by.

For those of you who wish to fish, please contact us beforehand so that we can make the necessary arrangements (this will be for your own account).

In the late afternoon, we all board motor boats for a sundowner cruise on the lake and return to supper in the restaurant, comprising of the famous Kariba Bream.

Days 7, 8 & 9:

The adventure begins.

We make our way to and spend the next 3 nights camping in Mana Pools in the same camp on the banks of the Zambezi River. We will be serenaded to sleep by the grunts of hippo and will be visited daily by the giant elephant bulls that frequent the camp. At night we will need to be on the alert for the curious lions and wandering buffalo.

You will have two full days of game drives in Mana Pools and, as mentioned before, finding any viewpoint that overlooks the Zambezi floodplain is bound to be as rewarding as any game drive. For the birders and photographers, there is no place better or more rewarding.

Mana Pools National Park also has a very interesting policy. One may leave your vehicle and walk around, although this is not advisable.

Fishing in the Zambezi River is also permitted and fishing permits can be purchased for a small fee from the national park office in the small camp.

There are no adequate words to describe the wildness of Mana Pools National Park. You need to come and see it for yourself.

Day 10:

Sadly, we leave Mana and head out of the Zambezi Valley in a southerly direction, refuelling en route.

Our destination for tonight is the Antelope Park Private Game Reserve outside of Gweru.

On our arrival at this picturesque campsite, one of the local guides will give us a briefing on some of the adventure activities available in the reserve. These include elephant back rides and walks with lions. If any of you should be interested in these activities, you may book and partake in the chosen activity the following morning. Please note that these costs are not included in the tour package.

Day 11:

Today we leave Gweru and head for the Great Zimbabwe Ruins via the town of Masvingo. We arrive at the ruins in time for everybody to explore in the late afternoon and enjoy an evening camping near the ruins. This is a very great privilege to be able to stay so close to where our predecessors built this great walled city.

Day 12:

We leave the ruins of Great Zimbabwe and make our way to an area of unrivalled natural beauty as we head to the multitude of granite outcrops that make up the Motopos National Park via Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo. We arrive at the Motopos in time to visit the grave of Cecil John Rhodes and spend our last evening camping in amongst these beautiful outcrops.

Day 13:

After a hearty breakfast, we say our goodbyes. For those of you heading directly south, it is about 100km of good road to the Plumtree Border Post and on to Francistown in Botswana.