Zimbabwe journeys into wilderness you enter on foot

A tailor-made Zimbabwe round trip starts at €10,850 per person plus international flights – that figure refers to our twelve-day family safari through the Matobo Hills, Mana Pools and Hwange. More exclusive itineraries sit above it: the seven-day fly-in safari with Great Plains, linking Zimbabwe with the Okavango Delta, costs €13,450 per person. The biggest price drivers are the camp category, the share of charter flights and the season. Your personal proposal itemises every service included.

In Zimbabwe you do not have to choose: in Mana Pools National Park a game drive, a guided bush walk and a canoe trip on the Zambezi can all belong to the same day. If your priority is seeing and photographing wildlife, Hwange National Park with its waterholes and large elephant herds is the stronger base. If you want to meet the wilderness on foot, we build in more time in Mana Pools and the adjoining Sapi Concession – as in our eight-day luxury safari with Great Plains. Tell us which of the three appeals most and we will weight the nights per area accordingly.

We recommend at least 10 days. Hwange, Mana Pools and Victoria Falls are each several hours' drive or one charter flight apart – with less time you spend too much of it in transit and end up with a single night per area. With 12 days the Matobo Hills in the south come into reach, with their rock paintings and rhino tracking on foot. That is exactly how our family safari in Zimbabwe is built.

TODO: booking lead time in months for the May-to-October dry season – to be confirmed. For reference, the Namibia page states 9 to 12 months. The reason lies in how small these houses are: Somalisa Camp in Hwange National Park has seven tented suites, Nyamatusi Camp in Mana Pools six, Tembo Plains Camp in the Sapi Concession four suites and one family villa. Outside high season, shorter notice is often workable – simply ask us.

Yes – though differently from Namibia or South Africa. Zimbabwe is not a self-drive country: you travel guided or by charter flight between areas, and at €10,850 per person the entry point sits well above a classic self-drive round trip. In return you are with local guides from day one, and during the May-to-October dry season there is no time difference to Germany. For a first visit we recommend a fully guided itinerary such as our family safari, which pairs culture in the Matobo Hills with wilderness in Mana Pools and Hwange.

Yes, and we have a dedicated route for it: the twelve-day family safari in Zimbabwe combines rhino tracking and rock paintings in the Matobo Hills with walking and canoe safaris in Mana Pools and elephant watching in Hwange National Park. When choosing houses we look at family layout: Khayelitshe House in the Matobo Hills sleeps up to eight guests across four bedrooms and comes with a private chef, while Mpala Jena on the Zambezi has two family suites. Tell us how old your children are and we will shape drives, camps and activities around them.