Hwange National Park Review

Hwange National Park is just an easy two hours drive from Victoria Falls . And for most Zimbabweans, like the team here at Off 2 Africa, this park is a national treasure.

If you’re planning a safari in Zimbabwe, this Hwange National Park review should help you plan.

Wide Open Spaces and Raw African Bush

Hwange National Park celebrated her 80th birthday back in 2008, and is regarded as one of the great parks of Africa. Travelers particularly love the park’s elephant population, which today is around 25,000!

If you’re after wide open spaces, raw bush savannah and limited tourist traffic, Hwange National Park is the spot for you. Hwange is a massive 14,000 square kilometres, comparable to the size of Wales in the UK and Zimbabwe’s largest national park.

In Hwange National Park you’ll find over 100 mammal species including The Big Five, as well as African Wild Dog, Cheetah, the rare Brown Hyena as well as Spotted variety. Birders love the over 400 bird species, which is nearly half of all types found in Southern Africa.

In Hwange travelers have a chance of seeing pretty much any of Southern Africa’s exciting wildlife in a single park.

Accommodation Choices for Everyone

From a luxury tented camp like The Hide where everything’s included, to just paying dinner, bed & breakfast and paying for game drives when you want to, there’s a great lodge to suit everyone.

The plunge pool at Khulu Ivory Lodge is a traveler favorite. In addition to Africa’s breathtaking scenery on show, this is one of the only places in Zimbabwe where you can have a massive, thirsty 7-ton elephant bull quench his thirst just inches away.

Most lodges in Hwange National Park have swimming pools and as a guest you can be pretty sure in the dry season a lot of elephant will want to share it with you.

Hwange NP has an interesting mix of ecosystems. Its western border with Botswana is characterised by drier Kalahari sandveld which the elephant herds retreat to in the rainy season November to March each year. The northern rugged & hilly parts of the Park are dominated by Mopane and other mixed woodland and several large dams, while in the south of the Park there are magnificent open grassy plains like the Kennedy and Dete Vlei areas, interspersed with many pumped waterholes & natural depressions for the animals to drink from.

Teak forests cover a large part of the Park in the central and eastern parts where shy sable and roan antelope are found and there are even fossil river valleys. The Ngamo plains of the south are stunning with their tall Ilala Palms and are ideal for both game drives and guided walks.

Contact us today to get started planning your safari in Zimbabwe or to learn more about Hwange National Park.