10 Day Zimbabwe Heritage & Wildlife Tour 10 days

Day 1 Harare

On arrival at Harare International Airport, you will be met and transferred to the Meikles Hotel. Depending on arrival time you may do a city tour, visit the art galleries or the wildlife orphanages (all optional).

Overnight at the Meikles Hotel (5*) in Harare with dinner and breakfast.

Day 2 Great Zimbabwe

After breakfast, you depart for the great Zimbabwe ruins and you will be in this medieval city at about 12:00 in time for lunch and an afternoon guided tour of the monuments.

Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near the town of Masvingo. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the country's Late Iron Age and is believed to have served as a royal palace for the local monarch. Construction on the monument began in the 11th century and continued until the 15th century. The stone city spans an area of 722 hectares which, at its peak, could have housed up to 18,000 people.

Great Zimbabwe has since been adopted as a national monument by the Zimbabwean government and the modern-day state is named for it.

Dinner and overnight at the Lodges at The Ancient City (or similar).

Day 3 Matopo Hills National Park

You will depart early for the Matobo Hills National Park near Bulawayo some 250 km due west of Great Zimbabwe. You will do an afternoon game drive - your introductory drive to your African wildlife safari.

Matobo National Park has a wide diversity of fauna: 175 bird, 88 mammal, 39 snake and 16 fish species. Game include white rhinos, sable antelopes, impala and leopards. The game park has been restocked with white and black rhinos. It has been designated as an Intensive Protection Zone for the two species as well as hyenas, hippopotamus, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and ostriches.

This is one park where you will have a realistic chance of encountering the rhinos in their natural habitat and shy and elusive African leopards.

Overnight at Amalinda Lodge (or similar) DBB.

Day 4 Matopo Hills National Park

Matopo National Park is home to a wide range of game, including Africa's largest concentration of leopard, which is a major attraction in the landscape in addition to the intensely protected highest concentration of the black and white rhino.

Elsewhere in the park, some more obvious game includes bushbuck, impala, kudu, giraffe, lion, baboon monkeys and more. Dassies or rock hyrax are very common and a density of leopard that is also very high.

On this day we will visit the worldview point - the highest point of Matopo Hills and the rock art painting in the morning and we will do another game viewing safari in the afternoon.

Overnight at Matopo Hills lodge (or similar) DBB.

Day 5 Hwange National Park

After breakfast we depart for Hwange National Park. You will be at the Hwange Safari Lodge at around 13:00 in time for lunch. You will join the late afternoon game drive in the Hwange Safari Lodge estate which boarders the Hwange National Park - there are fences between the two reserves.

Late afternoons are great for predators and they are seldom missed on these drives.

Dinner and overnight at the Hwange Safari Lodge.

Day 6 Hwange National Park

After breakfast you will be picked up for the full day safari in the Hwange National Park. Mineral water, soft drinks, picnic lunch and lots of refreshments will be provided. We use any one of the many viewing platforms that dot the park for lunches. You will be back at the lodge at around 16:00.

The elephants of Hwange are world famous and the park's elephant population is one of the largest in the world. The park is home to over 65000 elephants who in the dry season dominate all the water points in the afternoons. Other animals that can be seen in the park are lion, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, impala, kudu, sable, eland, waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, baboon, warthog and a lot more.

Dinner and overnight at the Hwange Safari Lodge with breakfast.

Day 7 Hwange National Park

Hwange provides a safari experience to rival the great parks of East Africa - the Serengeti and Masai Mara - but without the crowds. You will have another fun filled day in the park - now looking for your favourite animal or bird and even ignoring the other now common species. On a good day you may even return to the lodge earlier as you will have seen all there is to be seen.

Dinner and overnight at the Hwange Safari Lodge.

Day 8 Victoria Falls - Zambezi River Sunset Cruise

After Breakfast transfer you will be transferred to Victoria Falls in air-conditioned vans - a two hours trip. After check-in you will do a guided tour of the Victoria Falls. The walk on this 2km stretch lasts for about two hours. You will also be shown the big baobabs of the Victoria Falls National Park and you will also passby the curio market for gifts shopping. Raincoats, mineral water and return transfers are included.

At 16:00 you will be transferred to the jetty for the relaxing Zambezi River sun set cruise. Relax with a sun-downer and snacks as you gaze out onto the banks of the river. Have your camera ready to capture one of the amazing sunsets in Africa. This is a two-hour boat trip with all drinks, snacks and return transfers. Expect to be back at the hotel at about 19:00.

Own dinner arrangements and overnight at the Elephant Hills Resort B/B.

Day 9 Victoria Falls

This is your free day for Victoria Falls shopping and optional tours. Optional tours may include the following:

· Helicopter flight over the Victoria Falls

· Lion walks

· Devils pool swimming on the Zambia side of the falls

· Day trip to the Chobe National Park of Botswana

· White water rafting

· Bungee jumping off the Zambezi bridge

· Visit to the real and working African villages some 20km out of town

Dinner will be at the Boma restaurant.

Overnight at the Elephant Hills resort with breakfast.

Day 10 Victoria Falls - Return

This is the last day of the tour, you may get a chance to do one more optional tour and these may include walk with the lions, morning short game drive, early morning canoeing on the Zambezi River etc.

Departure times from the hotel will depend on the flight times. Guests are recommended to be at the airport at least two hours before the flight times.