14-day Zimbabwe Expedition Tour 14 days

Day 1 Harare

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

Overnight at the Jacana Garden Lodge in Harare with breakfast.

Day 2 Harare - Chinhoyi Caves - Lake Kariba

After breakfast, you depart for Kariba about 360km west of Harare. You will stop over at the Chinhoyi Caves (135km from Harare) to marvel at this natural wonder.

The caves, mainly made of limestone, were first documented by Frederick Courtney Selous in 1888. They are named after a local chief who used them as a refuge from other tribal raiders. These caves are the most extensive cave system in Zimbabwe that the public can access. They consist of a system of tunnels and caverns. The system is a dying one (in geological time spans), in that they are slowly collapsing. These collapses can be noticed by the sinkholes and depressions within the surrounding area. The Wonder Hole, which is the main feature of the Caves, is in fact a "swallow hole" or a large cavern with a collapsed roof.

You will be in Kariba late in the afternoon in time for the afternoon game drive/fishing trip or just a sunset cruise on Lake Kariba.

Overnight at the Caribbea Bay hotel with breakfast

Day 3 Lake Kariba

Most of the attractions in Kariba are water-based. Fishing, game-viewing, short cruises, and house-boating are the most popular activities. A visit to the Kariba Dam wall is also impressive along with a visit to the crocodile farm.

Available options (all optional) may include: game drives, tiger fishing, breakfast/lunch/sunset cruises on the lake, dam wall and Kariba Heights tour.

Overnight at the Caribbea Bay hotel with breakfast.

Day 4 Zambia - Victoria Falls

You will have an early start for the road transfer to Victoria Falls via Zambia.

The territory of what is now Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911. It was renamed Zambia at independence in 1964. The new name of Zambia was derived from the Zambezi river (the Zambezi may mean "River of God").

You will pass through the southern territory and will find out why Zambia is termed “the real Africa”.

You will be in Victoria Falls at around 15:00.

Overnight at the White House Lodge with breakfast.

Day 5 Victoria Falls

You will be picked up at 08:00 for the guided tour of the falls. This is a two-hour trip that includes the drive via the big baobab tree, part of the river before the water-falls, and finally the walk in the Victoria Falls rain-forest. Includes return transfers, raincoats, mineral water, and the services of an experienced guide.

Village Tour: after the falls you will be driven to the village only 15 km from the town centre to have a glimpse into the real Zimbabwean rural life again. Mineral water and refreshment are included and you will be back in town at about 12:30 in time for lunch (own account).
The rest of the afternoon will be open for optional tours and options may include the following: elephant back safari, sunset cruise, lion walks, helicopter flights, bungee jumping, night game drive with bush dinner and more.

Overnight at the White House Lodge with breakfast.

Day 6 Victoria Falls

This is your free day for Victoria Falls shopping and optional tours. Optional tours may include the following: visit the Zambia side of the Victoria Falls and the Livingstone town of Zambia, elephant back safari, night game drives with bush dinners, lion walks, white water rafting, canoeing on the upper Zambezi above the falls and many more.

Overnight at the White House Lodge with breakfast.

Day 7 Chobe National Park - Botswana

Full Day Safari in Chobe National Park.

You will depart soon after breakfast for the Chobe National Park, through the Zambezi National Park where chances of game encountering are very high. Will be at the border at 08:30 and will start the cruise on the Chobe River at 09:00 until 12:30 when we break for buffet lunch at the Chobe Safari Lodge (or similar).

In the afternoon you will do a 3-hour game drive in 4x4 safari jeeps in the Chobe National Park. This will afford you excellent chances of seeing loads of wildlife as they traverse the river route to or from the Chobe River for the last drink of the day. You will leave the park at 16:30 and will be at the border at around 17:00 for the transfer back to Victoria Falls. Dinner at the famous Boma Restaurant and overnight at the White House lodge with breakfast.

Day 8 Hwange National Park

Afternoon Safari in the Hwange National Park.

You will depart for Hwange National Park at 10:00 and will be at the Hwange Safari Lodge at around 13:00 in time for lunch (own account). You will join the late afternoon game drive in the Hwange Safari lodge estate (departing at 16:00 and returning at around 19:00) 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.

Overnight at the Hwange Safari Lodge with dinner and breakfast.

Day 9 Hwange National Park

Safari in the Hwange National Park.

After breakfast your guide will pick you up for the full day safari in the Hwange National Park using the Main Camp gate. Mineral water, soft drinks, picnic lunch and lots of refreshments will be provided and you will 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, rhino, buffalo, impala, kudu, sable, eland, waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, baboon, warthog and a lot more.

Overnight at the Hwange Safari Lodge with breakfast

Day 10 Matobo National Park

Transfer to Bulawayo and afternoon tour of the Matobo Hills National Park.

You will depart early for the Matobo Hills National Park near Bulawayo some 250 km due south east of Hwange National Park. You will do an afternoon tour of the park and this will be enough to see most of the important points before going back to your hotel for the night.
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.

A visit not to be missed as the area is also full of history; most of the negotiations and agreements on the colonization of Zimbabwe were done here and even Cecil John Rhodes` remains are also laid to rest here.

Overnight at the Bulawayo Holiday Inn with breakfast.

Day 11 Great Zimbabwe Monuments

Transfer to great Zimbabwe and afternoon tour of the monument.

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. You will do a guided tour of the monuments in the afternoon.

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 govt, and the modern-day state is named for it. The word great distinguishes it from the many hundreds of small ruins, now known as "zimbabwes", spread across the country. There are over 200 such sites in southern Africa and Great Zimbabwe is the largest of these.

Overnight at the Lodge at The Ancient City with breakfast.

Day 12 Nyanga National Park

Transfer to Nyanga National Park.

You will take another leisurely drive to Nyanga after breakfast via the Chimanimani and the Vumba area (the southern part of the mountainous eastern highlands). The scenery here is just beautiful, you will be at the Troutbeck Inn in Nyanga at about 15:00.

Nyanga National Park lies in the north of Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands. One of the first national parks to be declared in the country, it contains the highest land in Zimbabwe, with green hills and perennial rivers. Most of its terrain consists of rolling down-land, sometimes lightly wooded, lying at altitudes between 1,800-2,593 meters (6,560-7,544 feet).

Nyanga is primarily a tourist town and is a popular tourist destination with its fishing, golf courses, mountain hikes to Mount Nyangani, the highest point in Zimbabwe. The Mtarazi Falls, inside Nyanga National Park, is the highest waterfall in the country, cascading about 760 meters (2,490 ft), from top to bottom. All tours here are optional.

Overnight at the Troutbeck Inn with breakfast.

Day 13 Nyanga National Park

Activities at the Nyanga National Park.

The Nyanga region has long been regarded as a place of great natural beauty. In 1896, Cecil John Rhodes wrote to his agent: "Dear McDonald, Inyanga is much finer than you described... Before it is all gone, buy me quickly up to 100,000 acres (400 km2), and be sure to take in the Pungwe Falls. I would like to try sheep and apple growing."

You will have a chance to do a full day of activities in Nyanga (all optional) and these include horse riding, trout fishing, visit the world view considered to be the highest point in Zimbabwe, game viewing, visit the Mutarazi, Nyangombe falls, and the ancient pit huts and many more or just curl up in the lounge with a book, and enjoy the panoramic views or stroll down to the dam to watch the rainbow trout diving through the waters.

Overnight at the Troutbeck Inn with breakfast.

Day 14 Harare International Airport

Transfer to Harare International Airport.

This is your last day in Zimbabwe (or with us on this tour). You will depart early for the 245 km transfer to the Harare Airport for the flight out. Departure times will depend on flight times.