Fly-in
Victoria Falls, Hwange & Mana Pools
8 days · 7 nights. Published rates in three grades, Mana Pools instead of Kariba.
From US$4,557View
Overview
Ten nights, three camps, and an unusual amount of time in each — which is what actually makes a safari good.
Six nights in Hwange, split between two completely different corners of it. The Hide sits in the mid-eastern part of the park, owner-run, sixteen guests maximum, with a concealed hide at the waterhole in front of camp where elephant, lion and rhino come down to drink. Bomani is out on the remote south-eastern boundary in the Ngamo Forest, on a 5,000 acre private reserve that was once a fossil lake and is now open plain dotted with ilala palms and natural pans.
You travel between them on the Elephant Express rail car, which runs from Dete station along the park boundary — a game drive on rails.
Then a scenic flight east, out of the dry savannah and into the drowned-forest shoreline of Lake Kariba, for four nights at Fothergill in Matusadonha National Park. The emphasis shifts to water: boating safaris, tiger fishing, and walking and driving in the concession. Wild dog and rhino have both been reintroduced to Matusadonha in recent years.
Hwange is 14,650 square kilometres and has the second highest mammal count of any national park in the world — 108 recorded species. Six nights is not a long time to spend in it.
At a glance
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Up to four activities a dayAt The Hide and Fothergill, rather than the usual two.
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The Elephant ExpressA rail car between the two Hwange camps, not a road transfer.
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Four nights on KaribaBoating safaris, tiger fishing and walking in Matusadonha.
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All flights includedEvery intercamp charter, both ways from Victoria Falls Airport.
Day by day
Days 1, 2 & 3
The Hide, Hwange National Park
Met at Victoria Falls Airport by our representative and walked through to your charter flight check-in for the hop to Hwange.
Three nights in the mid-eastern part of the park at an owner-run camp for a maximum of sixteen guests. Furnished tents, each en-suite with hot showers and flush toilets, and each with a private veranda over the waterhole. A concealed hide at the water lets you watch from very close quarters. Up to four activities a day: game drives, night drives, seasonal walking safaris and time in the hides.
The Hide Luxury Safari Lodge · all meals, local drinks and laundry
Days 4, 5 & 6
Bomani, south-eastern Hwange
A lodge transfer through Hwange Main Camp to Dete station, where you board the Elephant Express rail car out to the remote south-eastern boundary of the park.
Three nights on a 5,000 acre private reserve inside the Ngamo Forest, a kilometre and a half from the Ngamo entrance gate. The area was an ancient fossil lake before the Kalahari sands submerged it; today it is open plain scattered with natural pans and ilala palms. Nine large tents — five raised on Zambezi teak platforms, four at ground level — plus a thatched bungalow, and a main lodge on a viewing platform over Bomani pan.
Day and night game drives, game walks, village visits, birding, and full-day drives into Hwange proper.
Bomani Tented Lodge · all meals, local drinks, activities and laundry
Days 7, 8, 9 & 10
Fothergill, Lake Kariba
A scenic flight east across the Zimbabwean bushveld, out of the dry savannah of the Hwange region and into the drowned-forest shorelines of Lake Kariba and Matusadonha National Park.
Four nights, weighted towards the water: boating safaris, tiger fishing, guided walking and drives in the Matusadonha concession, a Kariba city tour, bush dining and sundowners. Ten tented suites across two linked camps — five luxury and two family suites at the Lake Suites, plus three at the Island Suites, which can be booked exclusively. Both camps have a pool and decks over the lawn to the lake.
Fothergill Island · all meals, local drinks, up to four activities a day and laundry
Day 11
Departure
A charter flight from Fothergill back to Victoria Falls Airport, timed against your departure. Our representative meets you again and walks you from the domestic terminal across to international check-in.
Breakfast included
What’s included
Included
- Start and finish at Victoria Falls Airport, with meet and greet both ways
- All local intercamp air charter flights
- The Elephant Express rail car between the two Hwange camps
- 10 nights’ accommodation as listed
- All meals, activities and beverages
- All park entry and conservation fees
- Laundry at all three camps
Not included
- International flights
- Visas and visa fees — Zimbabwe single entry is issued online
- Premium drinks at the two Hwange camps
- Items of a personal nature
- Gratuities
- Travel and medical insurance
Rates
This itinerary is quoted against your dates rather than published. All three camps price seasonally and the charter legs are costed per party, so a single headline figure would be misleading more often than it was right. Send us your dates and party size and you will get a firm, written, all-in price.
For a sense of scale: this is our most inclusive Zimbabwe itinerary, and it sits above the luxury grade of the 7 night fly-in safari, which starts at US$8,650 per person sharing.
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