Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a blend of wilderness, historical sights and geological wonders. Some of the country’s major sights include the Great Zimbabwe National Monument, waterfalls, karst landscapes, the geological wonder of the Victoria Falls and the Chinhoyi Caves, all truly unmissable on any visit to Zimbabwe.

Harare is the capital, with steel-clad skyscrapers, pretty parks and jacarandas that dot the roadways. It is also the largest city in Zimbabwe. A visit to the National Gallery and the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences is a must, as is the wealth of old colonial buildings.

The one must-see place on any visit to Zimbabwe would have to be the Victoria Falls, where thousands of people gather every year to see this amazing sight of the roaring waterfall. You can enter the Victoria Falls National Park just to the south of the centre, gasping as the great curtain of water comes into view, cascading dramatically off its black rock cliffs in columns of steam and mist.

Bulawayo is the second city of Zimbabwe, with swaying trees that dot the old avenues and the occasional Anglo-style public house occupying the arcades. This industrial and economic hub is always green and flowery, with bougainvillea spilling over the rooftops and palms peppering the roundabouts.

Chinhoyi is a small crossroads town on the main thoroughfare from Harare to Lusaka, a picture-perfect scene of rural Zimbabwe. It sits nestled between the rising ridges of Mashonaland West Province. However, Chinhoyi is famous for its caves, which carve their way into the cliffs just west of the centre. Located in their very own national park, the caves attract divers from far and wide, who come to try ultra-technical deep descents into the cool subterranean waters that hide in the gaping caverns.

Nyanga National Park is suspended at the very top of Zimbabwe, more than 1,800 metres above sea level, and is dominated by large hills of dolomite rock and suspended boulders. Adorned with groves of msasa trees and cypresses that are rare to these regions, the habitats here host a truly otherworldly array of creatures. Here you will see Old World samango monkeys, with their white-brushed throats, which can only be found in these parts, as well as a few antelope and leopards.

Mana Pools National Park is fed by the lifeblood of the Zambezi River, which spills over onto the plains and grasses. As a result, animals gather at the pools to drink, making Mana Pools a first-class game-viewing destination.

In Gonarezhou National Park, rock-ribbed, rust-coloured escarpments dominate the landscape in the north of the park. The area covers 5,000 square kilometres, where you can see elephants, giraffe, zebra and wild dog packs amongst the mopane woods.

The Lake Kariba region and the Zambezi Valley are home to small lakeside towns that see many visitors each year. Set just on the edge of Zambia, the area offers access to the breathtaking Kariba Dam, one of the most impressive engineering feats in the region. The area is a great place for hiking and outdoor exploration.

Matusadona National Park is situated on the southern banks of Lake Kariba, on the Zimbabwean side of this great body of water. The entire region is beautifully untouched and untracked, with Cape buffalo and elephants by far the most common mammals.

Matobo National Park is famed for its remarkable array of inselbergs and hoodoo rock formations; it is a land of sculpted granite peaks and anthropomorphic bluffs. While some come to stalk ungulates in the Whovi Wild Area, the dedicated game park where you can see antelope, wildebeest, baboon packs and leopards, others come to search out remnants of southern Africa’s prehistory carved into the stone at spots like Nswatugi Cave.

Hwange National Park, the centre for ecotourism, is a 15,000-square-kilometre protected landscape where you will find a mosaic of Kalahari woods and teak groves, grassy plains and flood flats, all of which are peppered with bulbous termite mounds and the occasional pan, a watering hole that makes this a perfect destination for lion spotters. It is also possible to see hyenas, wild dogs, leopards and cheetahs, all lurking amidst the fossil-spotted riverbanks and bubbling hot springs.