For first time visitors to Africa or experienced safari goers Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s biggest and best-known game reserve, offers superb wildlife viewing and a number of experiences not widely available in other African national parks.
A quick drive through the park, particularly during the dry and dusty winter, can leave visitors thinking Hwange is a landscape devastated by its most numerous animal inhabitants, elephants, and this is true of some parts of the reserve, especially the zones around the man-made waterholes. However, a short drive away from the main tourist route through the middle of the park are impressive forests; fascinating historical sites; natural seeps rich with wildlife; and well-kept picnic sites and hides which function as exclusive campsites overnight, all but free of passing traffic and other tourists.
Hwange is home to all of Africa’s big five – lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros (although its rhinos are hanging on by a slender thread). In addition to these, some 95 other species of mammals to be seen in the park.
Hwange is the place to see elephants in Zimbabwe, if not all of southern Africa. Numbers vary, but some estimates put the population of this iconic species at 35,000-45,000. The indisputable fact is that there are more elephants than any other mammal species in the park.
Other species of interest include roan and sable antelope, eland, painted dog (also known as African wild dog), cheetah, big herds of buffalo numbering a thousand or more, bat-eared foxes, and honey badgers.
Hwange’s hides are great spots to view the park’s 400 recorded species of birds. Special species to look for include the crowned crane, southern ground hornbill, saddle-billed stork, Bradfield’s hornbill, secretary bird and carmine bee-eater. Hwange is also well known for its raptors, so watch out for the majestic martial eagle and snake eagles.
While not as affordable as it once was, Hwange’s entry fees and national parks accommodation tariffs are very reasonable compared to other southern African countries and far cheaper than those charged in East Africa.
If you’d prefer to visit a national park where you’re more than likely to have a lion sighting to yourself rather than be stuck in a traffic jam, then Hwange is for you.
While Hwange has gone through periods in its history when it was full to capacity with visitors, at the time of writing this was not the case. Figures for 2013 show that about 53,000 people visited Hwange that year. By contrast, more than 1.6 million people entered South Africa’s Kruger National Park in that same period.
A feature of Hwange that sets it apart from other comparable national parks is its plethora of viewing hides and picnic sites where visitors can take a break during the day or stay the night. Here a group of friends can camp, unbothered by other tourists, and fall asleep to the call of lions of the rumblings of elephants at a waterhole.
Guests staying at one or more of the private safari camps inside the park or on its borders can experience fine food and wines but still savour the feeling of being in a rustic tented camp, while hardy self-drive campers can have a little piece of Africa to themselves, far from overcrowded camps.
Hwange’s infrastructure is showing the signs of age and financial neglect and its lack of facilities and amenities compared to other parks in southern Africa mean the self-drive traveller needs to pay careful attention to preparation.
International visitors may be daunted by the prospect of visiting Zimbabwe, given its tumultuous politics and unpredictable economy. However, just as Hwange remains a game-viewing gem so, too, does the average person on the street in this beautiful country remain friendly, positive, helpful and welcoming.
Think of Hwange as the national park equivalent of a visit to your grandmother’s house. It might be a little musty, dusty and old fashioned, and a chore to get there, but if you make the effort you’ll be in for a treat.
Written By: Tony Park
