Hwange National Park

Enjoying a great park on a budget

We visited Hwange in December which is a little far into the rainy season to see the most animals. The best time to visit is in September when the water holes are great places to spot the wide range of animals in the park.
We stayed in the rustic National Parks cottages which, even in the middle of shortages that were affecting Zimbabwe, were great places to stay and very cost-effective.
We did not have a 4x4 but found there to be ample routes around the park for a normal 2 wheel drive car. We saw a wide selection of antelope, giraffe, cheetah and zebra. We were sad to miss out on the elephants but they had disappeared off into the bush because of the rains. We also got great views of the Black Rhino at the nearby Hwange Safari Lodge.
When we were not self-driving, we went on some excellent guided drives with extremely knowledgeable local guides.
At that time of year, the birding was excellent and could fill in the periods when the larger game was not visible.

the area around Hwange is beautiful

Lots of elephants!

One of the biggest in Africa, good bush experience.

Plenty of elephants, buffaloes, antelopes. Water pumps were working thanks to private initiative!

Great Park with huge elephant population

Not crowded safari

We were cycling in Zimbabwe and wanted to have Safari in Hwange National Park. Because there is not allow to cycling to main camping site, we took small truck. Hwange Park is the biggest in Zimbabwe but not crowded. There was only few cars with tourists. Camping site was empty. There were only two tents together with our. We had opportunity during Safari to see elephants, giraffes, warthogs, antelope. Additionally by binocular we saw a lion.

Hwange appears to be suffering from poaching in certain areas. The bush vibe is wonderful and the birding excellent.