Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls

Built in 1904, Victoria Falls Hotel has long been one of Zimbabwe’s finest hotels. Between 2012 and 2014 both wings of the hotel underwent a thorough refurbishment, which saw all of the 161 rooms and suites restored to their former glory.

Facilities at the Victoria Falls Hotel include a large swimming pool, library, reading rooms, two tennis courts and a spa, as well as dining facilities including two restaurants, a charming coffee shop and poolside bar. The gardens are beautifully maintained with neatly-trimmed lawns and lily ponds. Keen golfers can enjoy 18 holes on the championship course at Victoria Falls’ sister hotel, Elephant Hills Resort.

The next two days are free for you to explore the Victoria Falls at your own pace. There’s a great range of activities available in the local area, from sunset river cruises and white water rafting to micro-flights—for the best view of the Falls!—or you can just choose to relax and enjoy the hotel facilities.

Opened in May 2015, Linkwasha Camp is undoubtedly the best safari camp in Hwange. Its location in the Linkwasha concession, close to the famous Ngamo Plains in the remote east of the park, offers superb year-round game-viewing. Linkwasha is sited directly next to a major pan and waterhole, a constant magnet for big and small game, allowing for wonderful game-viewing from the comfort of your tent.

Owned and managed by luxury safari operator Wilderness Safaris, the design of Linkwasha is decidedly contemporary and stylish. The eight large luxury tents have indoor and outdoor showers and are built using sustainable materials. There is also a large family tent.

The main area at Linkwasha is on raised wooden decks, which overlook a diverse landscape of savannah plains, teak forest, acacia woodland and palm islands. Separate to the main public area, the pool is perfect for cooling off in the midst of a hot summer’s day, while the lounge with its open fireplace is a lovely spot to relax with a drink on chill winter evenings. Meals can be taken privately or with other guests.

Activities at Linkwasha include day and night game drives and walking safaris. Game-viewing in Hwange, Zimbabwe’s traditional big game park, is exceptionally good and offers much more than just the “big 5”. The park is particularly famous for its large herds of elephant and buffalo, but there is much else to see—cheetah, leopard, giraffe, wildebeest, eland, bat eared fox, roan and sable antelope and zebra are all regularly sighted.

Predator sightings, especially lion and wild dog, are fantastic, while nocturnal game drives are likely to reveal porcupine, mongoose, hyena and pangolin. Birding is impressive with over 400 species recorded.

Linkwasha has its own resident ecologist who is always on hand to entertain and inform guests about the local wildlife and environment.