Afrinkong
Highveld and Escarpment
Granite kopjes across the highveld, and the Zambezi escarpment dropping into the valley.
Southern Africa · Afrinkong
Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe and the Zambezi.
Victoria Falls on one border, Great Zimbabwe's stone city in the interior, Hwange's elephant herds and Mana Pools — the park where the walking safari was refined into an art.
Where it is
Africa · Southern Africa · Zimbabwe
The land in brief
- Spans
- 790 km E–W, 740 km N–S
- Latitude
- 16°S to 22°S
- Borders
- 5 countries
- Sea
- Landlocked
- Best time
- The falls are fullest in April; the game viewing is best from August.
Also in Southern Africa
AngolaThe Kalandula falls, and a coast nobody has seenBotswanaA delta that never reaches the seaEswatiniSmall, and full of everythingLesothoThe kingdom in the skyMalawiA lake with more fish species than any other
Compare Zimbabwe with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
The falls are fullest in April; the game viewing is best from August.
01Highlights
What Zimbabwe is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Hwange's Elephant
Forty thousand elephant in Hwange, drinking at pumped pans through the dry season.
Mountains
The Eastern Highlands
Nyanga, Vumba and Chimanimani along the Mozambique border, up to 2,592 metres.
Beaches & Coast
Landlocked
No coast — the water here is the Zambezi, Kariba, and the pools of the Mana floodplain.
Forests & Rainforest
Msasa and Miombo
Miombo woodland across the country, and msasa that comes into red leaf in September.
Culture
Shona and Ndebele
Shona across the centre and east, Ndebele in the west, and stone sculpture from both.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Zimbabwe with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- Highveld and EscarpmentGranite kopjes across the highveld, and the Zambezi escarpment dropping into the valley.
- The Eastern HighlandsNyanga, Vumba and Chimanimani along the Mozambique border, up to 2,592 metres.
- Victoria FallsMosi-oa-Tunya — a mile and a half wide, and a hundred metres down, in full flood.
- The Zambezi and KaribaThe Zambezi above the falls, and Kariba's drowned forest downstream of them.
- LandlockedNo coast — the water here is the Zambezi, Kariba, and the pools of the Mana floodplain.
- Msasa and MiomboMiombo woodland across the country, and msasa that comes into red leaf in September.
Wildlife
- Hwange's ElephantForty thousand elephant in Hwange, drinking at pumped pans through the dry season.
- Mana Pools on FootThe park where you may walk unguided, and where the elephant stand on their hind legs.
- CAMPFIREThe community wildlife programme that much of the region's conservation policy was built on.
- Raft, Canoe, WalkGrade five rafting below the falls, multi-day canoe trails, and walking safaris in Mana.
People and culture
- Shona and NdebeleShona across the centre and east, Ndebele in the west, and stone sculpture from both.
- The Stone SculptorsZimbabwean stone sculpture is the country's clearest contemporary export.
- HIFA and the HarvestThe Harare arts festival, and the harvest ceremonies that still open the season.
- Stone, Basket and WireSerpentine carving, Binga basketry, and wire sculpture sold on every roadside.
- Sadza and BraaiSadza with relish, and meat over coals wherever there is a fire and company.
- Falls and ElephantVictoria Falls, a steam train, and elephant at a waterhole — a good week for children.
- Kombis and MusikaThe country runs on kombis and market days, both of which are worth an afternoon.
Places
- Harare and BulawayoHarare on the highveld, and Bulawayo's wide colonial grid built for turning an ox wagon.
- Dry StoneGreat Zimbabwe's coursed granite is the architecture, and nothing since has matched it.
- Great ZimbabweEight hundred years old, mortarless, and the largest stone structure south of the Sahara.
- Khami and MatoboKhami's terraces, and the Matobo hills where Mzilikazi and Rhodes are both buried.
Ways to travel
- Walking, Canoeing, RaftingCanoe the Zambezi past hippo, raft the gorge below the falls, and walk Mana with a guide.
- The Old Safari StandardSmall owner-run camps in Mana and Hwange, run by guides with the country's toughest licence.
- Albida LightThe winterthorn cathedrals of Mana Pools, in dust and low sun, are photographed everywhere.
- ChimanimaniA mountain range on the Mozambique border that you walk into and camp in.
03Why go
The case for Zimbabwe.
Why Visit This Country
Guides, and Great Ruins
The hardest guiding exam in Africa, and a stone city most visitors have never heard of.
Hidden Gems
Chimanimani
A mountain range on the Mozambique border that you walk into and camp in.
Eco Tourism
CAMPFIRE
The community wildlife programme that much of the region's conservation policy was built on.
Heritage
Khami and Matobo
Khami's terraces, and the Matobo hills where Mzilikazi and Rhodes are both buried.
04Go deeper
All of Zimbabwe, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Zimbabwe starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.