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Zimbabwe

Kingdoms of the Past

Zimbabwe has everything you need for an epic adventure: awe-inspiring natural wonders, a sheer variety of landscapes from lush highlands to open plains, and the iconic Victoria Falls, the world’s largest curtain of falling water. You can also discover its rich history and heritage visiting the ancient ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the most important kingdom of Africa’s past south of the Sahara.

Although Zimbabwe is most famously known for the Victoria falls, it is also a fantastic big game safari destination teeming with flora and fauna where one can spot the Big Five and one of Africa’s largest elephant populations. Zimbabwe is the perfect destination for travellers looking to combine the safari experience with world wonders and places of great archeological interest in the heart of ancient civilizations.

Capital City

Harare

Currency

Zimbabwean Dollar, but US Dollar at the official exchange rate is more widely used

Official Languages

Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani,
Shona, Sign Language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa

International Airport

Harare International Airport (Harare), Victoria Falls International Airport (Victoria Falls), Joshwa Nkomo International Airport (Bulawayo)

Climate

  • November to March – hot and rain season. 86 – 66 degrees Fahrenheit (30 – 19 degrees Celsius).

  • Mid-March to Mid-May -hot. 82 – 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 – 15 degrees Celsius)

  • Mid-May to August – Cool, dry and sunny. 79 – 45 degrees Fahrenheit (26 – 7 degrees Clesius)

  • September to November – very hot. 93 – 64 degrees Fahrenheit (34 – 18 degrees Celsius)

Victoria Falls Water levels: Can vary depending on the yearly rains.

  • Jan/Feb : Rainy season and the Zambezi water level starts to rise. When water levels are still relatively low you can appreciate the scale of the Falls without being overwhelmed by spray with plenty of rainbows.

  • Mar/Apr/May : The wet season comes to an end and the Falls enter full flood creating a vast spray.

  • Jun : As the water filters down, the Falls drop down to mid-level water. This is a great time to visit the Falls as you can have the best of both worlds.

  • Jul/Aug : Widely considered to be the best time to visit the Falls. Water spans the full width of the Falls (up to 1.7km wide) but as it is at a medium level of flow it can be perfectly captured.

  • Sep : The Falls move from mid-level to low level. This is the perfect time to appreciate the scale of the gorge and its geological features.

  • Oct/Nov/Dec : Water levels fall to their lowest level with little water flowing over the Eastern Cataract on the Zambian side. Water continues to flow on the Zimbabwean side.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, is the greatest curtain of falling water in the world. The 1,700 meters wide mighty Zambezi river drops into a gorge more than 100 meters below creating a spectacular sight of natural grandeur. Columns of spray can be seen from miles away which is why the falls are locally known as “Mosi Oa Tunya”, the smoke that thunders.

Hwange National Park

Hwange National Park spans across 15,000 square kilometres which makes it one of the largest protected areas in Africa. The park is home to over 40,000 elephants, the largest population of them in the world. Since it doesn’t have a good natural water supply it is dotted with man-made watering holes where animals gather to drink, making it particularly easy to spot wildlife during the dry season when rainwater is scarce.

Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city from the late Iron Age also dubbed the Machu Picchu of Africa. The city is built out of mortarless stone brick walls and inside archeologists have found huge soapstone statues of birds, as well as foreign trade objects such as glass and porcelain from China and gold and coins from the Kilwa Sultanate.

Matopo National Park

Located south of Bulawayo, Matopo Hills offers a breathtaking landscape of massive granite outcrops and boulders balancing on top of each other. Thanks to these natural shelters the area has been inhabited since the stone age so here we can find an incredible amount of well preserved rock art as well as Stone and Iron Age archeological sites.

Mana Pools

Over thousands of years the Zambezi river has changed its course, with the river’s old meanders becoming oxbow lakes and creating these four pools surrounded by forests of baobabs, mopane, mahogany and ebony.

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