Southern Zimbabwe

Southern Zimbabwe is one of the least visited areas of Zimbabwe and offers the chance to get off-the-beaten-track with a wild and rugged safari. Gonarezhou National Park – whose literal translation is the place of many elephants – is the main park in the region. Whilst the elephant population stands out in Gonarezhou there are also leopard, lion, blue wildebeest as well as a healthy concentration of endangered wild dog. The park borders both South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park and since 2002 efforts have been made to create the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park which aims to re-establish wildlife corridors between the parks.

Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve borders Gonarezhou and since 1990 has protected a great diversity of wildlife including healthy numbers of black and white rhino. Cheetah, leopard, lion and wild dog are the main predators in the reserve and offer exciting encounters. The landscape is dominated by sandstone outcrops and there are also a number of rock art sites in the reserve. Malilangwe is home to what is probably the most luxurious lodge in Zimbabwe – Singita Pamushana Lodge which has a strong conservation focus with all profit going into development and conservation project which benefit the community.