Best hotels in Hwange

This camp is the project of a renowned Zimbabwean guide called Dave Carson, who emphasised quality, charismatic and flexible guiding. Everything they do, they do well. The camp is simple by some standards, yet elegant. It is set next to a permanent waterhole in a private concession in central Hwange National Park where the game is abundant (especially during the dry winter months). It's quite possible to see lions and buffalo, elephants, sable and hippo (amongst others) just from camp. But this is about more than just what you see - it's about creating a holistic experience that connects you with nature.

The Hide offers a top-class experience in an easily accessible but private concession of Hwange National Park. The accommodation is more than comfortable and the family-operated team has pretty much perfected their product over the past two decades. Your stay here will incorporate several different activities and the time spent in camp is sure to be restful and spoiling. Game viewing in the park is best during the dry winter months (June-October) when animals are drawn to the waterholes, which are pumped. That being said, there's plenty to see during the green summertime when the bush is lush and springing with new life and an abundance of birds.

Tucked away on a ridgeline in Hwange’s remote Sinamatella region, Camp Chitubu is the kind of place you find when you’re truly searching for wilderness. Overlooking a natural spring and open salt pan, the camp sits at the heart of prime big-game territory and offers access to the walking safaris that Zimbabwe is renowned for — slow, immersive journeys where every track and birdsong tells a story. It’s intimate, unfussy and wonderfully wild; mornings drift in with the dawn chorus, and evenings end under star-splashed skies with lions calling from somewhere out in the dark.

There's something deliciously rebellious about Muddy Teak in Hwange National Park... In fact, this exclusive-use camp throws out the safari rulebook entirely! Fancy dropping your fork mid-dinner to chase lions? Go right ahead. With just four tents bookable only as a complete takeover, you'll have your own guide, vehicle and the freedom to follow wildlife whenever you like. The waterhole that gives the camp its name acts as your own personal wildlife arena, drawing enormous elephant herds, sable and the odd lion pride throughout the day. Operating from May through to November, this is the kind of safari life that is unscripted and deeply, deeply authentic.

Tucked into a cluster of old teak trees and overlooking a busy waterhole, Verney's Camp is the newest addition to the Machaba Safaris collection. Set in a 10,000-hectare private reserve in an extremely remote region of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, the camp offers access to one of the area's most productive game regions. Verney's is intimate and smartly designed, classic in its simplicity, with modern touches that give it a fresh feel. Here you have every benefit of an expansive national park, with the added bonuses of a private concession – guided walks, night drives and exclusive access.

Ivory Lodge lies about 4km from Hwange's main gate in the Sikumi Forest Reserve, with easy access from the Vic Falls/Bulawayo road. It's a small lodge that keeps things intimate with good service standards and comfortable accommodation. It has its own large waterhole that attracts elephants in great numbers during the dry season, and though there is decent game viewing in the forest reserve, the lodge focuses most of its activities in Hwange National Park, where you can see all manner of wildlife including several predatory species and a myriad of antelope and birds.

Situated on the outskirts of Zimbabwe's largest game reserve (Hwange National Park), Khulu Bush Camp is an exclusive safari camp that forms part of the prestigious Amalinda Collection. Its built alongside an ancient river bed and overlooks an active watering hole, where herds of buffalo and elephant frequently gather. Hwange National Park is known for its high concentration of wildlife, which makes the game drives and bush walks offered by Khulu, particularly special. Post-dinner evening entertainment usually comes in the form of large herds of elephant and buffalo dazzling guests around the watering hole.

Embodying the very core of conservation, Nantwich Camp is a lovingly restored historic lodge in the north of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. This is the sweet spot, where mindful conservation and good accommodation meet location (just 1.5 hours by road from Vic Falls) and plenty of wildlife. (This region is known for its big cats, painted dogs and 350-strong elephant herds.) The camp sits on a bluff overlooking a permanent dam, populated by crocodile and hippo, with one of the best views in the park. The intimate setting and excellent guiding make this little-known spot a real treat.

Resting on the top of the low foothills in the far northwest of Hwange National Park is Daka Plains. Probably the remotest Camp in Hwange, close to the Botswana border, this area has a very distinct Kalahari feel. Daka Plains offers guests an opportunity to enjoy walking safaris and go on game drives to some of the wildest areas in Southern Africa. The Camp is situated in a private concession in Hwange National Park allowing guests the opportunity to experience night drives as well.

For those who believe safari is best experienced at a slower pace, this tucked away camp in the remote northern reaches of Hwange National Park delivers in spades. Nestled beneath mahogany and jackalberry trees on an exclusive 80,000 hectare concession, Bumbusi is a magnet for wildlife, particularly elephants who, flock to the spring fed waterhole as the dry season takes hold. Walking safaris are the main event here, with gorges, river valleys and rocky outcrops creating terrain that begs to be explored on foot. But it's the historical dimension that truly sets this camp apart. The nearby Bumbusi National Monument, with its Great Zimbabwe style ruins and rock engravings dating back millennia, adds a layer of depth you simply won't find elsewhere.

Welcome to Sable Valley, known for its sprawling grassy plains and abundance of wildlife diversity. The Dete Vlei, home to Sable Valley, provides scenic landscapes of exceptional and rare beauty, sustaining an ecosystem of remarkable habitat and species, all whilst maintains its ecological resilience and amazing natural phenomena. The Vlei is home to robust populations of some of the world most endangered large mammals such as Cheetah, Wild Dog & Leopard. With its back to teak forest, the whole lodge looks out across open savannah, affording plenty of opportunities for game viewing – from the privacy of your bed or personal patio; from the pool or firepit; from a tree-top platform or hide. And, of course, from a game-drive vehicle or on a guided walking safari. With its own private entrance into Hwange National Park, Sable Valley offers a superb spread of safari options.

Imagine waking up in a beautifully appointed treehouse, watching the sunrise light up the treetops that surround you. Think about stepping through your glass doors onto your deck, enjoying fresh Zimbabwean coffee, surrounded by birds and an elephant walking below. Followed by a day spent in a very remote part of a vast wilderness that you share with very few people.

In the remote northern reaches of Zimbabwe's largest national park, where the basalt plains give way to kopjes, mopane woodland and seasonal vleis, sits a camp with a story that rewards curiosity. The camp, recently revived under private management after years under ZimParks, sits in one of the most wildlife-rich pockets of the park: buffalo herds of over 2,000 animals still roam this area, and the density of lion that follows them is, by the park's own reckoning, the highest within its boundaries. Add regular cheetah, wild dog, roan, sable and tsessebe to the picture, and you have one of the more compelling wildlife destinations in southern Africa — at a fraction of what its Botswana neighbours charge. This is an honest, value-driven safari camp, and it knows exactly what it is.