10 Days Zimbabwe Wildlife and Cultural Heritage Tour
10 Days Zimbabwe Wildlife and Cultural Heritage Tour : This is a leisurely tour of Zimbabwe’s biggest tourist sites, with a focus on both culture and nature. You will have the opportunity to visit the metropolitan city of Harare, which is home to a multi-cultural population of over 2 million people; the great Zimbabwe ruins, which gave rise to the name “Zimbabwe”; and the Matobo Hills National Park, which is home to leopards, rhinos, Bushmen rock paintings, and other common game such as lions, crocodiles, and elephants. You’ll also see the Hwange Big 5 National Park and Victoria Falls.
Highlights for 10 Days Zimbabwe Wildlife and Cultural Heritage Tour.
Day 1: Arrival in Harare and City Tour.
Day 2: Visit the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.
Day 3: Transfer to Matopo National Park.
Day 4: Wildlife Viewing in Matopo National Park.
Day 5: Transfer to Hwange National Park.
Day 6: Full Day Game Drive Safaris in Hwange
Day 7: Game Viewing in Hwange National Park.
Day 8: Drive to Victoria Falls and Sunset Boat Cruise.
Day 9: Optional Activities at Victoria Falls
Day 10: Airport Transfer and Departure.
Detailed Itinerary for 10 Zimbabwe Wildlife and Cultural Heritage Tour.
Day 1: Arrival in Harare and City Tour.
You will be welcomed and taken to the Meikles Hotel upon arrival at Harare International Airport. Depending on your arrival time, you can take a city tour, visit art galleries, or visit animal orphanages which are all optional.
Spend the night at the Meikles Hotel.
Day 2: Visit the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.
After breakfast, you will travel for the famous Zimbabwe monuments, arriving in this medieval city about 12:00 p.m. in time for lunch and an afternoon guided tour of the sites.
Great Zimbabwe is a destroyed city in Zimbabwe’s south-eastern highlands near Masvingo. During the country’s Late Iron Age, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and is said to have functioned as a royal palace for the local ruler. The monument’s construction began in the 11th century and lasted until the 15th. The stone city covers an area of 722 hectares and might have housed up to 18,000 people at its heyday.
The Zimbabwean government has subsequently designated Great Zimbabwe as a national monument, and the modern-day state is named after it. Dinner and overnight at The Ancient City’s Lodges.
Day 3: Transfer to Matopo National Park.
You’ll leave early for the Matobo Hills National Park in Bulawayo, around 250 kilometers west of the magnificent Zimbabwe. You will go on an afternoon game drive, which will be the first drive of your African wildlife safari.
The biodiversity of Matobo National Park is diverse, including 175 bird, 88 mammal, 39 snake, and 16 fish species. White rhinos, sable antelopes, impala, and leopards are among the game. White and black rhinos have been reintroduced to the wildlife area. It is an Intensive Protection Zone for the two species, as well as hyenas, hippopotamuses, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and ostriches.
This is one place where you have a good possibility of seeing rhinos in their native environment as well as timid and secretive African leopards. Drive to Amalinda Lodge for your dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Wildlife Viewing in Matopo National Park.
Matopo National Park is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including Africa’s greatest concentration of leopard, which is a significant draw in the landscape, as well as the most intensively protected concentration of black and white rhino.
Other apparent wildlife in the park includes bushbuck, impala Kudu, giraffe, lion baboon monkeys, and more. Dassies and rock hyrax are quite abundant, and leopard density is also very high.
On this day, we will visit the worldview point, the highest point in the Matopo Hills, and the rock art painting in the morning, followed by another wildlife viewing safari in the afternoon.
Drive to Matopo Hills Lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5: Transfer to Hwange National Park.
We go for Hwange National Park after breakfast. You’ll arrive at the Hwange Safari Lodge at about 1pm, just in time for lunch. You will join the late afternoon wildlife drive at the Hwange Safari lodge estate, which borders the Hwange National Park – the two reserves are separated by fencing.
Late afternoons are excellent times to look for predators, and they are seldom overlooked on these excursions. Hwange Safari Lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 6: Full Day Game Drive Safaris in Hwange.
You will be picked up after breakfast for a full-day safari in Hwange National Park. There will be mineral water, soft drinks, a picnic lunch, and plenty of beverages. For lunch, we eat on one of the many viewing platforms that dot the park. You should get back at the lodge at around 4pm.
Hwange’s elephants are world famous, and the park’s elephant population is one of the world’s largest. The park is home to around 65000 elephants, which control all water spots in the afternoons during the dry season. Other creatures found in the park include lions, leopards, cheetahs, buffalo, impalas, kudus, sables, elands, waterbucks, zebras, giraffes, baboons, warthogs, and many more. Dinner and overnight at Hwange Safari Lodge.
Day 7: Game Viewing in Hwange National Park.
Hwange offers a safari experience that equals the famous East African parks of the Serengeti and Masai Mara, except without the crowds. You’ll spend another enjoyable day in the park, this time hunting for your favourite animal or bird while disregarding the other, more frequent species. On a good day, you may even be able to return to the lodge early because you will have seen everything there is to see. Dinner and overnight at Hwange Safari Lodge.
Day 8: Drive to Victoria Falls and Sunset Boat Cruise.
After breakfast, you will be driven two hours to Victoria Falls in air-conditioned vehicles. You’ll be checked into the Elephant Hills lodge and then taken on a guided tour of the Victoria Falls. This 2KM section takes around two hours to walk. You will also be shown the large baobabs of the Victoria Falls National Park, as well as the curio market for gift buying. Raincoats Return transports and mineral water are provided.
You will be taken to the jetty at 4pm for a peaceful Zambezi River sun set sail. Relax with a sundowner and nibbles while gazing out across the river’s banks. Prepare your camera to catch one of Africa’s spectacular sunsets. This is a two-hour boat ride that includes all beverages, food, and return transportation. Expect to return to the hotel about 7pm.
Make your own dinner reservations and spend the night at the Elephant Hills Resort.
Day 9: Optional Activities at Victoria Falls.
This is your free day to go shopping in Victoria Falls or take optional tours. Optional trips may include:
• A helicopter flight above Victoria Falls
• The lion walks
• Swimming at Devils Pool on the Zambian side of the falls
• Day excursion to Botswana’s Chobe National Park
• Rafting on white water
• Bungee jumping from the Zambezi River Bridge
• A visit to a real and functional African community around 20 kilometers outside of town.
The dinner will be served at the Boma restaurant.
Overnight stay at the Elephant Hills resort, including breakfast.
Day 10: Airport Transfer and Departure.
On the final day of the tour, you may have the opportunity to participate in one more optional excursion, which may be a stroll with the lions, a morning brief game drive, early morning canoeing on the Zambezi River, and so on.
Departure timings from the hotel will be determined by the airline schedule. It is advised that guests arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flight schedule.