thit_cho

I am currently planning a trip to southern Africa for next Summer. My only firm plans so far are to visit Kgalagadi, but I'm also thinking of flying to Vic Falls and renting a car for a self-drive visit to Hwange. Has anyone visited Hwange recently and can comment on it, places to stay (like Main Camp), safety on road from Vic Falls, etc.

If I can't visit by self drive, I would consider visiting Makalolo (the Wilderness Safaris lodge), but I really enjoy the self drive since we can spend 12 hours on safari instead of the six mid-day hours hanging out by the pool.

But, unlike South Africa, Zim, for obvious reasons, doesn't have a national park website so info is very difficult to obtain.

Thanks, Michael

bigcountry

hi michael,
when we stayed at makololo in january, we did extensive drives into the public part of the park. we didnt make it all the way to main camp but we did cover a decent amount of territory. we only saw 1 private vehicle during our drive. pretty sad. also we noticed a majority of the game was down in the private concession areas bc they maintain pumping their waterholes whereas in the public areas, the lack of maintanence/fuel left many waterholes dried up and therefore devoid of animals. there was a nice public campground right on the border of the makololo concession (nglesha i think its called) so maybe you can stay a couple of days at that one and combine it with a stay at makololo. also maybe you could request a private vehicle and that way have the drive times to your catering. we were the only people at the camp in jan so when kind of did whatever we wanted in terms of times.

thit_cho

Thanks, your point about waterhole maintenance is intersting, and for that reason, we may not wish to self drive in the public concessions, and we may have to visit a private camp, like Makalolo. If we do, and if tourist numbers remain small at the time of our visit, maybe we can book a private vehicle so we can get 12 hours of safari or even more.

Thanks, Michael

bwanamitch

Michael,

Zimbabwe Parks has a website with URL www.zimparks.com.

Mitch

thit_cho

Thanks, Mitch. That site didn't show up from yahoo search, or it was buried near the bottom of list. Thanks

welltraveledbrit

Micheal,
My info's out of date but I did a self drive through a pile of the National Parks in the early 1990's in an old Citreon (with a wonderful hydraulic suspension) when I was living in Zim in the mid 1990's.

I still remember the time spent trying to organizes the chalet reservations at the central office in Harare. In addition to Hwange there are some great places to stay in the Matopos as well as in the Eastern Highlands.

Personally I have always prefered the camp experience to self drive because of the experience/knowledge of the trackers etc. However, I must say I've enjoyed both.

Right now things are so quiet in Zim that I'm sure (additional petrol costs aside)they'd be willing to take you out for longer and or additional drives.It may be something you could negotiate in advance.