An 8-day family bucket-list safari beginning at Vic Falls before heading into Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park

Tour of the Falls

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Take in the majesty of Victoria Falls on a two-hour guided visit that will bring you face to face with one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. This extraordinary waterfall was created over millions of years as the constant pounding of the mighty Zambezi River eroded what began as a narrow fissure in the basalt plain into what you see today, so its waters now plunge dramatically into a chasm around 75m wide and 108m deep.

Once through the entrance of the National Park, you’ll begin with a visit to the statue of Dr David Livingstone, where you’ll learn about his first encounter with the Falls, his reactions and his role in spreading its fame to the wider world. From here, you’ll continue along the path facing the Falls, stopping at the viewpoints along the way and, conditions permitting, descending the Chain Walk for a closer view of Devil’s Cataract and Cataract Island. Between March to July, when the river is at its highest, you can feel the ground shaking and the noise is incredible.

The spray, which rises high into the air and looks just like smoke and creates a unique ecosystem on the opposite side of the chasm, supporting a dense rainforest rich in plant, insect and animal life. As you walk through it, your guide will give you a brief explanation of how the Falls were formed along with pointing out some of the more interesting plants, birds and other points of interest.

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Flight of the Angels helicopter flight over the Falls

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

When David Livingstone first saw Victoria Falls, he called it ‘a sight so wonderful that angels must have gazed down on it in flight’. Nowadays, mere mortals can also enjoy a privileged aerial view of one of the world’s greatest natural wonders on a breathtaking helicopter ride, during which you’ll be able to appreciate not just the magnificent waterfall but the sheer scale of the Upper Zambezi and the landscape through which it flows.

For the 12-minute trip, inevitably known as the Flight of Angels, you’ll be collected from your hotel for the five-minute drive to the helipad site, with the plumes of spray from the Falls providing an impressive backdrop. After a short safety briefing, you’ll climb aboard a four-seater or six-seater Bell helicopter and, with a whirr of the rotor blades, lift off into the sky for your first bird’s-eye glimpse of ‘the Smoke that Thunders’.

The pilot will fly left-hand and right-hand circuits over the waterfall in both directions, giving passengers the best viewing, filming and photographing opportunities, before turning to head upstream over the vast Upper Zambezi for about 4km. From here, you’ll return to the helipad over the Zambezi National Park, keeping a lookout for wildlife below you. For even more of an indulgence, there’s also a 25-minute Zambezi Spectacular option, which includes a loop over the dramatic Batoka Gorge below the Falls.

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Canopy Tour at Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

If you’re looking for a fun adventure that you can do together as a family, the Wild Horizon’s Canopy Tour is a great choice. With two guides to help you, you will glide in a group through the Zambezi gorge forest on a series of nine zip wires and a cable bridge walkway.

Along the way you have more time to enjoy the spectacular views of the gorge, the rapids on the Zambezi, the Victoria Falls Bridge and the spray from the waterfall. You'll also see the forest from every angle – above, below and in the middle of the canopy – so you might spot some of the birds that live in the forest too.

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Home Cooking in Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

This experience will give you a greater understanding what the Victoria Falls local communities are like: what they eat, their day-to-day activities and their culture. On these homestead-hosted meals, you'll get to try a range of local dishes.

You'll be picked up from your hotel and taken to a family homestead. You will be welcomed and given a small introduction as to where you before sharing a meal with the family. As there are many different tribes and communities in Victoria Falls, as you eat, the family have a chance to tell the story of their own culture.

On these homestead-hosted meals, you'll get to try a range of local dishes such as a thick porridge made from corn, which is a bit like polenta. There may be beef and chicken stew and some greens prepared in different ways. Try delicacies, such as groundnuts from nearby villages and mopane worms, which are full of protein and highly recommended for good health which you can be fried, have as a snack, mixed into your stew or used as a relish with your polenta.

The families have a chance to share their traditions and customs with people from other countries, make a cultural connection and be paid a fee for doing it.  It’s an experience that benefits everyone.

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Safari on the Elephant Express across Hwange National Park

Hwange National Park

Along the north-eastern boundary of Hwange National Park, remnants of Africa’s colonial history can be seen peeping out of the terrain. This section of the railway line, built in 1904 as part of the British imperial dream to run a railway from Cape to Cairo, links the small village of Dete to the open grassland of the Ngamo plains and Bomani Tented Lodge. The Elephant Express is a 24-seater railcar that transports guests to the south-east remoter regions of Zimbabwe’s largest national park. Breezing over the plains in this open-sided railcar feels like no ordinary transfer.

It takes two hours cruising along at 25 miles per hour, three hours if you count the minutes spent stopping for your first glimpse of Hwange’s extraordinary creatures. You might think that the animals would be deterred by the sight of a railcar but the trainline has been part of Hwange’s scenery since 1904 slicing through the land on its way to Victoria Falls. It even pre-dates the park itself, which wasn’t officially declared until 1928. On your journey you might come across a couple of lion or even families of cheetah who use the raised track as vantage points to scout for prey. Or it could be elephant plodding across the way, wildebeest cantering through the tall grass and if you’re lucky, you might catch a thrilling encounter between predator and prey. Your driver will glide you along slowly to get a good look or completely stop for you to relish the moment.

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Hwange Private Concession Safari

Hwange National Park

Hwange National Park offers a glimpse into the Africa of old. Its 5,657 square miles still feels wonderfully preserved with that feeling of empty space, few people and animals as far as the eye can see. This sense of exclusivity is powerfully enhanced in the private concession encompassing Bomani Tented Lodge located in the remote south-east part of Hwange.

On safari you’ll find extravagant natural beauty; watery pans alive with diverse wildlife from baboons to big cats, plains frequented with predators such as lion and packs of African painted dog. Then there’s the record amount of elephant – in the late, dry season nearly 50,000 – so easy to see in the flat open grassland. For close encounters, you can often spy these fascinating creatures from behind the two water-level photography hides by the very active Stophie’s Pan.

Off-roading in the national park is forbidden, but in the private concession, Bomani guests can veer off track and follow game on foot. The guides here are some of the best in the continent due to the many years it takes them to simply acquire a walking safari license. Those who have ever experienced animal-spotting on foot will know that these types of safaris can be the most thrilling. You can tread silently up to a Cape buffalo, so closely you’ll be in awe of the sheer size of its torso, and observe a waterhole during the dry season when animals appear from all directions to lap the dwindling water. The smaller wildlife is equally inspiring like the cute looking dwarf mongoose that in their packs can even take down a cobra. Night time brings a whole new dimension. Using the gentle beam of red torchlight you might spot the shy-natured aardvark or the holy grail of safari animals that is the leopard stalking its prey at night. You’re a long way from civilization but that’s what makes it so exciting.

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White Rhinos of Hwange

Hwange National Park

After nearly 20 years, white rhinos have been reintroduced into Hwange National Park. As part of your stay at Bomani, you’ll can join the rhino experience, which starts at the sanctuary headquarters. Here, you’ll meet the special rhino guards, the Cobras, who’ve been recruited from local villages and trained to protect the animals 24/7 and alleviate human-wildlife conflicts. They’ll give you a short talk about the project before seeing the rhinos. Each Cobra has a story to tell; some were even former poachers who’ve now dedicated their lives to saving rhinos.

Back in the 80s, rhinos were part of the scenery but all were sadly lost to poachers. Thanks to the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative (CRCI) two male rhinos, Thuza and Kusasa are in the park and visitors may be able to spot the Big Five in Hwange.

Next, you’ll take a short walk to find Thuza and Kusasa, who live on former cattle grazing land that belongs to villages in the Tsholotsho area. CRCI works with the community to create sustainable conservation; funds raised by the visits go directly towards projects such as school improvements, boreholes and healthcare, meaning that villagers have an incentive to cherish wildlife.

Approaching rhinos in their natural environment is an absolute privilege. You’ll come away humbled and inspired by this remarkable conservation story with the aim to safely reintroduce white rhinos into the wider national park.

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