If you want to get up close with the wildlife, Hwange is the place to go. With 100 species of mammal and 400 of birds, you are guaranteed endless sightings. We saw a quarter of the bird species in 5 days. The elephants, buffalo & wildebeest roam in herds of 100+. There are manmade watering holes ever where so it is always easy to get to where the animals are. Watching 100 elephants wallowing at sunset is an amazing sight. And we encountered several prides of lion: with cubs; guarding a freshly killed wildebeest, and even up a tree!. Lots of cheetah and jackals too, + the occasional hyena. We didn't see leopards but a big bonus was a pack of hunting wild dogs. The wild dog sanctuary is a great place to buy beautifully crafted animals, made from wire recycled from impounded trappers' snares. You can camp or book a basic chalet in the public camps, or stay on private concessions - pricier but quite luxurious with expert guides on hand. We stayed at Little Makololo which was superb, followed by Kuhlu Camp, equally luxurious although the guiding wasn't quite as good. If you start at Victoria Falls, avoid the sunset booze cruise on the Zambezi but get up early for sun rise over the falls - be there when the gates open at 6am and you'll have the place more or less to yourself. At no time did we feel anything but 100% safe. Zimbabwean people are warm, welcoming and genuinely friendly. Rather than resenting tourists, they regard tourism as an act of solidarity with their struggles.

We stopped here for the day while on a Rovos Rail trip from Victoria Falls to Pretoria and we had a very enjoyable safari excursion. Sometimes you are lucky and sometimes you are not. In spite of an heroic attempt by our driver/ guide we did not see the great variety of big animals seen by other reviewers.

Amazing Animals. Beautiful Landscape. I did two full day game drives in the National Park. Had better luck on the first day, but still saw plenty on the second. Elephants, zebra, giraffe, lions, painted dogs, and more. I have been on safari in a few places, and this was one of the best experiences that I have ever had. Truly an amazing place.