Legendary Plains & Hidden Insight: Two-Week Zimbabwe and Tanzania Safari

Soar over the Serengeti by light aircraft, gazing down on the cracked colors of the plains. You touch down in the heart of the grasslands, on an expansive panorama that is dotted with Thompson’s gazelle. There are tens of thousands of these gazelle, joined by large clumps of zebra and wildebeest, three species that you’ll come to love over these three days. In total, there are close to two million wild mammals in this single ecosystem continually on the move across these world-famous plains. Joining them are the predators, and you will quickly come to realize why the Serengeti is such a famous safari destination.

A lion pride drapes itself around a kopje (rocky outcrop), peacefully watching the zebra pass, snoozing with one eye open. An hour later you spot another pride, watching the plains with more intensity. In a day of driving you might encounter five or more distinct pride, along with leopards and cheetahs, such is the abundance of life here. After touching down, you spend the whole day on a game drive, with a picnic lunch taken to a viewpoint with seemingly endless views. It’s an immediate immersion into the life of the grasslands and the astonishing scale of the Serengeti. The next two nights are spent in a remote luxury camp in the north of the national park, a prime place to keep up with the migration.

In the distance you see a sprawling black ball. It moves and morphs as you get closer, slowly coming into high definition. Black and white stripes begin to divide themselves and you realize that you had initially been fooled by the zebra’s camouflage. Getting closer to the herd you start counting. But it’s impossible. Twenty-thousand? Fifty-thousand? A hundred-thousand? Zebra are everywhere; shoulder muscles ripple powerfully as some gallop, eyes gaze adoringly as pairs rest on each other, calves with softer brown stripes are carefully kept within the masses.

Nearby are the wildebeest, scattered wildly across miles of grassland. You drive for 30 minutes and you still haven’t reached the herd’s frontrunners. Young males gallop, old males with wispy beards display looks of exhaustion. Calves stay close to mothers but the herd doesn’t congregate as one like the zebras. Being surrounded by the herds of the migration is one of Africa’s most majestic sights. It’s not a sight that you will have all to yourself, but when there are hundreds of thousands of animals, it’s easy to get completely lost in nature. Following this migration are hyenas, dozens of them. And lying in wait are the resident lions and leopards, waiting for the herds to cross their path. You spend the day on a game drive and are likely to see this predatory intent turn into a live hunt.

Today brings a glorious evocation of scale. You drive through the Serengeti, north to south, across the endless miles of flat grasslands. Elephants and giraffes always seem to punctuate the horizon, hyenas and vultures are on similarly long journeys, while zebras and wildebeests are seen away from the main migratory herds. In one sense, every angle is the same: shortened grass dotted with ungulates for as far as the eye can see. But the Serengeti is always changing and every panorama delivers fresh sights. Take a picnic, then continue after lunch to a luxurious camp in the southeast of the park, a great place for seeking out leopards and cheetahs on the prowl.

Descending into Ngorongoro Crater feels fictional. It appears as if you are disappearing into a Disney fabrication: the pink flamingo-dappled lake, enormous elephant bulls, and a scattering of different species congregating on the crater floor. Buffalo herds greet you, lions laze by the lake, two black rhinos scamper into the bushes and the antelopes appeared to have made a happy friendship. Surreal and sublime, Ngorongoro Crater is Africa’s most unique safari destination. There are grasslands in other countries, similar to woodland or a savannah. But nowhere else can you find 30,000 mammals occupying a perfect volcanic caldera. Drive from the Serengeti and spend the whole afternoon in the crater, exploring its six distinctive habitats. Think a picnic by the hippo-filled lake, imposing tusks in wispy woodland, lions, and wildebeest on the grassland, leopards, and rhinos hiding in the outer bushland. Every moment and experience in Ngorongoro stretch the boundaries of fiction, including your luxury lodge that’s perched high on the crater rim.

It’s a six-hour flight from Kilimanjaro to Harare via Nairobi. After the early safari starts, enjoy a relaxed morning at the lodge before a light aircraft transfer back to Kilimanjaro International. You land in Zimbabwe’s capital city in the early evening, greeted at the airport by a local guide and transferred to a colonial-style hotel on the edge of the city. There are various options for dinner in the city, including a restaurant that specializes in rare game meats. Relax, settle in to the country’s vibrant hospitality, and you quickly discover why Zimbabweans are known as the friendliest of all Southern Africa’s people.

Arriving by air, it looks as if Lake Kariba is the iconic waterfront escape; long beaches are backdropped by forest, calm waters sit waiting for a boat excursion. Touch down and the lake fulfills its role as Africa’s Riviera. But all is not as it seems. Elephants leave huge footprints in the sand, hippos fill the waters with bellowing grunts, while baboons and vervet monkeys maraud past in huge numbers. There are lions and rhinos on the plains around the lake, along with a series of antelope you didn’t see in Tanzania: eland, kudu, springbok. A boat safari provides a relaxed introduction to Lake Kariba and it's encompassing Matusadona National Park. Just sit back and admire all the animals around the banks. You will quickly appreciate the change in atmosphere when on safari in Zimbabwe. There are virtually no other people around, nor other boats or vehicles. So, when you see lions laying an ambush at the waterside, the sight is yours and yours alone.

Half a dozen rhinos dapple the savannah, their prehistoric frames glistening in the morning light, their horns sharpened beneath small melancholy eyes. Earlier in the day, you saw them from a vehicle, now you are walking over the savannah, sharing the same landscape as these endangered greats. Conservationist guides lead your discovery, keeping you downwind of the rhinos and carefully responding to any subtle changes in their behavior. From 20 meters away, you watch a rhino’s belly rise and fall, as a curious expression comes across its face. Spending a day with rhinos and conservationists is just one of the options at Matusadona as it epitomizes the great allure of Zimbabwe, this opportunity to go beyond classic safari sightseeing and really get to understand a mammal and its behavior.

Open the curtains to a buffalo herd grazing beneath your veranda. Wave to a giraffe tower while sipping on your morning coffee. Follow the bizarre antics of two male hippos determined to quarrel. Matusadona is a park full of surprises and your three-day stay incorporates so many inimitable moments. You can build a personalized safari program with the guides, with nighttime game drives and bush walks adding to the discovery. Matusadona doesn’t have the same density of wildlife you saw in Tanzania. However, like the other Zimbabwean parks, the opportunity to explore in unique ways creates an entirely new safari experience. You’ll have seen elephants before, but it feels very different when you are standing on the ground level.

Flying across Zimbabwe provides an insight into the country’s wilderness, particularly when the Hwange savannah glimmers beneath the wingtips. Bigger than the Serengeti, Zimbabwe’s flagship safari destination is a fusion of desert plains and thick woodland. Start your experience in the former, exploring the kaleidoscopic colors of the Kalahari, and seeking out unusual predators. Packs of wild dogs enchant with their effortless communication. Caracal and serval are regularly seen, along with civet and African wild cat. There is arguably no better place in Africa to find cheetahs, and the day’s game drive will seek this cat in a prowling mood.

Gemsbok and bushbuck provide prey, along with impala, steenbok, and duiker. Animals are scattered across the plains here and you quickly notice how many different species there are. Diversity is king here and three days in Hwange will get you acquainted with over 50 different species. Admire the curves of a Sharpe’s grysbok’s back, follow waterbuck and their bushy coats, inspect the horns that distinguish sable and roan antelope. Along the way, you take in the mesmerizing landscape of the Kalahari, spending a day that is unlikely to come across another person or vehicle. Your accommodation is at a luxury camp in the heart of the plains.

Habitats collide as you drive north, open plains blurring into savannah before a thick woodland canopy creates a sense of intimacy. Elephants are everywhere, flattening trees on their endless migrations. Seeing an elephant herd is special, especially when they wander on all sides of the safari vehicle. Seeing thousands of elephants is a new experience entirely, their enormous frames as commonplace as the acacia trees. Joining them are equally impressive numbers of Southern giraffe, along with bustling herds of buffalo and eland. It feels like a completely different park than yesterday’s, an entirely new cast of animals creating the memories on a day of game drives and short bush walks.

On the open plains, you can see for miles. The highlight when you’re deep in the woodland is getting astonishingly close to the action. It’s harder to see wildlife for the foliage, so sometimes you turn a corner and 20 giraffes are just meters away. You look through the trees and there’s a flicker of movement. Look closer and you still can’t make it out. Keep observing and the tail flickers again. Now you see it, a leopard draped across a jackal berry branch, much closer than you anticipated. From the look in its blue eyes, you know that the leopard has been watching you the whole time. Later on the drive, it’s an elephant that brings surprise, a lost youngster flapping his ears and stamping his feet. The guides keep you at a safe distance as you watch the elephant search for his family.

Complete the Hwange experience by driving out through the north of the park. You will now have crossed two of Africa’s largest parks, and you have come to understand the complexities of these remarkable wilderness areas. Within two hours of the park gate, you drive through the trees to Victoria Falls, the astonishing surge of water that divides Zimbabwe from Zambia. Explore the self-guided walking trail and stop at the various viewpoints, before feeling the force of the falls by standing on open cataracts across from the falls. All this is before lunch, which is taken at your opulent riverside lodge. This afternoon is at your leisure and the Zambezi River provides an escapist view to complete the Zimbabwe experience.

While there are many activities around Victoria Falls, this day is deliberately left free, giving you a chance to rest and recuperate before the flight home. You still get wildlife. Baboons and hippos are your neighbors, and elephant herds are regular visitors to the lodge’s grounds. Complete the day with a sunset dinner cruise, where hippos emerge from the water as you sip on cocktails. After two weeks in Africa you’ve gone from Kilimanjaro to Victoria Falls. Sights like hippos and lions have become constants. Others have featured for a day then disappeared. You’ve seen the famous icons and ventured into the hidden sights, where there’s nothing but you and the exhilarating herds.

Depart Zimbabwe from Victoria Falls International Airport, enjoying full use of the lodge’s facilities before your airport transfer.