Zimbabwe
A sanctuary for wildlife and birding enthusiasts
About Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Destinations
Gonarezhou
For self-drive adventurers, Gonarezhou provides a range of unique accommodation options, including exclusive campsites, tented camps, and the well-maintained traditional Manangas.
Matopos
Matobo National Park, located in southern Zimbabwe, is renowned for its picturesque granite rock formations, SAN cave paintings and rich cultural heritage.
Hwange
Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe’s largest and oldest game reserve, offering a truly wild and authentic safari.
Victoria Falls & Lake Kariba
For a thrilling water-based adventure, combine Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba in your Zimbabwe itinerary.
Mana Pools
Visitors can enjoy walking safaris, game drives, fishing, and kayaking in one of Africa’s wildest and most scenic parks.
Eastern Highlands
From Nyanga Falls and the Honde Valley to the misty Bvumba and rugged Chimanimani Mountains, this region is perfect for hikers, birders, and nature lovers.
Sights & Scenes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to take precautions against malaria in Southern Africa?
Malaria is present in varying degrees across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana. Each country has both high and low-risk regions, with risk levels often changing based on rainfall, season, and geography.
We recommend the following precautions for all travelers:
- Consult your doctor or pharmacist before departure to discuss the most suitable preventative medication for your route.
- Always cover up in the evenings (long sleeves and trousers) and apply mosquito repellent to exposed skin.
- Avoid bright or dark clothing at dusk and dawn, as these may attract biting insects.
- Use mosquito nets where provided, and consider treating clothing with repellent for extra protection.
Refer to the following malaria maps for country-specific guidance:
- Zambia: NMEC Malaria Overview
- Zimbabwe: Fit for Travel Malaria Map
- Namibia: Fit for Travel Malaria Map
- Botswana: Fit for Travel Malaria Map
For additional information on malaria prevention, visit the CDC Traveller’s Guide or consult a travel health professional.
What is the best season to travel in Zimbabwe?
For optimal weather and wildlife viewing, visit Zim during the dry season, from May to October. This period offers pleasant temperatures, clear skies, and excellent game viewing opportunities as animals congregate around water sources. In summertime, certain migratory birds will be easier to see in the Eastern Highlands, but seasonal floods and high river water levels may limit accessibility in some parks like Gonarezhou and Mana Pools.
When do bookings open for Zimbabwe itineraries?
Send us your Trip Request at least a year in advance so that we can get the routing and planning done in time for the reservations to be sent to all the respective parks. Zimbabwe’s bookings are a little more complex than other countries and need a lot of TLC by our booking consultants to coordinate and successfully book.
How many people can be booked per campsite in Zimbabwe?
Zim Parks allows from 3 to 6 adults to pre-book per campsite, depending on the specific site. For groups larger than this (up to a maximum of 12 campers), payment must be made on arrival in USD cash.
*Please note: Group size must be specified in advance, as it is essential for us to design a suitable route & book appropriate camps or rooms.
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Name Surname
Country
The bookings you arranged all worked very well and we had no problems. For future trips we’ll definitely be using Ultimate Routes to arrange .
Grant Teasdale
Your help for our bookings was great and you achieved the nearly impossible. Thank you so much again.
Karl Schefer
Ultimate Routes has planned our self-drive trip around Botswana with our best interest at hand. We never felt that we missed out on anything on-route and will definitely make use of their services again.
Letitia Le Grange
South Africa
Heart, experience, latest travel and accommodation info, integrity, giftedness, technologically astute, tuned to your heart!
Ronel Smit
South Africa
From our first contact Lea and Francois have been absolutely fantastic. They listened to the tour brief and planned our entire trip with a clear and professionally presented itinerary. Their rates are very reasonable, their communication is excellent and nothing is a problem for them. It’s a pleasure to do business with Ultimate Routes. We will use them for all our overland adventure planning.
Graham Guthrie
South Africa
Thanks for the email. We have crossed out of Zim and are in Botswana for now. Heading for Angola tomorrow. I would just like to thank you for the amazing service you provided for the Zim bookings. Overall we were more than satisfied.
Christine Kelbe
Our night at Masuma Dam was a highlight and the ablution-block was a pleasant surprise. Gwango Heritage Site is 5-star for location, facilities, friendliness and food! The ferry from Kariba to Mlibizi was wonderful and we would recommend this route over driving the Binga road any day! Our Hilux vehicles from Bushlore were immaculate and handled the terrain extremely well.
Dr. Miriam Lodewijkes
Lea and Francois response times were superb. The admin fee charged is very reasonable and their suggestions superb! We’ve now booked and paid, waiting so excitedly for the time for our trip next year! Thank you both so much!
Sandy & John Stewart
South Africa
Ons het dit baie geniet. Als het 100% smooth verloop, geen issues gehad met "in book" nie. Ek is so bly ons deur julle geboek het.
Yolande Kruger
Hallo Kari. Graag wil ek baie dankie sê vir die reëlings vir ons toer. Alles het seepglad verloop. Ons was baie tevrede met die kampplekke asook die reëlings mbt die huur van ‘n voertuig. Ons sal Ultimate Routes beslis aanbeveel vir enige iemand wat so ‘n toer beplan. Nogmaals baie dankie.
Annatjie Viljoen
Hi team, thank you so much for organizing our trip to Gonarezhou – we had a fantastic experience and found the reserve beautiful. Thank you once again for helping organize – your recommendation of camps was perfect!
Albine Berthou
Ek beveel julle aan by vriende om gebruik te maak van julle diens.
Jaco Els
Ek en Niel wil net baie baie dankie sê vir al jul hulp, baie dankie vir jou spesifiek Francois, ons sou nooooit reggekom het op ons eie. As ons by ons bestemming aangekom het, het ek net my vouchers of kwitansies gewys, en alles was in orde. Selfs die koornidate kon ons net insit, en tracks4africa het ons by ons slaapplek gebring.
Lizelle Tolken
We have only been back a few days from our Bots/Zim adventure and are already planning to go back :) We had such an amazing time.Everything went off flawlessly and all our campsites were awesome! Thanks again for amazing service, will definitely be in touch for the next one!
Dale Swanson
Overall we had a great trip and got to see a lot of the country. We really enjoyed to not do the bookings ourselves and all the money transfer to ZIM and felt in great hands with you on that. And even when the hiccups occurred we did not get nervous as we knew you will take care of it which took a lot of stress out for us – highly appreciated this amazing service. We will definitely get back to you when another more complicated trip is on our minds.
Andrea & Phillip
Warm regards from Mainz
I recently made a booking with Ultimate Routes with specific requirements for my tour and they made it all happen. From keeping off main routes and just travelling on back/gravel roads & mountain passes, through small towns – wow they got me smiling. Their service is great and they reply quickly to emails. Well done guys. I’m looking forward to what you come up with next on my upcoming 2019 tours.
Dylan Veneman
South Africa
Baie dankie. Julle het verseker die besprekings deel baie vergemaklik en alles het mooi uitgewerk. Ek sal verseker jul aanbeveel by vriende en familie en ek sal weer van jul gebruik maak.
Henry Francis
Thank you again for your arrangements and I can assure you that we will make use of your services for our future Bots & Zim trips. We have shared your info with quite a few our of or traveling companions as well. Thank you again for your assistance .
Derek Ellis
Ek wil julle weereens bedank vir 'n wonderlike toer wat julle vir ons gereel het. Alles het korrek volgens plan verloop.
Jan Kotze
We had a very nice trip and will certainly ask you to arrange our trips in the future. Thank you for everything and for being able to arrange our very last minute holiday.
Ryan Vivier
Baie dankie vir jou epos en baie dankie vir al julle reelings. Ons trip was 'n reuse sukses en ons sal sommer more weer terug gaan. Weereens dankie vir al die reelings. Ons sal julle defnitief aanbeveel en weer van julle gebruik maak.
Krüg Hamman
Eersten moet ons baie dankie sê vir ‘m onvergeetlike vakansie waermee julle ons gehelp het. Al ons besprekings was 100% en ons het geen probleme ondervind nie. Julle diens was uitstekend en ek gaan binnekort weer kontak maak om ons volgende toer na Mosambiek te bespreek.
Herman Steyn
We would like to thank you for your perfect and all our wishes fulfilling plan for our road trip. Your bookings matched nearly all our ideas of perfect camping sites. It was really an amazing and fantastic trip without any problems.
Stephan & Christel Mohr
From the moment we contacted Ultimate Routes, we were impressed by the professionalism and efficiency of your team. Throughout the entire planning process, you were attentive to our needs and preferences. During our trip, we were amazed by how seamlessly everything flowed. Not once did we encounter any issues with paperwork or logistics—all thanks to the organization of your team. It truly made our experience stress-free and enjoyable.
Cobus Rautenbach
We had a very nice trip, just wish we had had more time to have lesson night stops. Thank you, will use your service again!
Johan van Eeden
Ultimate Routes gives the client precisely what they require, all so well detailed and planned. They made it an absolute pleasure to travel to these wonderful new destinations.
Flavia Halamandres
South Africa
Firstly we had an amazing trip and had fantastic experiences. Thank you so much for the hard work and organization in making our first self drive trip (and hopefully many more to come) so awesome.
Charles Thatcher
Personally I absolutely loved the trip and cannot thank you and your team enough for planning this epic trip for us! You guys did a fantastic job planning for people you do not really know all that well and ensured a smooth and easy holiday for us. Having said all that, I will definitely do my next big trip through you again! I am really happy! So that you once again!
Coenraad Berrange
Dankie weereens vit julle hulp. Ons honeymoon was amazing! Ons verlang alklaar na die stilte en die sonsondergang.
Elrone Claassens
Just wanted to say a very big thank you to Ultimate Routes for your great service for booking our Gonarezhou trip. This was the first time we've used UR (as recommended by friends). We were very impressed by your service, prompt responses and help with our various questions. Thank YOU.
Harriet Nimmo
Onverbeterlik 10/10!!!!
Roelf Louw
Hi Lea, Francois and the UR team Mike and I are just back from our 6 week trip to Nam, Zam, Mana Pools & Bots. It was epic, we made happy memories and your planning and help to make it so is much appreciated. Every check-in was easy and quick, every campsite a perfect fit for us, every route manageable and enjoyable and we loved every minute.
Cyndy Purchase
Stellenbosch
Hi team, thank you again for another memorable holiday. Ultimate routes are the best!!!!!
Ann Marshall
Absolute professional service. I have booked. Thanks Lea & Francois.
Guillaume Zietsman
South Africa
Our trip was amazing! When approaching a trip like this, I did not know where to start. I was fortunate enough that Debbie gave us your contact information. You made our trip easy and incredibly memorable. Thank you.
Nate Skelton
Ten opsigte van ons trip. Alle besprekings was baie goed en almal het ons verwag by aankoms. Die voertuig bespreking was great. Voertuig was fantasties en yskas het gewerk. 'n Baie lekker trip want lank sal onthou word met alles wat goed volgens plan verloop. Baie dankie vir al julle insette met die trip.
Pieter Schutte
Hi Lea and Francois, we had an AMAZING trip and cannot thank you both enough for all the time and effort you put into setting it up. We made a couple minor changes as we were traveling, but for the most part the number of days at each place worked out well. Thank you again SOOOO much - it was such a spectacular trip!
Reisa and Kevin Latorra, Jim and Lisa Osse
