Upon arrival at OR Tambo International Airport from your International Flight, you are met by our representative airside and your travel documents will be handed to you. Once you have received your documents, our representative will assist you with your connecting flight to Victoria Falls.

Arriving at Victoria Falls International Airport, you are met and transferred by road to your Hotel in the town of Victoria Falls. Once you have settled in, the day is at leisure to explore the town of Victoria Falls or enjoy leisure time in the comfort of your room.

Flight Time: Johannesburg Airport to Victoria Falls Airport: approx. 1 ½ hours

Road Transfer Time: Victoria Falls Airport to Hotel: approx. 40 minutes

Besides being one of the seven natural wonders of the world and a World Heritage Site, Victoria Falls is the unchallenged adventure capital of Africa with more than 50 activities available.

At 1708 metres wide, Victoria Falls is the most expansive curtain of water in the world and drops more than 100 metres into the sheer Zambezi Gorge. Straddling the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, these Falls and the Zambezi River are the central points in an area of spectacular scenic beauty: from the Falls themselves to the broad, picturesque course of the Zambezi River upstream, the rainforest adjacent and the stark jagged gorge downstream, the power and timelessness of nature's forces are evident throughout.

This morning you can enjoy a leisurely breakfast before you are met and transferred by road to your Luxury Camp in the Hwange National Park. Arriving at your lodge in the late afternoon, you are assisted to your room for your 3-night stay. You have time to settle in and enjoy a late snack at your lodge. Depending on your arrival time, you may decide to have the afternoon at leisure or embark on a memorable afternoon game drive in the Hwange National Park before arriving back at your lodge. Dinner is served in the early evening under the African Sky.

Hwange National Park is a dedicated nature “nirvana” consisting of 14,651 unfenced square kilometres in the west of Zimbabwe. The Park extends westward to link with the Kasane Forest and Chobe region of neighbouring Botswana. This glorious National Park rightfully boasts the highest concentration of wildlife species (mammals, birds, reptiles & insects) of any safari region in Africa. Hwange National Park has earned a world-wide reputation for its large herds of resident buffalo, its predators & more especially so, huge numbers of African elephant.

Road Transfer Time: Victoria Falls to Hwange National Park: approx. 2 ½ hours

These sub-tropical thorn and sand flats on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, were once home to the nomadic San (bushmen) who lived off the land and feasted on great herds of migrating game. Dry season game-viewing is assisted by the shallow pans threaded throughout the park. The natural salt-licks provide elephants with favourite mud holes for wallowing and sixty man-made waterholes give much needed water during the hot parched winter months when everything else dries up. Several waterholes have raised wooden hides in which you can spend many hours observing animals and the interactions between them. 400 species of birds are found here making it a bird watchers paradise, particularly in the wet season.

Hwange National Park is bordered by the privately owned Hwange Estate, which is home to the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe. This semi-habituated herd (a clan of over 450 elephants) received a presidential decree in 1990. This stated that elephants that roamed the Hwange estate should never be culled or hunted. Instead, they should symbolize Zimbabwe’s commitment to responsible wildlife management. Hwange’s presidential elephants are now known throughout the world, thanks largely to the work and writings of conservationist Sharon Pincott.

Today you bid farewell to this natural “nirvana” and you are at at reception for your road transfer to Victoria Falls International Airport. Here, you connect with your onward Journey or your International Flight Home.

Ilala Lodge offers distinguished yet affordable accommodation in a gracious and secluded ambiance. The decor evokes a bygone era of adventure and the quest of discovery in Africa. This small hotel is ideally situated and is the closest to the Victoria Falls as well as the town centre.

The Victoria Falls National Park borders the front of property and wild animals often graze on the hotel lawns with the spray of the falls in the background. Ilala Lodge offers 32 standard rooms and 2 deluxe suites. The rooms are all spacious with railway sleeper teak furnishings and patio doors leading onto either open lawn or a balcony where you are afforded a view of the spray of the falls from the upper level rooms.

All standard rooms at Ilala Lodge have got 2 x ¾ beds, an en-suite bathroom, air-conditioning and an overhead fan. The deluxe suites have a king-size bed and have room for a child’s bed. The in-house Palm Restaurant is recognised as one of the finest at the Falls. Relax around the swimming pool or enjoy a drink at the open-air bar.

Situated on a private concession on the Eastern boundary of Hwange National Park and with stunning views across a natural waterhole, The Hide enjoys a perfect location. There are eight standard tents and two luxury or honeymoon tents. Each tent is mosquito-proofed and has an en-suite bathroom, a fan for your comfort in summer and extra warm blankets and hot water bottles for the cool winter months. The hub of the camp is the signature “A” frame, which houses the dining room, a downstairs sun lounge and a large comfortable lounge/viewing area upstairs. There is also plunge pool near the main lounge and dining room. Most meals are served in unsurpassed elegance and style, at the Main A Frame, around the magnificent 22-seater teak dining room table. Tea and cake is best enjoyed upstairs, in the A-frame, overlooking the water pan. Meanwhile, breakfast can be served Alfresco, under the Acacia trees.

The new Wine Cellar and Underground Hide at The Hide were planned, designed and created for the adventure-takers, the thrill-makers and the pleasure-seekers out there. Along a tunnel, you’ll walk for about 10 metres under the surface of the earth – and then emerge into a “window on the waterhole”, where you can sit quietly, the unobserved observing. It’s a special new addition and makes the experience of “game viewing” more intense and personal. Along the same tunnel, guests are delighted to find, hidden away in the wall, a real wine cellar. Perfectly cooled at a steady 17 degrees Celsius, ambient-lit and stocked with a small selection of fine wines from around the world, this is a welcome addition to an already all-sensory experience at The Hide. Guests are invited to choose the wine they’d like with dinner – or suggestions are made based on wine pairing experts’ recommendations.

The dinner cruise is an enjoyable and relaxing way to spend your evening in Victoria Falls. It truly is a luxury safari on water. Enjoy a Zambezi style gourmet dinner above the Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls dinner cruise serves a four-course meal that includes drinks (wines, local beers, coffee) delicious starters, soup, main course and dessert.

The dinner cruise departs from the Zambezi River cruise terminal and initially cruises downstream towards the Victoria Falls. As the sun goes down you are served the first course of your dinner. You will continue to cruise upstream as you enjoy the warm African evening and you are served your delicious dinner. All the meals served have been freshly prepared on board by the experienced chefs.

This morning a tour guide will collect you from your hotel and take you on a guided tour of the Victoria Falls. As you approach the Falls and hear the water pounding and witness the vapour rising, you quickly understand why local tribesman called the Falls “Mosi-oa-Tunya” (the smoke that thunders).

This vapour has the effect of adding moisture in the form of humidity to the air in the "splash zone", so that a unique, small rainforest ecosystem clings to the edge of the Falls, providing a toehold for no less than 70 shrub and 150 herbaceous species, as well as trees such as pod and Natal mahogany, ebony, Cape and strangler fig and Transvaal red milkwood.

You are collected from your hotel and are transferred to the Kazungula border where your Botswana Guide will meet you. From here you proceed straight to the River where you will spend the morning game viewing along the Chobe River. Tea, coffee & biscuits are provided.

The morning cruise ends at around 12h30 and you are then taken to a hotel on the riverbank for lunch. After lunch, you board safari vehicles for an afternoon game drive in the Chobe National Park where you will have the opportunity to enjoy an abundance of wildlife.

After your game drive, you are taken back to the Kazungula Border where you will be met by your Zimbabwean Guide for your return transfer to Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls is the unchallenged adventure capital of Africa with more than 50 activities available. Here is our selection of the best:

Canoeing
Paddle slowly down the Zambezi River in a canoe with some of the best wildlife guides in Africa and enjoy the beauty, peace and wildlife of this unique place. Explore islands and waterways and learn about the birds and animals you come across along the route.

Flight of the Angels Helicopter Flip over the Victoria Falls
At ground level you can feel the enormous power of the Victoria Falls as tremendous volumes of water pound into the chasm below. But it is only when you take to the air that you can take inthe whole panorama and enormity of this mighty spectacle.

Jet Boat Extreme
Speedboats powered by huge jet engines shoot down the rapids below the Victoria Falls at 100 km an hour. Enjoy a thrilling half hour spent “flying” over the water.

The Hide Safari Camp is fortunate to have the best of both worlds. While located within the Hwange National Park, it is also surrounded by a private concession, which allows us to offer activities not otherwise permitted. Hwange is a vast playground worth exploring so you don’t have to worry about being bored. Early morning walks are there for the thrill of encountering wildlife on its own terms and exploring the little surprises of the bush.

The rest of the day can be spent further afield on game drives in search of predators and prey alike. We like to do things properly, so sundowners are an important part of the experience. Enjoy the natural beauty with a cold drink in hand. The guides at The Hide are very much part of the family and have been with us for many years. They have undergone some of the most rigorous training in Africa and their passion for and knowledge of the bush is often what makes a safari so special.

There is no typical day at The Hide as it really depends on you how much or little you would like to do. As a general rule, we go out-and-about at the same time as the animals – usually mornings and late afternoons or evenings. However, the scope and scale of Hwange’s wildlife is such that there is generally always something to see. We don’t limit the number of activities you can do, so if you can’t sit still, you could do an early morning walk followed by a morning drive after breakfast. In the afternoon you could head out again, stopping off for a sundowner and a night-drive back to camp.

If you are really looking for value, you could venture out after dinner to see if you can find anything out on the prowl. The waterhole at The Hide is particularly special, being the only source of permanent water for a good-sized area. So even if you don’t feel like venturing out, you will still be able to enjoy the daily visitors to the camp, which often include elephant, giraffe, zebra, impala, waterbuck and kudu. Lion come in from time to time and wild dog have even made kills in full view of the camp.