🇿🇼 Natural wonders of Zimbabwe

A Southern African country of dramatic water, granite and wildlife — home to its share of Victoria Falls on the Zambezi, the elephant herds of Hwange, and the balancing granite boulders of the Matobo Hills.

🗓️ Best time for nature: February to May for peak Victoria Falls flow; roughly July to October for dry-season game viewing in Hwange, when wildlife gathers at water; April to October for cooler, clear days walking the Matobo Hills.

Africa 3 wonders in the atlas

The lay of the land

Zimbabwe sits on the high plateau of Southern Africa, drained in the north by the mighty Zambezi River, which plunges over Victoria Falls on the border with Zambia. Beyond the falls lie riverine forests, granite hills and balancing rocks, and wildlife-rich national parks. The Zambezi's gorges record how the falls have retreated over hundreds of thousands of years, and its waters sustain both dense wildlife and downstream hydropower.

Where to begin

  1. Victoria Falls

    Mosi-oa-Tunya — the largest sheet of falling water on Earth.

    Waterfall · Zambezi River, Zimbabwe / Zambia border

  2. Hwange National Park

    Zimbabwe's largest national park, about 14,650 km², with the country's biggest elephant population.

    Savanna & plains · Matabeleland North, north-western Zimbabwe, off the Bulawayo–Victoria Falls highway

  3. Matobo Hills

    A World Heritage maze of granite domes and balancing boulders, with rock art at least 13,000 years old.

    Rock formation · Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe, about 30 km south of Bulawayo

A taste of the place

Zimbabwean food centres on sadza, a maize-meal staple eaten with stews, greens, and meat; freshwater fish like bream and tiny dried kapenta come from the Zambezi and its lakes, and biltong (spiced dried meat) is a regional favourite.

Traveling responsibly

  • See both the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides of Victoria Falls.
  • Pack rain protection for the falls' spray in high-water season.
  • Pair Victoria Falls with Hwange — Main Camp is 172 km down the highway towards Bulawayo, then 23 km on tar.
  • Take malaria precautions for Hwange and the Zambezi valley, and confirm current park fees with ZimParks.
  • Wear shoes with good grip for the bare granite of the Matobo Hills.

Zimbabwe’s natural fame starts with water: it shares Victoria Falls, where the wide Zambezi River collapses over a basalt chasm to form the single largest sheet of falling water on the planet, throwing up a ‘smoke’ of spray visible for kilometres. The great river defines the country’s northern edge.

South of the falls, off the highway to Bulawayo, Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe’s largest, covering about 14,650 square kilometres of savanna grassland and teak and mopane woodland. It holds the country’s biggest elephant population, along with lion, leopard, buffalo, endangered painted dogs, and roan and sable antelope — about 100 mammal species and nearly 400 bird species in all. Come in the dry months, when the herds gather at the waterholes.

Further south-east, the granite plateau breaks up into the Matobo Hills: whaleback domes, kopjes and balancing boulders packed together south of Bulawayo. Their rock shelters hold paintings at least 13,000 years old, one of the richest concentrations of rock art in southern Africa, and the hills have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003. At their heart, Matobo National Park is one of the country’s intensive rhino protection zones, home to both black and white rhino.

Added

All wonders in Zimbabwe

3 places

A herd of elephants drinking at the edge of a waterhole on red earth, with dry savanna and scattered trees stretching to a flat horizon, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Hwange National Park

Matabeleland North, north-western Zimbabwe, off the Bulawayo–Victoria Falls highway

Zimbabwe's largest national park: about 14,650 km² of grassland, teak and mopane woodland in the north-west, home to the country's biggest elephant population, painted dogs, roan and sable, and around 100 mammal species.

Savanna & plains Africa
Rounded granite boulders on top of a bare, lichen-orange granite dome, with a small tree and windswept grass in the foreground under a stormy grey sky, Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe

Matobo Hills

Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe, about 30 km south of Bulawayo

A dense maze of granite domes, kopjes and balancing boulders south of Bulawayo, carved by erosion from Zimbabwe's granite plateau — a World Heritage landscape whose rock shelters hold one of the richest concentrations of rock art in southern Africa.

Rock formation Africa
Victoria Falls, Zambezi River, Zimbabwe / Zambia border

Victoria Falls

Zambezi River, Zimbabwe / Zambia border

Known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders' — the Zambezi River drops over a 1.7-kilometre-wide precipice to form the largest single sheet of falling water on Earth, wrapped in a self-made rainforest of spray.

Waterfall Africa