Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls — Mosi-oa-Tunya, “the smoke that thunders” — is the 1.7-km-wide curtain of the Zambezi River falling 108 m into the gorge below; the largest single sheet of falling water in the world, UNESCO World Heritage since 1989. The Zimbabwean side offers the longer panoramic walking trail along the rim with viewing points at the Devil's Cataract, the Main Falls and the Knife-Edge Bridge; the river above the falls runs sundowner cruises, and the gorge below carries world-class white-water rafting (best low-water July-November). The town of Victoria Falls runs bungee from the 1905 Bridge, helicopter Flights of Angels and quick crossings to the Zambian side and Livingstone. Best months April-October (cool dry season).

Hwange National Park, 14,650 km² in the north-west three hours south of Victoria Falls, is Zimbabwe's flagship safari reserve and home to one of Africa's largest concentrations of elephants — over 40,000 — alongside lion, leopard, buffalo and white rhino, plus the painted dog (African wild dog) for which Hwange is one of the best places on the continent. Camps run from luxury fly-in (Linkwasha, Davison's, Camp Hwange, Little Makalolo) to mid-range tented (Bomani, Nantwich) to budget self-catering; the park's old guides set the standard for southern-African safari guiding for generations. Best September-November (dry season, water-pan concentration).

Mana Pools National Park (UNESCO 1984) lines a 50-km stretch of the lower Zambezi between Sapi and Chewore, opposite Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park. Pristine flood-plain studded with mahogany and winter-thorn acacia where elephants stand on hind legs to feed; herds of buffalo, lion prides, leopard and one of Africa's most reliable wild-dog populations; the park is one of the few in southern Africa where walking safaris with armed guides and canoe trips on the Zambezi between camps are the standard format rather than the exception. Camps include Vundu, Goliath, Bushlife, Kanga and the seasonal John's Camp. October is the wildlife peak; the park closes during the wet season (December-March).

Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo (UNESCO 1986) is Africa's largest medieval stone-walled monument, the medieval capital of the 11th-15th-century Kingdom of Zimbabwe and source of the country's name. The Hill Complex, the Great Enclosure with its 11-m conical tower and the Valley Ruins remain remarkably intact. The Matobo Hills near Bulawayo (UNESCO 1986) are a granite-kopje landscape with the densest concentration of San rock art in southern Africa (Nswatugi, Pomongwe, Bambata caves), the Whovi rhino sanctuary, the World's View ridge with Cecil Rhodes' grave and a long Ndebele cultural depth — Mzilikazi and his successors based their kingdom in the same hills.

Lake Kariba — the world's largest man-made reservoir by volume, formed in 1958 by the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi between Zimbabwe and Zambia — is one of southern Africa's distinctive boat-and-fishing destinations. Houseboats from Kariba town and Binga sleep up to 12 and run multi-day cruises along the Matusadona shoreline (the dry-drowned mopane woodland whose silver tree skeletons rise from the lake at low water), with fishing for tigerfish, swimming on remote bays and game-viewing of elephant and crocodile from the water. Matusadona National Park, on the southern shore, is one of Zimbabwe's classic walking-safari parks with a small handful of bush camps.

The Eastern Highlands run along Zimbabwe's border with Mozambique — Nyanga in the north (with Mt Nyangani, the country's highest peak, the World's View viewpoint, the Pungwe Falls and the historic Troutbeck Inn for trout fishing and afternoon tea), Bvumba near Mutare (mountain tea estates, the Leopard Rock Hotel, the Vumba Botanical Gardens) and Chimanimani in the south (a granite-quartzite range with one of Africa's best multi-day mountain treks, crossing the Mozambique border in places). The contrast with Hwange and Mana Pools — mountain mist, pine plantations, trout streams, tea — is the country's other natural face.