Travel deep dive
Hwange, Elephant Country on the Edge of the Kalahari
Hwange National Park, in the west of Zimbabwe on the edge of the Kalahari sands, is the country's largest park and one of the great elephant ranges of Africa. Its woodland of teak and mopane, open grassland and scattered pans has no permanent river, so in the dry season the animals gather at waterholes kept full by pumps, and the herds of elephant at the water are the sight of the park. It lies a few hours south of Victoria Falls, and most trips pair the two.
Updated 2026-10-08
Elephants and the pans
Hwange's elephants are its signature: large herds move through the woodland and come down to the pans in the afternoon to drink, bathe and roll in the mud, often several families at a time. As the dry season advances and the natural pools dry out, the pumped waterholes become the centres of life in the park, and an afternoon at one, from a vehicle or a hide, shows a steady procession of animals.
Lion, buffalo and the rest
Beyond the elephants, Hwange holds lion, leopard, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and antelope from the common impala to the sable and roan of the woodland, with spotted hyena and the smaller cats at night. Birdlife is rich all year, and the pans draw storks, herons and raptors as well as the herds.
Painted dogs
Hwange is one of the strongholds of the painted dog, the African wild dog, an endangered hunter that roams in packs over great distances. Near the park's main gate, a conservation centre devoted to the dogs explains their life and the work to protect them, and in the park packs are seen most often in the cool months, when they den and stay in one area.
Camps and the way to see the park
The park is seen on game drives and, with professional guides, on walks; Zimbabwe's guides train for years before they lead visitors on foot. Accommodation runs from the national park's rest camps, with self-catering cottages and campsites, to private tented camps in the concessions of the east, where night drives and walks are part of the stay. The north of the park, near Main Camp, is the most visited; the south is wilder and quieter.
Getting there and the season
Hwange is reached by road from Victoria Falls in a few hours, or by small aircraft to the airstrips of the camps; there is also an airport near the park. The dry season, from about July to October, is the time of the greatest concentrations at the pans, peaking as the heat builds in September and October; in the rains, from about November to March, the bush turns green, the animals disperse and the birds arrive.