Reviews of safaris to Matobo National Park

"As Zimbabwe emerges from recent troubles we wanted to visit three of its classic locations of Matopo, Hwange and Mana Pools. We were particularly hopeful of seeing Painted Dog, although sadly this was not to be.

Matopo has some fabulous scenery, history and was a place to track rhino on foot - tick to all three. Rhino with calf was a highlight. It also gave us our best ever sighting of Elephant Shrew at Rhodes Grave! The National Park, however, has little game and incursions from cattle and humans are common. Locals roam the whole park on foot cutting grass for sale. It is still worth a visit and arguable needs more visitors to recover, so I’d still include it if you can.

Hwange with its pumped water holes and huge elephant population delivered more classic sightings, and a pride of lions with 6 cubs provided entertainment on all our game drives. Good antelope including Sable and Roan with huge buffalo herd of 500 plus were also a highlight. The open areas and mixed forest gave good variety to habitats.

Mana Pools was in drought in June so maybe not at its best. We were surprised at the number of self drivers and campers, some of whom are clearly not controlled effectively by the NP staff (much to the frustration of guides). No off road but you can off walk so great encounter with lions on a kill on foot was the highlight. If this is the jewel in the crown for Zimbabwe then it’s a little disappointing - at times it felt like a safari park - particularly as the unique environment offers so much.

Versus other neighbouring safari destinations, Zimbabwe still has some catching up to do if it is to return to its previous premier ranking. The amazing teams at African Bush Camps certainly warrant a visit." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We had a great trip in Zimbabwe.

Always felt very safe and welcome. Met wonderful people in camps, cities and along the roads.

Felt like we got the privilege of experiencing the wilderness almost completely alone with our hosts. And got interesting openhearted stories about everyday life in the country." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We knew we needed someone knowledgeable to help us with our first trip to Africa. Claire was fantastic! We were so pleased with all of her suggestions and everything she planned for us. Everything went exactly as planned and we had no concerns during our trip about our plans.

We’ve already passed Claire’s name along to a colleague and she is working with him and his wife now on their upcoming trip. We definitely want to return to Africa, probably as soon as next year, and will plan to contact Claire to see about helping us with that trip as well." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"I try not to anticipate nor expect too much so I won't be disappointed - this trip far exceeded anything I could have imagined, I enjoyed it all so much and it all ran smoothly except the weather the first day but then I would not have experienced Latitude 15.

Thank you for organising such a wonderful itinerary, Freddie, did a great job." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was my third African safari adventure and – aside from the fact that I still have not crossed the Aardvark, Pangolin or Pel's Fishing Owl off my "must see" list – the trip exceeded my expectations in many ways. I liked the wide range and variety of camps and the mixture of air and road transfers, even if two of the latter were, to put it mildly, arduous. I don't regret having experienced the long drive from Amalinda to Somalisa or the one from Mkulumadzi to Pumulani, but I wouldn't want to do either of them again.

I'm happy I returned to Zimbabwe and Zambia – two outstanding wildlife countries with exceptionally skilled guides – and I very much enjoyed my introduction to Malawi. The Majete Wildlife Reserve is still in its infancy but holds great promise, and I found Lake Malawi breathtaking to look at and fascinating to explore.

Working with the Expert Africa team – and particularly with Freddie Sutton – to plan my month-long itinerary was great fun and very rewarding. Freddie is experienced, knowledgeable, patient and, above all, flexible. He responded quickly to all of my requests for changes and updates, and he always found an attractive alternative where one was needed. Even when a slight glitch arose during my time away, he immediately resolved it and all went well." Read full review: 38 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Overall we enjoyed our safari very much. The encounters with wildlife were more extensive and intimate than we had experienced before. Birdlife was superb.

We were surprised at the high number of elephants in Hwange, but it was explained by the guides that there are very few permanent, natural water sources and those that are there are mainly man-made. They are maintained and water is pumped permanently which means the elephants do not need to migrate to Botswana during the dry season but can stay in Zimbabwe year round and are breeding very prolifically.

Seeing white rhinos in the wild was fantastic and the reason we chose to visit Zimbabwe so we weren't disappointed.

All 3 camps were very comfortable in their own ways and all very different from each other. it was a pleasure to stay at each of them. Ilala Lodge was a wonderful start to our holiday.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It may be a good idea to recommend at least 3 nights at Amalinda if visitors would like to see cave paintings and visit World's End. We hadn't realised we wouldn't have time to do both." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We are so pleased that we chose to go to Zimbabwe.

We really enjoyed our short stay in Victoria Falls and then Hwange National Park proved to be a really excellent safari location, where we saw all the wildlife we hoped to see, and appreciated the professionalism of the guides." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zimbabwe safari

"The whole experience from the flights to camps was second to none.

We always have a wonderful time in Africa. We would not consider a beach holiday again.

Keep up the good work Expert Africa and a special thank you to Claire Scott for all the help she gives when arranging out holidays.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep up the good work. Thank you." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Another very well organised trip with Expert Africa.

Freddie responded well to our request to select camps primarily for the quality of their guides. The camps were all of high quality and each had unique experiences, and great, knowledgable and experienced guides.

It is pleasing to see each camp supporting their local communities and doing their best to protect the wildlife and prevention of poaching. Clearly they are managing despite the current political and economic crises facing the country and are well worth supporting.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We like the fact that we can chat to your reps and you make suggestions to help us choose camps and locations based on our past experiences with you and don’t simply refer us to your website or brochures so the trip is truly tailored to our wishes." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Zimbabwe safari

"It was a most rewarding experience. I lived in the country many years ago and was gratified to see that no matter what difficulties they face, the people are as welcoming and open and friendly as I remember. There are definitely challenges ahead, but I hope that there will be a gradual improvement in the economy. To this end, I would encourage tourists to visit the whole of Zimbabwe, and not just the outer northwest corner. The Eastern Highlands are indescribably beautiful, as are the Matobo Hills, Great Zimbabwe and the Zambezi Valley.

I suppose the unexpected thing about our trip was that apart from a delightful train journey which gave us double the travel time we had paid for, things actually do work. There were unavoidable delays from time to time, but there were no glitches in the arrangements made for local transfers or accommodation.

All in all it was a wonderful three weeks, and my thanks to EA for their excellent service.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No improvements possible on the service we received from both Freddie and Claire.
We were picky and difficult and not altogether consistent, and they managed us brilliantly, thanks so much." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Zimbabwe safari