ZIMBABWE HORSE BACK SAFARIS

 An unknown and unpopulated wilderness in the Mavuradonna - Zambezi Valley, northern Zimbabwe - a quiet secret.  

The Mavuradonna is undoubtedly one of the most varied and stunningly beautiful parks in Zimbabwe. Untouched by man. Totally unpopulated since the bushmen. The mountains spread across hundreds of thousands of acres of virgin wilderness, rived with deep valleys and laced by perpetual running water. Thundering rivers crash over mighty waterfalls in the rains. Crystal clear gurgling streams and limpid pools beckon in the dry season. Delicate Bushman art and the mystery of the mountains remain to bemuse the elephant, sable, leopard, zebra, klipspringer, eland, reedbuck, bushbuck, grysbok, bushpig, Egyptian fruit bats and other game that call them home today.

 

Here are built two camps. Kopje Tops a luxurious main camp 12km into the wilderness but accessible by road, and the Bat Caves tented safari camp a further 3Okm and truly remote.

 

Tingwa Valley Safari

3 to 5 nights with a maximum of guests 8

You are on a fine horse amidst spectacular mountain scenery, surrounded by the wild without another tourist in sight. Most people say it is the best trip they have ever been on. We start with leisurely breakfasts, stop in beautiful places for mid morning tea, a longish lunch and arrive in the Bat Caves Camp in time for a hot shower before dinner. Good food, comfort, not too much riding and the opportunity to learn about the unique flora and fauna of the Mountains from our professional guide.

 

Day 1. Two hour transfer due North from Harare to the Mavuradonna Wilderness. Alternatively take a 45-minute private charter flight to Siya Lima airstrip. Relax in the comfort of Kopje Top Camp or get to know your horse on a sundowner ride before dinner.

Day 2. Early morning tea/coffee, breakfast at about 7:30, before heading off. Our route takes us roughly in the direction that the Tingwa River flows, but tracking elephant and other game, visiting cave paintings, swimming in waterfalls and natural pools and having 600 square kilometres of mountainous wilderness to explore, means that we hardly ever take the same route twice. We lunch where we want but normally somewhere we can swim and sunbathe a little, reaching our Bat Caves Camp in time to witness the evening flight of the Egyptian Fruit Bats and have a shower before dinner.

Day 3. Either Breakfast at about 7:30, before heading out for the return journey. You can decide the type of terrain you want to ride, and how hard or easy it should be. The professional guide will then work out the route with you. There are at least ten different ways back through eight different valleys to whatever route you took the day before. (Arrive Kopje Tops at about 16: 00) Some are mountainous with precipitous paths, some quick and relatively easy. Some are best for cave paintings; others best for views or game. Some take you through thick bamboo forests and over mountain ridges; others meander along rivers lined with tall waterberries beside open views. Or Breakfast when you want before setting off for a day tracking game through the tributaries of the lower Tingwa, Dateema and Mashonjeri Rivers. There is nothing like catching up with a herd of elephant that you have been following for hours, but we offer no guarantees. Return to Bat Caves for a second night.

Day 4. As per the return to Kopje Tops described above.

Day 5. The five day safari includes a full days ride out from Kopje Tops with a second night at the lodge at the start of the safari. Particularly popular with those who enjoy life's comforts or want to get to know their horse before starting out on the main safari.

 

The Explorer Safari

4 to 7 nights with a maximum of guests 6.

On the Explorer Safari we travel deeper into the heart of the Wilderness than on the Tingwa Valley Safari and so for one or two nights we steep out rough, carrying our own food, washing in the rivers, a spade for the loo and sleeping on the ground with a mat or grass bed and sleeping bag. If you want to experience what it was like for the early explorers, and can manage up to 120 kilometres in four or five days, then this is for you. Sleeping out under the stars on a mountain top or on the sandy floor of a cave is a must for anyone who really wants to feel the proximity of the bush, the wind in your face and the calls of the wild all around.

 

The safari starts the same as for the Tingwa Valley Safari but we carry on from the Bat Caves Camp and cross the highest mountain range in the Mavuradonna. The riding becomes progressively harder, the elephant paths narrower and more precipitous as we climb higher into the mountains. It is for confident riders only.

 

Day 1. Transfer Harare to the Mavuradonna. Kopje Tops Lodge.

Day 2 - 6. We do not set an itinerary for the Explorer Safaris, other than to say that the first and last nights will definitely be at Kopje Tops Lodge and one or two nights will normally be spent at the Bat Caves Camp, with one or two nights in between,' out rough deep in the middle of nowhere. We are extremely flexible and try to make the daily itinerary fit around the party's preferences. So instead of a fixed itinerary, we like to list the Tingwa, Mavare, Rwazi, Dateema, Mashonjeri, Buro, Musengezi, Mananuku, Fundumwe and Mukorodzi Rivers to explore.

The McGrath, Rusty, and Schellenberger Waterfalls. Dead Elephant Gorge, Incognito, The Bat Caves, The Roof of the World, Makura, The ancient fortresses of the Monomatapa Empire, spilling Tables and a thousand other as yet unexplored and beautiful places.

Even a weeks safari is too short to explore all of the above, but you will return to Kopje Tops Lodge amazed by the diversity and magnificence of the Mavuradonha. You will have stepped back into the past, experiencing the thrill of exploring virgin wilderness far from the maddening crowd. A fully qualified professional guide leads all safaris. lane Hunt is armed, highly informative and very experienced in the bush.

 

2001 Price Guide

Riding / Walking from £155.00 per person sharing per night, fully inclusive

High Season Supplement of £35.00 per person sharing per night.

 

Children under 12 full price on a riding safari

and half price at Kopje Tops Lodge.

 

Road Transfer from Harare £45.00 per person each way.

 

 To make a booking contact us on zimbabwe-horseback@safari-africa.co.uk

or call us on 01995 679 776