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Hwange Walking Safari Guide

Hwange is a game-drive park with a walking minority: about one camp in five makes walking a daily core activity, and those camps are worth seeking out.

By the WalkingSafaris.com editors · October 2026 · 5 min read · Editorial standards

A guide with a rifle leads a line of walkers through tall grass and woodland in ZimbabwePhoto: Wild Expeditions

What kind of park Hwange is

Hwange sits on the edge of the Kalahari, but it is not desert. Most of the park lies on deep Kalahari sand, covered by woodland dominated by Zambezi teak, with mopane in the north and northwest [1]. Between the woodland lie grassy vleis and pans. In the dry months, many of those pans hold water only because it is pumped from underground, and wildlife gathers around them [1].

That shapes the safari. Hwange is built around game drives and waterholes. Walking is common at the private-concession camps, but at most of them it is not the main product [5]. A visitor who wants to walk every day needs to choose the camp carefully.

A guide crouches beside a fresh track in soft sand, rifle in handPhoto: Wild Expeditions
A guide reads a fresh track in soft sand.

Walking in Kalahari sand

Sand is the defining surface of a Hwange walk. It is slower underfoot than the hard ground of a river valley, and in the heat of the day it is tiring. It is also an excellent page for tracks. Footprints from the night before are often clear in the early morning, and a good part of a Hwange walk is spent reading them: which way a herd moved, how fresh the spoor is, what crossed the road before you did.

Camps that take walking seriously build around this. Camp Hwange, for example, sends a tracker out on each walk alongside the guide [6].

As in other parks, walks start early, move slowly and stop often. No Hwange camp we found publishes a standard walk length or a group cap, so ask the camp how long its walks usually run and how many walkers go out together.

Rules and guiding

Walking in Hwange takes place mainly in private concessions, which are areas of the park leased to operators, away from public roads. One agent sums up the practice: walks "are carried out in the private concessions but only when it is safe to do so" [3]. Private concessions also offer night drives [3][6].

Walks are led by fully licensed Zimbabwean professional guides, who carry a rifle [4][6]. The Zimbabwe Professional Guide license is widely regarded as one of the most demanding guide qualifications in Africa, with a long apprenticeship, a shooting proficiency test and a multi-day practical exam. Our Mana Pools guide covers it in detail.

Minimum ages vary by camp. Camp Hwange and The Hide set 16 for walking; Hwange Bush Camp accepts walkers from 12 at the guide's discretion [5][7][8].

The camps that walk daily

These camps treat walking as a daily core activity. We class them as Walking Camps: walks are offered every day as an equal choice with drives.

  • Camp Hwange. In a private concession on the remote western side of the park. Walking is described as "a particular strength," and drives include night drives. Open all year [5][6].
  • Hwange Bush Camp. A seasonal, semi-permanent camp in the Robins area near Deteema Dam, inside the park, open May to November. It combines walks and drives and adds fly-camping [7].
  • Somalisa Expeditions. An African Bush Camps camp in a private concession near the Kennedy vlei line, with walks led by Zimbabwean guides when conditions allow [9].

Muddy Teak, a seasonal exclusive-use camp that opened in May 2025, is noted by one specialist for "strong walking safaris," but we have not yet classified it [2][11].

Fly-camping: a short Walking Expedition

Camp Hwange and Hwange Bush Camp both offer fly-camping, where you spend a night or more in a simple camp away from the main lodge [6][7]. In our terms these are Walking Expeditions: for their duration, walking is the whole trip. They are the closest thing in Hwange to a multi-day walk. Products where guests carry their own tents and gear are not covered here.

Where Walks are Offered

Many other Hwange camps offer walks as a secondary activity, alongside the main program of drives. Examples include Davison's and Linkwasha (Wilderness), Nehimba Lodge (Imvelo, with walks led by a resident professional guide [10]), Bomani, The Hide and Verney's, where walks lean toward smaller life such as plants, insects and birds [5][8][12]. These are good options if you want one or two walks in a drive-based stay.

One name can confuse: Imvelo's "Pump Run" is a full-day excursion to deliver diesel and supplies to the waterholes the company maintains. It is a fine day out, but it is mainly done by vehicle, and it is not a walking safari [13].

When to go

Seasons vary by camp. Camp Hwange is open all year; Hwange Bush Camp runs from May to November [6][7]. In the dry months, roughly June to October, game concentrates at the pumped waterholes and the vegetation thins, which helps both drives and walks [1][13]. Late in the dry season, heat in the sand becomes the main limit on how far and how long you walk.

How Hwange compares

Hwange has three walking-led camps out of roughly 23–30 commercial camps, a walking share of about 10–13% [2]. That puts it above Greater Kruger (5–7%) and well below South Luangwa (about half) and Mana Pools (two-thirds to three-quarters).

The practical reading: Hwange is a strong choice for a drive-based safari with excellent walking available at the right camp. If walking is the reason for your trip, choose one of the camps above, or pair Hwange with Mana Pools, where most commercial camps are walking-led.

Related reading: Mana Pools Walking Safari Guide · Where Walking Really Matters: Walking Share by Park · Mobile, Camp-Based or Trail: The Three Kinds of Walking Safari

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Hwange National Park — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwange_National_Park
  2. Expert Africa, Hwange National Park — https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/hwange-national-park
  3. Tribes Travel, Hwange National Park — https://www.tribes.co.uk/places/hwange-national-park/
  4. Expert Africa, Zimbabwe safari guides — https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/info/zimbabwe-safari-guides
  5. Expert Africa, Camp Hwange — https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/hwange-national-park/camp-hwange/in-detail
  6. Safari.com, Camp Hwange — https://www.safari.com/camp-hwange
  7. Safari Frank, Hwange walking safaris — https://safarifrank.com/adventures/hwange-walking-safaris/
  8. Fitzroy Travel, The Hide — https://fitzroy-travel.com/zimbabwe/hwange-national-park/the-hide/
  9. Timbuktu, Somalisa Expeditions — https://www.timbuktutravel.com/lodge/somalisa-expeditions
  10. Expert Africa, Nehimba — https://expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/hwange-national-park/nehimba-lodge/in-detail
  11. Tourism Update, New exclusive-use camp opens in Hwange — https://www.tourismupdate.com/article/new-exclusive-use-camp-opens-in-hwange
  12. Yellow Zebra Safaris, Verney's Camp — https://yellowzebrasafaris.com/zimbabwe/accommodation/verneys-camp/
  13. Tribes Travel, Join the Imvelo Pump Run — https://www.tribes.co.uk/experiences/join-the-imvelo-pump-run/

Spotted an error? Tell us. How we classify camps: our methodology.