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Walking Safaris in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe trains some of Africa's most demanding walking guides, and it has one park where walking is close to universal and several more where it is worth planning around.

By the WalkingSafaris.com editors · October 2026 · 7 min read · Editorial standards

A pack of African wild dogs on the movePhoto: The Bushcamp Company

Walking parks in Zimbabwe

Select a park on the map.

Walking-led camps (larger dot, more camps)Walks offered onlyDrag to move · + and − to zoomRelief: NASA Earth Observatory · Rivers: Natural Earth

The Professional Guide license

Zimbabwe's guide license is the reason many experienced walkers choose the country. Expert Africa calls it "one of the most difficult guide license procedures anywhere in Africa" [1]. The process starts with a written learner's exam covering ecology, wildlife, first aid, firearms and ballistics, and environmental and tourism law. The learner then works for at least two years under a fully licensed guide, gaining experience on walks and drives. A week-long practical exam tests guiding, knowledge and firearm skills [1]. Expert Africa describes the whole process as taking about four years [1].

The result is a guide who is both naturalist and armed protection. In Zimbabwe, the guide carries the rifle, and no separate ranger joins the walk [2]. All "Zim Pro" walking guides hold full gun licenses and at least five years of bush walking experience, according to Expert Africa [3]. Our Mana Pools Walking Safari Guide covers the license stages in more detail.

Group sizes are small. Wilderness, which runs walks in Hwange and Mana Pools, describes groups of about four to eight guests on walks of two to four hours [10].

Mana Pools: the walking park

Mana Pools, on the south bank of the Zambezi, has the highest walking share of any park we track. About two-thirds to three-quarters of its commercial camps are walking-led [4]. Walks pass through the floodplain's albida woodland, where elephant and antelope are often seen [10], and encounters on foot with elephant and predators are part of the draw [9].

Our directory lists 26 camps in and around Mana Pools: two Walking Expeditions, 16 Walking Camps and eight camps where walking is not a core activity [4].

Full details, including camps by format, unguided walking rules and Chitake Spring, are in our Mana Pools Walking Safari Guide.

Hwange: good walking in a drive park

Hwange is Zimbabwe's largest national park [11] and mainly a game-drive destination. Walking takes place chiefly in private concessions [4]. About one camp in eight to ten is walking-led: three Walking Camps out of roughly 23–30 commercial camps, a share of about 10–13% [4]. Several more camps offer walks where walking is not a core activity.

Choose carefully if walking is your priority. See our Hwange Walking Safari Guide for the camps that walk every day.

Gonarezhou: a multi-day walk on the Runde

Gonarezhou, in the far southeast, is Zimbabwe's second-largest national park at about 5,053 km² (some 1.25 million acres) [11]. It is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which links it with Kruger in South Africa and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique [11]. Since 2017 it has been run by the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust, a partnership between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Frankfurt Zoological Society [11]. The sandstone Chilojo Cliffs, about 180 m (590 ft) high, run for about 20 km along the south bank of the Runde River [11].

The park's walking product is a multi-day walk run as an extension of Chilojo Bush Camp. A simple fly camp is moved ahead of the group each day, so walkers carry only a day pack. It runs from April to November, for ages 12 and up [5]. One agent sells it as a four-day journey [12]. Because walking is the whole trip, we class it as a Walking Expedition. Other Gonarezhou lodges offer walks too; one specialist calls the park "one of the best places to explore on a walking safari" [3]. We have not yet classified those lodges.

Matusadona: walking by Lake Kariba

Matusadona lies on the southern shore of Lake Kariba and covers about 1,470 km² [13]. African Parks signed a 20-year agreement to manage it with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in November 2019 [13]. Lions are present, and in June 2026 African Parks announced the return of black rhino after three decades [13][14].

Changa Safari Camp, on its own concession on the east side of the park, offers guided walks alongside drives and boating. One guest describes a lion-tracking outing of about three hours, first by vehicle and then on foot [6]. Children under 16 may not join walks [6]. Changa is open all year, and most guests arrive by light aircraft at Kanjedza airstrip [6]. Drives and boating are the main activities, so we class it as Walks Offered. Our directory also lists one lodge on private land beside the park where walking is not a core activity.

Malilangwe: a private rhino reserve

The Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, in the southeast beside Gonarezhou, is owned by the non-profit Malilangwe Trust, which has a particular focus on rhino [15]. The reserve holds both black and white rhino [16]. Singita Pamushana, the lodge on the reserve, offers walks along the Chiredzi and Runde rivers and to San rock art sites [16]. Walking is not a core activity here, so we list it under Walks Offered.

Zambezi National Park: walking near Victoria Falls

Zambezi National Park lies on the Zambezi close to Victoria Falls, and suits first-time walkers [9]. Great Plains' Mpala Jena Camp sits 16 km inside the park, about 40 minutes from Victoria Falls town, with guided walks included alongside drives and boating [17]. It is a camp where walking is not a core activity.

Matobo: rhino on foot

Matobo National Park, about 35 km south of Bulawayo, is Zimbabwe's oldest national park, founded in 1926, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003 [7]. Its granite hills hold rock art and one of the highest leopard densities recorded [7]. In the west lies a fenced game park, restocked with white rhino in the 1960s and black rhino in the 1990s. It is an Intensive Protection Zone for both species [7].

Lodges just outside the park, such as Amalinda and Big Cave Camp, offer rhino tracking on foot [8]. Expert Africa says rhino "can reliably be tracked on foot" here [8]. Guides work with the park's anti-poaching scouts [18], and one agent describes the walk as led by an armed guide [19].

Matobo has no lion or elephant [8]. That means it does not meet our dangerous-game test, so its rhino walks sit outside our walking safari counts. We cover them, with other rhino walks across Africa, in Rhino Tracking on Foot: Where to Do It.

When to go

The dry season, roughly May to October, is the best time to walk. The bush thins, visibility improves and mornings are cool [9]. Wilderness names June to October as its best walking months [10]. In Mana Pools, many camps close during the rains, from November to March, when the soils become impassable [9]. Some camps stay open all year, including Camp Hwange and Changa [4][6]. Late in the dry season, October heat limits how long walks can run.

Getting there

Light aircraft connect Victoria Falls, Hwange, Matusadona, Mana Pools and Harare, with flights of about 30 minutes to two hours and a soft-bag luggage limit of about 15 kg [20]. A common route starts with a few nights at Victoria Falls, then flies to Hwange, then on to Lake Kariba and Mana Pools [20]. Matobo is reached by road or air via Bulawayo [8]. Road distances are long, and self-driving is not recommended for first-time visitors [20].

How Zimbabwe compares with Zambia

The main difference is who carries the rifle. In Zambia, an armed ranger walks with the guide, and the guide is free to interpret. In Zimbabwe, the guide carries the rifle and no separate ranger joins [2]. Both countries set demanding exams for walking guides [2].

The second difference is scale. South Luangwa has 24 walking-led camps, the most of any park we track, at a walking share of about half [4]. Mana Pools has the higher share on a smaller base. Zimbabwe's walking is spread across more parks, from Mana and Hwange to Gonarezhou and Matusadona. For a side-by-side view, see South Luangwa vs Mana Pools. Many travelers combine the two, with a few nights in Victoria Falls between them [2].

Related reading: Mana Pools Walking Safari Guide · Hwange Walking Safari Guide · South Luangwa vs Mana Pools: Which Is Better for Walking? · Rhino Tracking on Foot: Where to Do It · Who Leads Your Walk? Guide Licensing and Armed Escorts by Country

Sources

  1. Expert Africa, Zimbabwe safari guides — https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/info/zimbabwe-safari-guides
  2. Yellow Zebra Safaris, The best walking safaris: Zimbabwe vs Zambia — https://yellowzebrasafaris.com/inspiration/safari-insights/the-best-walking-safaris-zimbabwe-vs-zambia/
  3. Expert Africa, Zimbabwe walking safaris — https://www.expertafrica.com/walking-safaris/zimbabwe
  4. walkingsafaris.com camp directory and walking-share research (October 2026), compiled from operator websites and Expert Africa's park listings — https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/mana-pools-national-park
  5. Safari Frank, Gonarezhou Walking Safaris — https://safarifrank.com/accommodation/gonarezhou-walking-safaris/
  6. Expert Africa, Changa Safari Camp — https://expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/matusadona-national-park/changa-safari-camp/in-detail
  7. Wikipedia, Matobo National Park — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matobo_National_Park
  8. Expert Africa, Matobo National Park — https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/matobo-national-park/in-detail
  9. Discover Africa, Zimbabwe walking safaris — https://lite.discoverafrica.com/safaris/zimbabwe/walking-safaris/
  10. Wilderness, Walking safaris in Zimbabwe — https://www.wildernessdestinations.com/africa/zimbabwe/walking-safaris
  11. Wikipedia, Gonarezhou National Park — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonarezhou_National_Park
  12. Timbuktu, Chilojo Bush Camp — https://timbuktutravel.com/lodge/chilojo-bush-camp
  13. African Parks, Matusadona National Park — https://www.africanparks.org/the-parks/matusadona
  14. African Parks, Black rhino return to Zimbabwe's Matusadona National Park (June 3, 2026) — https://africanparks.org/black-rhino-return-zimbabwes-matusadona-national-park
  15. Journeys by Design, Malilangwe and Singita Pamushana — https://journeysbydesign.com/destinations/zimbabwe/malilangwe/pamushana
  16. Timbuktu, Singita Pamushana — https://www.timbuktutravel.com/lodge/singita-pamushana
  17. African Bush Camps listing, Mpala Jena Camp — https://africanbushcamps.com/camps/mpala-jena-camp
  18. Big Cave Camp, Game viewing and rhino tracking — https://www.bigcavematopos.com/game-viewing--rhino-tracking.html
  19. Timbuktu, Track rhino on foot with an armed guide in Matobo — https://www.timbuktutravel.com/experience/track-rhino-on-foot-with-an-armed-guide-in-matobo
  20. Wild Wings Safaris, What is the best way to travel around Zimbabwe on safari? — https://wild-wings-safaris.com/frequently-asked-questions/what-is-the-best-way-to-travel-around-zimbabwe-on-safari

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