Hwange National Park is the largest and most popular park in Zimbabwe. It offers excellent wildlife viewing, and most big safari animals can be seen, including the Big Five. Hwange is most known for the impressive concentration of elephant that are attracted to the park’s waterholes during the Dry season.With over 100 species present, Hwange has the widest variety of mammals of any national park in the world.
Its claim to fame is one of the largest elephant populations in the world. There are 20,000 to 70,000 individuals that congregate around the waterholes toward the end of the Dry season. Predators, including all three of the big cats, are regularly spotted. The park has an impressive variety of antelope, including some of the unusual species such as sable antelope and greater kudu. The park is an important breeding ground for wild dog.
The park is situated on the eastern edge of the vast Kalahari sands and scrublands. Habitats in the park include teak forest, thornveld and mopane woodland, with scattered hills in the northwest. You pretty much have Hwange to yourself in the Wet season (November to April). But the scattered animals and lack of accommodation don’t make this the most appealing time to visit – not unless you’re a keen birder. Otherwise, forsake the persistent drizzle and oppressive heat and travel to Hwange in the drier months, when animals crowd the waterholes.