Zimbabwe

Travel Zimbabwe on your gap year. Ideas for gap year travel to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe gap year - Gap year programmes in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country famous for two main things - the magnificent Victoria Falls and its superb big game reserves. Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls enjoy a reputation as being the adventure-sport capital of Africa, and white water rafting below the falls is an absolute ‘must do' on a visit to Zimbabwe. In terms of viewing African wildlife Zimbabwe rivals places like South Africa and Kenya as being one of the best environments to view the ‘Big Five' African animals (elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos and rhinos). Indeed, between them, Zimbabwe and neighbouring Botswana are home to virtually all of southern Africa's recorded mammal species.

Unlike many other countries in Africa, Zimbabwe has a very well maintained road network and this fact, coupled with Zimbabwe's relatively small size, makes it a great country for gap year travellers to explore with ease. Zimbabwe's network of buses, trains and small planes is inexpensive and makes it a simple process to visit neighbouring South Africa or Botswana should you so desire. While Zimbabwe definitely isn't over-run by tourists, it has developed an excellent infrastructure for travellers. Zimbabwe has many first-rate safari camps and a superb range of good quality and affordable accommodation - from backpacker hostels to self-catering cottages.

The capital of Zimbabwe, and also the location of Zimbabwe's international airport, is Harare. Harare is home to over 10 per cent of Zimbabwe's 13 million population and has an extremely lively and bustling atmosphere. Most travellers visiting Zimbabwe usually skip through Harare en route to other destinations but, if you're not too limited by time, it's well worth spending a bit of time exploring the city. There are some excellent markets and it's a great experience simply taking a stroll and watching Zimbabwe's street life go about its business around you. If you fancy clubbing then Harare is the centre of Zimbabwe's thriving music scene (if you're in to world music Thomas Mapfumo, The Bundu Boys and The Four Brothers all originate from Zimbabwe. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe houses exhibits some superb examples of African art and is similarly well worth a look.

Victoria Falls is also home to one of Real Gap's best wildlife volunteer projects - ‘Lion Rehabilitation Victoria Falls Zimbabwe'   This project in Zimbabwe is based just 7 kilometres from Victoria Falls in 3000 acres of state-owned land, directly adjacent to the Zambezi National Park. The land is an entirely unfenced Zimbabwe game reserve which is home to all of Africa's ‘big five' animals. Volunteers on the project make an invaluable contribution to the conservation of Zimbabwe's lion population. Volunteers spend a great deal of their time on the project in direct contact with the lion cubs at the centre, and also spend time out in the bush with the lions.

Western Zimbabwe is generally drier and low-lying, and it's this apart of Zimbabwe where most of the major game parks are located. Continuing west across the border in to Botswana it's easy to get to Chobe Park and the Okavango Delta. Real Gap has another excellent wildlife conservation project in Zimbabwe's Midlands, the ‘Lion Breeding and Conservation Zimbabwe' programme. This project is situated within a 3000 acre game reserve in Zimbabwe on a family-run private game farm. The farm is home to over 70 lions as well as other animals such as wildebeest and elephant. Volunteers provide essential help with the day-to-day running of the project and assist with the hand rearing of the lion cubs. Participants also get to study the lions out in the bush, and help to monitor their actions and record vital data. The overall goal of this conservation project in Zimbabwe is to release these captively bred lions in to the wild.  

There are numerous other places in Zimbabwe to explore on your gap year. One interesting fact worth mentioning, however, is that Zimbabwe has the greatest concentration of prehistoric rock art in the world. These paintings are most easily seen in the Matopos Hills area of Zimbabwe near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. Many of the murals date back 10,000 years and beautifully depict scenes from everyday life featuring people and animals. The fact that many of these animal scenes in particular haven't changed in Zimbabwe all these years later really helps put your visit to Zimbabwe in perspective.  

Whatever you want from a gap year in Africa, Zimbabwe undoubtedly offers the possibility of some unique and unforgettable African experiences.

Zimbabwe gap year - Gap year programmes in Zimbabwe


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