Backpacking in east/south africa

It's not a good idea to reach the NP by train mainly because you will arrive during the night...
Hwange town is not Hwange NP too.

Michel

As you will arrive in Hwange NP after Vic Falls, it will be better to reach it by coach and leaving it also by coach (or kombi) to Bulawayo.

Michel

hi,
thank you for the advise. I read that some lodges pick you up at vic falls too. My question is, does anyone know there a good lodge in Hwanga NP.. They seem to be pretty expensive what I found so far in the net.
Thank you

You can sleep in a tent. They have tents for the drivers but you can also use them to stay there.
It will be cheaper than staying in the lodge by itself.
I did it last year when I was there.

Michel

Reaching the area of Hwange Safari Lodge or the area close to the main road is not difficult at all.
Try to move at day time. You have many public transports between Vic Falls and Bulawayo.
You can have a pick-up from there. Pathfinder (bus company) is not the only option. Coaches (buses) and kombis (minibuses) can be used.
It's not a problem to move by yourself.
It will be different inside the NP but you will use a vehicle of your lodge.
Bradt Zambia and Zimbabwe (2 guidebooks) can be helpful.

Michel

I choosed Ivory Lodge but it's not the only one.

Michel

The bus from Lusaka to Mfuwe leaves early in the morning at 5:30am and takes about 12-13 hours, so its long but the journey isn't too bad really, and the lodges round Mfuwe will arrange to pick you up in Mfuwe too as it is dangerous in the dark because of the animals.

Also, I just wanted to point out that as someone mentioned earlier in the thread that you have to change to a minibus at Chipata, this is not the case, the busses do run the full way to Mfuwe.

When I was there in 2011, there was no connection between Mfuwe and Lusaka by bus. It's the reason why I reached Chipata first and from there Mfuwe.
It's a good news to know that you have a direct bus between the capital city and Mfuwe.

Michel

Yeah, it was good to be able to just get the one bus straight there. It was a fairly bumpy ride though as it does go a bit off road.