Chizarira National Park

Chizarira sits on the Zambezi escarpment in the northwest, around two thousand square kilometres of broken country cut by gorges, with the ground falling from around fifteen hundred metres to the valley floor. Its name refers to a barrier, which describes the escarpment. It holds elephant, buffalo, and one of the more significant black rhino populations in the country, along with a long bird list, and it receives very few visitors.

Background

At 2,000 square kilometres, Chizarira is Zimbabwe's third-largest national park, yet its remote position on the Zambezi Escarpment keeps it among the least known. Its name comes from the Batonga word chijalila, meaning great barrier, a reference to the escarpment its rugged ground belongs to. The escarpment drops steeply some 600 metres to the floor of the Zambezi valley, with views toward Lake Kariba 40 kilometres to the north. The area was made a non-hunting reserve in 1938, then a game reserve in 1963, and national park status came in 1975 with the Parks and Wild Life Act.

Source: Wikipedia, "Chizarira National Park"

What's there

• The escarpment gorges - deep ravines cutting the plateau edge.
• The black rhino - one of the country's more significant populations.
• The emptiness - a large park with very few visitors.
• The escarpment view - the drop towards the Zambezi valley.

When to go

May to October is the dry season and the only practical window. The rains make the tracks impassable. Game concentrates at water late in the dry season.

Good to know

Access requires a properly equipped four-wheel drive and self-sufficiency; there is very little infrastructure. Poaching has affected the park badly in the past. Tsetse fly is present.

Nearby

Binga is north, and Matusadona is northeast.

Key facts