Somalisa Acacia is a four-tent family camp on a private concession in central Hwange National Park, built on an acacia island above the Kennedy Vlei floodplain. At its centre sits a clean splash pool set flush with a natural mud waterhole. The breeding herds that come to drink often bypass the muddy water altogether and dip their trunks straight into the pool itself.
Buffalo, giraffe, zebra and kudu pass the same waterhole
The closeness to Hwange’s elephants is rare, and they move across the open floodplain in front of camp throughout the day. Buffalo, giraffe, zebra and kudu pass the same waterhole, and now and then a lion appears at the water’s edge. Much of the game viewing happens without ever leaving a lounger on the deck.
Somalisa Acacia runs as the smaller, family-minded wing beside the larger Somalisa Camp. The two share a concession and its wildlife, but Acacia keeps its own lounge, dining area and pool. That separation gives multi-generational families and small groups a private feel, with no more than twelve guests at a time and specialist family guides on hand.
The look is low-impact tented safari, all sail-canvas on timber decks
Beks Ndlovu grew up in Lupane, on the edge of Hwange, and trained as a professional guide. He founded the original Somalisa in 2006, and later developed Acacia as its family sister camp, both now part of African Bush Camps. The look is low-impact tented safari, all sail-canvas on timber decks, teak floors, exposed brick and copper slipper baths, every tent turned to face the water.
The private concession is the reason Somalisa Acacia can offer more than a standard national park itinerary. Inside Hwange’s public boundaries, activities are limited to daytime game drives on set roads. Here the guides can track off-road, run night drives, and lead walking safaris across the surrounding bush, reading spoor and behaviour on foot. Walks are kept to guests aged sixteen and over, though the younger children have a full programme of their own built around camp.
That programme is the Ngwana Club, run by child-specialist guides. Younger guests learn to identify animal tracks on short walks near camp, join storytelling and arts sessions, bake cookies with the kitchen, and earn a Junior Guide certificate when they finish. Two family suites each hold two en-suite bedrooms linked by a canvas-and-mesh walkway, keeping parents and children close while giving each their own space. The chefs adjust children’s meals daily, and the kitchen doubles as a classroom for the youngest visitors.
Inside Hwange’s public boundaries, activities are limited to daytime game drives on set roads
Elephants come most consistently in the dry winter months from June to October, trunks dropping into the pool a few feet from the loungers while baboons and hornbills call across the plains. Afternoons are for the splash pool as the heat builds, and the cold winter nights end beside a wood-burner in the tent. Qualified Zimbabwe professional guides lead every outing, and the wider concession holds lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, sable and roan antelope, alongside a wealth of birdlife.
Food follows a relaxed, homely approach, served at the communal table under the main thatch, out on the deck above the floodplain, or as a braai around the boma fire. Some of the produce comes from the Mambanje Community Garden, a solar-powered project the camp supports. The camp itself runs on solar power and recycles most of its greywater on site. There are photographic hides across the concession too, and an off-grid treehouse sleep-out for a night above an active waterhole.
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accommodation
Four sail-canvas tents on raised timber decks, for a maximum of twelve guests. Two are twin or double tented suites; two are family suites of two en-suite bedrooms linked by a canvas-and-mesh walkway. Interiors feature teak floors, exposed brick, copper slipper baths, indoor and outdoor showers, and private decks facing the waterhole.
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activities
Morning and afternoon game drives, plus night drives and off-road tracking permitted on the private concession but not inside Hwange's public boundaries. Guided walking safaris run for guests aged sixteen and over. Photographic hides overlook active waterholes, and an off-grid treehouse sleep-out offers a night above a watering hole.
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conservation
The camp supports the African Bush Camps Foundation, which backs Mambanje Primary School through Early Childhood Development facilities, teacher sponsorship and solar lights, and the solar-powered Mambanje Community Garden supplying local families and the camp kitchen. Lion Guardian and mobile cattle boma schemes work to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the surrounding area.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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The quickest way in is a forty-five minute light aircraft flight from Victoria Falls to Manga airstrip, followed by a game-drive transfer of about half an hour to camp. The scheduled charters are shared and require soft bags, and we can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, so the flight leaves when you do.
By road, allow around four hours from Victoria Falls: two on tar to the park's Main Gate, then two more as a slow game drive through the park to camp, which is a genuinely good introduction to Hwange if you have the time.
It needs taking seriously, particularly with children along. Hwange lies below 1,200 metres, the line under which the UK's official travel health advice rates Zimbabwe's malaria risk as high from November to June, with tablets usually recommended in those months, and the CDC goes further, advising antimalarials for all of Zimbabwe in every season even though the dry months from July to October carry less risk.
A travel clinic or your doctor will confirm what suits each member of the family, including the youngest. The tents come with mosquito nets and repellent, and long sleeves at dusk remain the simplest defence of all.
Winter and summer in one bag. From June to August the nights are cold enough for the tents' wood-burners to matter and dawn can sit near freezing, so children especially need warm layers, hats and something windproof for the open vehicle. Days warm quickly, and from September the heat builds towards October, when the splash pool stops being optional.
Neutral colours, sun hats and high-factor sunscreen cover everyone through the day, with a light waterproof each in the green season from November to March. Keep it all soft-sided for the light aircraft, and bring binoculars the children can actually hold.
No, and that is the point of the camp: it exists so families with young children can do a proper Hwange safari without apology, and cots can be set up for the smallest. The one hard limit is walking safaris, which are for ages sixteen and over for safety.
Tell us the ages when we plan and we will shape the days around them, from how long the drives run to when the meals land. Where a neighbouring camp would suit your particular mix of ages better, we will say so.
The stay runs as fully inclusive: all meals, local drinks and two guided activities a day are inside the rate, so the safari itself does not generate a bill as it goes. Premium imported drinks sit outside it.
Flights and transfers are quoted separately, and we build them into one clear figure for the whole trip before you book, so the price you agree to is the price the trip costs.
The camp runs all year, and the choice is really about what you want the plains to be doing. From June to October the country dries out and the wildlife folds in around the remaining water, the most reliable game viewing of the year, at the price of cold winter dawns and, by October, real heat.
From November to March the rains green the floodplain, the herds scatter to calve and the birding is at its richest, with dramatic skies and far fewer visitors. Families tied to school holidays fit well either side: August for the classic dry season, or the December weeks for the green one. Tell us the constraint and we will find the best month inside it.
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our approach
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Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
