The Hide Safari Camp

The Hide sits on a private concession within Hwange National Park. The concession matters: it allows night drives and guided walks on foot that a standard national park permit does not. The waterhole overlooked by the main lodge is the only permanent water source in a wide area, which means elephant, giraffe, zebra, impala, lion and wild dog come to it on their own schedule, whether or not you have left camp.

Main Camp holds ten en-suite tented rooms — deluxe, family deluxe and honeymoon configurations — each with a private veranda facing the waterhole and the vlei. Fans cool the tents in summer; hot-water bottles and extra blankets cover the winter nights, when temperatures drop below ten degrees. The dining room centres on a twenty-two-seat teak table under a thatched A-frame roof, with meals also served on the deck outside.

Three further options sit alongside the main camp. Tom's Little Hide is a self-contained safari house taking up to eight adults, booked exclusively, with children of any age welcome. The Private Hide uses tents five through seven, with a private guide, vehicle, dining room, lounge, pool and fire pit. The Dove's Nest is a treehouse sleep-out available at no additional charge for bookings of three nights or longer; it overlooks a pan where giraffe and elephant regularly drink.

An underground hide gives direct eye-level views of the waterhole without disturbing the animals at it. The lodge is a founding member of the Conservation and Wildlife Fund and partners with cheetah, leopard and painted dog research programmes active in the Hwange region.