Sightings of the long red-beaked Bradfield’s hornbill, the pigeon-sized Burchell’s sandgrouse, the large spur-winged goose, the robust rufous-naped lark and red-billed spurfowl are always exciting and fairly common. And during the migrant season, the bronze-winged courser (sometimes known as the violet-tipped courser) is also plentiful. The usually ground dwelling kori bustard, Africa’s largest flying bird, is also seen here. The male kori bustard is thought to be the heaviest living animal capable of flight.

Other birds that may be seen at the Hwange Game Reserve: the African golden oriole, African skimmer, Allen’s gallinule, Arnot’s chat, black-headed oriole, black-winged pratincole, collared pratincole, Egyptian vulture, Goliath heron, lesser moorhen, purple gallinule (sometimes known as the yellow-legged gallinule), southern ground hornbill, southern pied babbler, Taita falcon – and the rare Yellow Morph Crimson-breasted Shrike.

In such a massive landscape, scenery and vegetation vary widely – dense teak forests, granite hills and valleys of mopane woodlands in the north give way to the sub-tropical thorn and sand flat desert scrub of the Kalahari region.

Once home to the nomadic San bushmen who lived off the land, the wildlife reserve was created as it was unsuitable for agriculture. Scare waters supplies continue to be an issue and so strategically placed artificial waterholes have been created to boost wildlife.

Visit the Hwange Game Reserve during our Rivers & Rails of Africa itinerary.