The Hide Safari Camp
One of the best tented safari camps in Zimbabwe
- Ten tents
- Plunge pool
- Wine cellar
- Underground hide at the waterhole
- Game drives
- Bush walks
The Hide Safari Camp was set up in 1992 by the Preston family out of their passion for nature and the beauty of Hwangwe National Park. The area, now a private concession on the park’s eastern edge, was once the royal hunting ground of Ndebele kings and is famous for its abundant and diverse wildlife. Today, this camp has established and partnered with foundations to protect the wildlife and benefit the local community.
The Hide’s main camp has ten tents, two of which are slightly larger than the others. Each tent is mosquito-proof and has an en-suite bathroom, a fan for your comfort in summer and extra warm blankets and hot water bottles for the cool winter months. There’s also Tom’s Little Hide, a secluded three-bedroom cottage with awesome views of the waterhole that’s best suited for up to six adults and four children. For an unforgettable night, The Dove’s Nest Treehouse is a sleep-out experience for those who are a little more adventurous.
The hub of the camp is the ‘A-frame’ which houses the dining room, a downstairs sun lounge and a large comfortable lounge area upstairs. There’s also a plunge pool near the main lounge and dining room, and a tunnel leading to a wine cellar and hide.
During a stay here you can expect to see herds of elephants, buffalo, lion, leopard and African wild dog, as well as some of the four hundred bird species, which you can spot on game drives and walking safaris. There’s a waterhole just metres away from the tents, which attracts a wide variety of wildlife and can be viewed from your personal veranda or the hide. Other activities include visits to community projects and conservation initiatives.
The Conservation and Wildlife Fund
The Hide is a founding member of The Conservation and Wildlife Fund, which aims to work together with stakeholders, including other environmentalist and conservation groups and local communities, in order to raise awareness, and provide adequate tools for the management of Zimbabwe’s precious wildlife resources. The Hide also partners with leading research projects such as Cheetah Research, Leopard Research and Painted Dog Conservation.
Friends of Hwange
The Hide Safari Camps support the work of the Friends of Hwange – a trust formed to try and keep as many waterholes supplied with water all year round. The camp is home to Friends of Hwange staff and helps to raise awareness and funding for the ongoing work.
The Hide Community Trust
The Hide Community Trust runs alongside The Hide and is partnered with a local community that surrounds Hwange National Park. Their aim is for the relief of poverty, the promotion of education, as well as the benefits of conservation. Their support for these communities is through Community Capacity Building, social enterprise, education, sustainable development as well as conservation and human-wildlife conflict solutions.
Community upliftment
The lodge itself stimulates the local economy by employing staff from the surrounding communities as well as develops skills. The trust will help tackle the root causes of poverty and environmental devastation.
Partnership with Chezhou Primary School
The camp has formed a solid partnership with Chezhou Primary School, which is based on the outskirts of The Hwange National Park and who have been working hard to keep themselves afloat. They are currently supporting them with infrastructure development, educational materials, the creation of an eco-nutritional food garden, water supplies, bursaries and conservation clubs.
Beehive fencing
The resort put in place Beehive fencing – a concept that has been developed in East Africa in order to reduce damage from crop-raiding elephants by using their instinctive avoidance of African honey bees. This has worked extremely well so far, as the beehive fences act as a natural deterrent creating a social and economic boost to poverty-stricken rural communities through pollination services and sustainable harvesting of elephant-friendly honey.
Female empowerment
The camp has also partnered with groups of women in the surrounding area who come together for training in various income-generating initiatives. They bring together people from around the country and hold workshops that educate women in different skillsets, crafts and life skills in order for them to have a better chance of earning an income. The crafts that are made during these workshops are then sold in the shop at the Hide.
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