Somalisa Camp

Somalisa, and her smaller, more family-friendly sister-camp Somalisa Acacia, are set back to back on an island of large shady acacia trees in a private concession in the heart of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. The camps enjoy great views along the savannah of the Kennedy Vlei line where herds of elephant process towards the camp to drink from the camp swimming pools or bathe in the mud at the waterholes.

Both Somalisa and Somalisa Acacia feature small swimming pools in which to cool off during the heat of the day. At Somalisa they have had to build a second pool for their guests as the first was being emptied quickly over the day as huge numbers of elephant came to drink from it, understandably seeming to prefer the sweet borehole water to that of the muddy waterhole below. This extraordinary sight is worth the trip to Hwange in itself, to sit mere yards from full breeding herds or huge bulls, greedily sucking and slurping up water, is quite an experience.

Somalisa Camp has seven luxury tented rooms, each with wooden floors and canvas walls and roofs. Each has extremely comfortable double or twin beds, a writing desk, deck to the front, indoor fireplace and ensuite bathroom with flush toilet and indoor and outdoor shower, as well as a copper rolltop bathtub.

Somalisa Acacia has just four tents; two large family tents, with one double bedroom and one twin bedroom, and two standard tents. This camp welcomes children of all ages and they have developed an exciting Kid's Programme for their young guests.

Activities from here are varied, including game drives, walking safaris, game viewing from hides and bird watching.