The governments of the five countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006, with the TFCA formally established by treaty in 2011. The SADC (Southern African Development Community) recognises it as a project in line with the bloc’s vision of regional integration.
It's vast, spanning 519,912km² and 36 national parks, game reserves, forest reserves and wildlife management areas which are home to an abundance of wildlife, including about 250,000 elephant, the largest contiguous population in the world.
It also encompasses some of the most beautiful natural attractions in Southern Africa, including the Okavango Delta; Caprivi Strip; Makgadikgadi Pans; Lake Kariba; the Chobe, Moremi and Hwange game reserves; and the world-famous Victoria Falls.
A DAZZLING ZEBRA MIGRATION
Our Imvelo visit was the first stop on an exploration of what the Kaza TFCA offers visitors. From there, we took the Elephant Express, which runs along the railway Rhodes built as part of his never-finished Cape-to-Cairo imperialist project, to the Hwange airstrip for a flight to Victoria Falls. After the mandatory visit (it seems sacrilegious not to), we headed to Kasane in Botswana and on to Maun and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.
Situated on community land on the edge of the national park, Meno a Kwena Tented Camp overlooks the Boteti River. During the dry season between April and October, it’s the river that attracts a wealth of wildlife. It is also the reason the large herds of zebra which don’t travel to the Nxai Pans make their way to the Makgadikgadi Pans as part of their annual migration, seeking out greener pastures until the start of the rainy season sends them back to the Okavango Delta.
Kaza: a conservation giant in Southern Africa that's full of wild adventures
Spanning five countries, the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is a golden trifecta of community, conservation and tourism. Here we explore some of its offerings in Zimbabwe and Botswana
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
It felt unnatural, but we had no time to think it through. Our instructions were clear: get off the game drive vehicle and follow, single file, until we found them. Our moment was slipping away fast as the sun was already dipping below the horizon, painting broad brush strokes of orange and red in the sky above and elongating the shadows of the trees in the golden grass around us.
We did as we were told and soon found Thuza and Kusasa, the rhino bulls we’d come in search of. It was sundowner hour as they slowed their pace at the watering hole. We’d made it just in time to walk with them in the light’s fleeting rays and appreciate the significance of another day’s success as part of the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative.
The men dutifully following these bulls with imposing rifles were not armed to protect us from them. Working in shifts, members of the Cobras Community Wildlife Protection Unit guard the pair 24/7. With time, the rhino have become so accustomed to their presence that we found them relaxed, ambling about without feeling the need to behave aggressively towards us.
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
The last white rhino in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park was poached in 2007 and Thuza and Kusasa are the first to roam these parts since. They have called the Imvelo Ngamo Wildlife Sanctuary home since May 2022. Bordering the national park in the south, it forms part of a rhino conservancy project on the Tsholotsho communal lands, with the long-term goal of reintroducing free-roaming rhino to this part of Zimbabwe.
“It’s not just about animals, it’s about people. There’s no hope for the future if we leave out communities,” explained Mark “Butch” Butcher, MD and guide at Imvelo Safari Lodges, as we made our way back to Imvelo Camelthorn Lodge.
This initiative only works because local communities are involved: by training and employing them, by bringing the schoolchildren to see the rhino and by giving back to the community. In turn, the community takes care of the wildlife and kids grow up with a reverence for these beasts. “We’ve got kids in break time not playing soccer, but playing Cobras,” says Butch.
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
Guests at Imvelo Safari Lodges pay a rhino conservation levy and all proceeds from rhino visits go towards running the sanctuary and the community, which has put some of the money towards expanding the clinic in Ngamo village, which offers free services to local villages, and paying the nurses.
The introduction of the rhinos has been a drawcard for visitors, setting in motion a cycle of community-based conservation and tourism which ensures money is filtering into communities beyond the main hub of Victoria Falls.
It’s a winning trifecta of wildlife, tourists and communities, village head Johnson Ncube says, one which is at the heart of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (Kaza TFCA).
COMMUNITY, CONSERVATION AND TOURISM
The Kaza TFCA was born out of a dream to establish a conservation and tourism area in the Kavango and Zambezi rivers basins, stretching over large parts of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Angola.
Ultimately, the thinking is that if the region's ecosystems, heritage and cultural resources are sustainably managed, local residents can only benefit.
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
The governments of the five countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006, with the TFCA formally established by treaty in 2011. The SADC (Southern African Development Community) recognises it as a project in line with the bloc’s vision of regional integration.
It's vast, spanning 519,912km² and 36 national parks, game reserves, forest reserves and wildlife management areas which are home to an abundance of wildlife, including about 250,000 elephant, the largest contiguous population in the world.
It also encompasses some of the most beautiful natural attractions in Southern Africa, including the Okavango Delta; Caprivi Strip; Makgadikgadi Pans; Lake Kariba; the Chobe, Moremi and Hwange game reserves; and the world-famous Victoria Falls.
A DAZZLING ZEBRA MIGRATION
Our Imvelo visit was the first stop on an exploration of what the Kaza TFCA offers visitors. From there, we took the Elephant Express, which runs along the railway Rhodes built as part of his never-finished Cape-to-Cairo imperialist project, to the Hwange airstrip for a flight to Victoria Falls. After the mandatory visit (it seems sacrilegious not to), we headed to Kasane in Botswana and on to Maun and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.
Situated on community land on the edge of the national park, Meno a Kwena Tented Camp overlooks the Boteti River. During the dry season between April and October, it’s the river that attracts a wealth of wildlife. It is also the reason the large herds of zebra which don’t travel to the Nxai Pans make their way to the Makgadikgadi Pans as part of their annual migration, seeking out greener pastures until the start of the rainy season sends them back to the Okavango Delta.
Image: Supplied
It is one of the longest, largest and lesser-known mammal migrations in the world. For a large part of the year, the zebra loiter along these river banks, relishing the abundance of food and water.
Game drives are a treat, as they look like a moving blanket of white-and-black stripes against the sandy, brown earth.
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
Image: Sanet Oberholzer
Image: Sanet Oberholzer
Lions enjoy this time of year too, as the dazzles of zebra offer easy pickings, making for stunning big-cat viewing on top of the elephant, giraffe and jackal sightings to which we were treated as we snaked our way along the river. Monitor lizards and crocodiles could be seen lazily twisting in the waters, while fish eagles and pied kingfishers swooped through the air.
At night the stars come out to play, mingling with the warm glow of campfires which light up dinner tables laden with food to be enjoyed in the good company of delightful lodge manager Segametsi Mosarwa.
FINDING BEAUTY IN DRIED EARTH
The Makgadikgadi Pan network stretches from the Kalahari Desert to the Okavango Delta and is the largest in the world. It was one of the biggest inland seas on Earth, covering a large part of what we know today as Botswana, until the water started drying up 10,000 years ago.
In the rainy season these pans flood with water from the Boteti and Nata rivers, but in the dry season they transform into a sun-baked salt desert.
To behold the spectacle up close, we made our way through the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park to the Nata village, one of the main gateways to the pans.
Image: Sanet Oberholzer
The Nata Bird Sanctuary, a community conservation project which protects the northeastern part of the Sua Pan, is inside the network. Sunset game drives from Nata Lodge into the sanctuary deliver some of the most sublime views of what appears to be a never-ending expanse of white, cracked earth. Above the horizon, swirls of blue and purple mellow into one another before sunset engulfs the quiet.
Pink feathers blowing in the wind are the only indication that flamingos flock to these pans to breed when the water arrives, fleetingly transforming the landscape into a lake that comes alive with bird and animal life.
Image: Supplied
It is in the quiet before dusk consumes the pans that life seems to find meaning and you become small and unimportant, but feel most alive. It acts as an all-important reminder of the value initiatives like the Kaza TFCA offer, not just to entice more people to bear witness to Africa’s natural beauty, but also because of the need to protect these ecosystems and the communities that work to preserve and care for them.
It's that thought of “I'll be back” that tugs at you even before you've left that reminds you why this is a special place that needs to be near the top your bucket list. Just go and see for yourself — you won't need more convincing after you have.
For more information, visit the Kaza TFCA website.
Image: Monique De Beer Photography
TRAVEL LOGISTICS
South African passport holders don’t need tourist visas to travel between the five countries that form part of the Kaza TFCA for short-term stays.
Given the vast distances between and within the countries that form part of the Kaza TFCA, air travel and road transfers are the quickest and most convenient ways to get around. Direct flights are available from OR Tambo to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Maun and Kasane in Botswana through CemAir, Airlink, Fly Safair and SAA. Regional flights offer a quick link between airports and smaller airstrips accommodate private charters through companies like Mack Air, which operates in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and Wilderness Air, which operates in those countries as well as Namibia and Zambia.
STAY HERE
IMVELO CAMELTHORN LODGE, ZIMBABWE
The lodge provides a comfortable springboard from which to explore Hwange National Park and the community upliftment and conservation initiatives. Enjoy daily game drives or walks, as well as community and rhino conservation project visits. The lodge has eight generous villas, each with indoor and outdoor lounges, a fireplace and bathroom with a large bath for long soaks. Rates from R24,400 for two people sharing per room per night include accommodation, all meals, drinks, transfers and guided game activities. Visit the website for more information or to book.
Image: Supplied
VICTORIA FALLS HOTEL, ZIMBABWE
The grande dame of Victoria Falls, this is one of the oldest hotels in Africa and makes for an elegant, sophisticated stay. Enjoy high tea on Stanley’s Terrace with views of the Victoria Falls Bridge or a poolside G&T before settling in for dinner or going out for a night on the town. If you stay put, there’s also a spa, art galleries and a number of dining options. The hotel has 149 rooms and suites. Rates from R11,500 per room sleeping two people per night. Visit the website for more information or to book.
Image: Supplied
MENO A KWENA, BOTSWANA
Meno a Kwena strikes a beautiful balance between quirky, luxurious and soulful. Overlooking the Boteti River, you need not leave your room’s private veranda to enjoy the wildlife, but would be remiss if you didn't, with river cruises, a floating game-viewing hide, cultural safaris and walks with the San Bushmen, as well as sleeping under the stars on offer. The lodge has 10 beautifully styled tents with en suite bathrooms and private verandas. Rates from R10,100 per person sharing per night include accommodation, all meals, beverages, daily activities, airstrip transfers, expert guiding and park entry fees. Visit the website for more information or to book.
Image: Supplied
NATA LODGE, BOTSWANA
Marketed as a convenient road-trip break that links the main tourist routes to the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, the Caprivi and Victoria Falls, this is a budget-friendly, comfortable option for road-trippers traversing long distances or adventurers in search of the magic of the salt pans. You can also take time to discover the area’s baobabs, embark on a village tour or canoe on the Nata River. The lodge has 22 thatched chalets and 10 safari tents, all with en suite bathrooms and outside showers for hot summer days. Rates from R1,350 per room sleeping two per night. Visit the website for more information or to book.
Image: Supplied
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