4x4 Itinerary in Southern Africa: Questions About Travel Times and Distances

Hey everyone,

I’m in the middle of planning a road trip in Southern Africa, and I’m specifically working on the itinerary—especially the distances.

I’ve got the time, but I’m struggling with the transfer days (so much driving just to end up spending the whole day on the road). That’s why I’m trying to analyze travel times, even if it means adding extra stops.

My highlights in Zimbabwe would be: - Hwange - Victoria Falls (and maybe Matusadona) - Mana Pools - Harare - Gonarezhou - Great Zimbabwe

But the distances and travel times seem huge (over 4 hours each time), and I don’t see how to make the drives more chill or shorten them—even if it means adding stops (but which ones?) between each leg.

Would anyone be able to estimate the travel time between these highlights and maybe suggest some nice stops to take breaks?

Hi Sarah,

This is quite an unusual project for a French traveler. 🙂

A few preliminary questions: - What type of vehicle will you have? - Where does the rental start and end? (Gonarezhou is pretty remote unless you're coming from Johannesburg.) - When are you planning this trip? (Mana Pools and Matusadona can be tricky during the rainy season.) - Any idea of the duration and budget range?

"Here’s a project that’s not so common for a French woman. 🙂" We’re trying to avoid places that are too touristy :-)

We’re renting a Hilux 4x4 from Cape Town and then heading east across South Africa. From there, we’ll tackle Zimbabwe, and once we’re near Vic Falls, we’ll cross into Botswana and then Namibia.

Namibia and Botswana have a pretty smooth itinerary for us,

but Zimbabwe—given the distances—is making it hard to plan something flexible and chill...

We leave in 3 weeks, start our road trip at the end of March, and should reach Zimbabwe around mid-April.

I assume Kruger is on the plan. If so, there’s now a direct route to Zimbabwe at the northern edge of the park: the Pafuri border post. It lets you reach Gonarezhou directly, avoiding the long detour via Beitbridge. Check with SanParks for the conditions, especially the minimum number of nights you need to spend in both parks (it’s a similar rule for crossing from South Africa into Namibia via KTP).

Since you’ll be heading to Botswana after Victoria Falls, you might skip Mana Pools and Matusadona (they’re off your route) and focus on Chobe and Moremi instead. Also, Bulawayo is a much nicer city than Harare.

A solid route could look like this: Pafuri > Gonarezhou > Great Zimbabwe > Bulawayo > Hwange > Victoria Falls

You won’t avoid the four-hour drives between stops, but the country has plenty of interest between the highlights. You’ll find the same in Botswana and Namibia.

Happy travels!

This entry point in Zimbabwe has caught my interest for a future trip, so I did some research.

Apparently, it’s still only open to tour operators for group safaris. Just a few months a year during the dry season, and not every day... Minimum 4 nights in the two parks (2x2).

I hope it’ll be open to everyone under conditions similar to KTP (meaning pretty relaxed) by the end of this decade! 😊

Hello, In late March, early April, you’ll be at the end of the rainy season, and I don’t think that’s the best time. In my opinion, it’d be ideal to push it back to May. That said, you can never really predict it, but in recent years, the rainy season has started earlier and ended later. And at the end of the season, some tracks are impassable, and another small "inconvenience"—you see far fewer animals.