Somalisa Acacia is a small, upscale, family-oriented, tented camp located within a private concession of historic Hwange National Park.

Somalisa Acacia Camp, along with its two sister camps, Somalisa Main Camp and Somalisa Expeditions, is located in the wildlife-rich, eastern section of the national park, where game viewing is very rewarding, particularly during the long, dry season from June into November.

The area around the camps is especially good for seeing elephants, which are seen regularly on game drives, but also throughout the midday hours as they visit the watering hole in front of the camp.

Activities at Somalisa Acacia include twice-daily (or full-day) game drives in customized, open Land Cruisers, walking with an armed guide, sleep-outs at the Somalisa overnight platform overlooking a popular wildlife waterhole, and cultural visits to a local village.

Wildlife in this far southeastern part of Hwange is abundant and diverse, with the stars of the show being Hwange's elephants. Other commonly seen herbivores include zebra, giraffe, buffalo, impala, blue wildebeest, sable, waterbuck, roan, and warthog. Hippos are found in some of the park's waterholes.

Commonly encountered predators include lion, leopard, spotted hyena, African wild dog, and black-backed jackal. Cheetah are sometimes seen. Crocodiles are found in some of the waterholes. Birding in the park is excellent, with over 400 species recorded. Wildlife viewing is best during the dry winter months, when the waterholes become very busy with animals coming to drink.

The camp offers four luxurious, canvas-and-wood, safari suites, two of which are 2-bedroom units that are ideal for families. The spacious tents offer comfortable beds (twin or double setup), an outdoor deck overlooking the active waterhole, and fully-plumbed facilities with both indoor and outdoor showers, bathtub, double-basin vanity, and flush toilet.

The main guest area is built on an elevated wooden deck and features a wood-and-canvas structure that includes a comfortable lounge, dining area, bar, and coffee/tea station. The lounge and dining areas open into the front viewing deck with lounge seating and a campfire area, both of which afford excellent views over the camp's waterhole for watching wildlife.

The far edge of the deck has a deep, freshwater pool that is designed to offer guests incredible, up-close views of elephants, which come frequently to drink. The deck also incorporates a relaxing plunge pool and sun deck that offers a great way to spend some of the midday hours between safari activities. A protected 'boma' is located alongside the deck at ground-level and is often used for dinners under the stars or just for evening drinks around the campfire.

Somalisa Acacia is an eco-friendly safari accommodation and was awarded the first Gold-level 'Green Tourism Certification' in Zimbabwe. The camp operates primarily on solar energy, but a generator provides a backup power source and there is 24-hour electricity in the guest tents and the main area.

The Somalisa camps are owned and operated by African Bush Camps (ABC), a company founded by a professional African safari guide, who has a passion for protecting remote spaces and the wildlife that lives there.

African Bush Camps operates safari camps in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The ABC camps are fully sustainable, with minimal impact on the environment. The African Bush Camps Foundation runs local projects that empower the local communities wherever they operate safari camps. The company's aim is to conserve and preserve wildlife and natural areas in Southern Africa.

About Hwange National Park

Hwange is located in western Zimbabwe bordering Botswana and is the country's largest national park. Hwange's history as a protected wildlife area dates back to 1928, when the British Colonial administration declared it as the Wankie Game Reserve, making it one of the oldest formal reserves in Africa. The name of the park comes from a local Ndebele chief named Hwange Rosumbani, but it was anglicized by the white settlers into 'Wankie'.

Although Hwange is bounded on the north and south by rivers, the vast interior of the park is a naturally dry and waterless region. In the early years of the reserve, wildlife only visited in good numbers during the rainy season (November to April), after which most of the animals moved away from the area due to the water shortage in the reserve.

The park's first warden was a man named Ted Davison, who decided that in order to make the reserve a place people would want to come, the park needed water sources. In 1939, Davison and a team of workers began work on what would later become over 50 boreholes, which were pumped by windmills and supported by diesel pumps. The pumped water was directed into either a natural pan or one which the workers created.

Davison's waterholes were eventually spread out across the park's dry interior and a road network was soon developed to connect many of these pans. After some years with the waterholes operational, wildlife started to stay in Hwange all year. These waterholes are still the life blood of the park's tourism industry today.

The most productive wildlife areas in Hwange are in the north and east, with the central and southwest portions characterized by Kalahari sands with sparse vegetation. As such, all of the safari camps in Hwange are located along the north and east perimeters of the park.

Bordering Hwange on the east are two mixed-use areas that are mainly used for commercial hunting. Bordering the park in the northwest is another hunting area called Matetsi.

Wildlife viewing in the north and east of the park is excellent, particularly during the dry season and around Hwange's network of pumped waterholes. The park is especially well known for its elephants, with large groups consisting of multiple herds often seen together drinking at a waterhole.

Besides the abundant elephants, commonly seen herbivores in Hwange include buffalo, giraffe, zebra, blue wildebeest, greater kudu, impala, roan, sable, reedbuck, waterbuck, tsessebe, red hartebeest, steenbok, and warthog.

Hwange is also a superb place to see predators, with healthy populations of lion, leopard, spotted hyena, African wild dog, and black-backed jackal. Cheetah are found in Hwange in smaller numbers.

Hwange's rhinos (both black and white species) were poached to extinction during the 1980s, but a small number of black rhinos were reintroduced and are under continuous monitoring. Some of Hwange's waterholes are home to hippos and crocodiles. Birding in the park is superb, with over 400 species recorded.

The Painted Dog Conservation Centre, located just outside the Main Gate, works to conserve the endangered African wild dogs in the greater Hwange region. The project employs over 60 people from local villages to run the centre's programs, which include research, conservation, education, and anti-poaching. The facility is open to the public every day.