Bumi Hills

Bumi Hills is a ridge of hills on the southern shore of Lake Kariba in Mashonaland West, and the name has come to mean one thing: the safari lodge on top of it. There is no town. You come for the view out across the lake from the main ridge, the wildlife, and a boat or drive into Matusadona National Park next door. African Bush Camps reopened the lodge in January 2018, with 10 suites and a private villa. It is a fly-in sort of place, priced accordingly.

Getting there

Almost everyone flies. Bush planes land on the Bumi airstrip, about a 15-minute game drive from the lodge. Kariba town, 365 km from Harare, has its own airport, and Bumi Hills and Kariba are the two places people take a boat into Matusadona from.

Road is the hard way. ZimParks’ route into Matusadona runs from Karoi on the Binga road, 68 km from the Chifudze substation to Tashinga, and the park’s roads shut in the rains. The lodge publishes no self-drive route, which tells you how its guests arrive.

When to go

Rain falls mostly from November to April, and May to September see almost none. October is the hottest month, with a mean daily high of 35.1 °C at Kariba, so pack for heat. The lake is still low: the Zambezi River Authority had it at about 36 percent of usable storage in mid-October 2026, up from under 12 percent a year earlier.

What to do

The lodge runs game drives, night drives, walking safaris, catch and release fishing, sunset cruises, star gazing and visits to Mola village, about an hour and a half away by road. Tigerfish and bream are what people fish for on Kariba. The Lady Jacqueline, the lodge’s boat, takes up to eight people for a half day or a night out. From 1 September 2026 the lodge also takes guests into Matusadona itself, on a game drive, a walking safari or a conservation outing.

The park is 1,470 km² of mopane and thicket between the Ume and Sanyati rivers, managed by African Parks since November 2019. Most of the 6,000-odd animals rescued in Operation Noah as the lake filled were moved to Matusadona and the Kariba shore. Black rhino walk its hills again for the first time in more than thirty years, and 20 wild dogs went in as two packs.

Good to know

Nile crocodiles and hippos live in the lake, so stay out of the water. The CDC lists all of Zimbabwe as malaria country and recommends prescription tablets, so see your doctor before you go. Money, plugs and the rest are in the travel essentials guide. Wildlife roams around Kariba at night, and the advice there is not to walk after dark. A passenger ferry, the Mbuya Nehanda, capsized between Kariba and Chalala on 11 August 2026, so stick to the lodge’s own boats.

Last updated 19 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Bumi Hills (hills and lodge above the southern shore of Lake Kariba in Mashonaland West, small aircraft access, airstrip a 15-minute game drive away, African Bush Camps, reopened January 2018), ZimParks, Matusadona National Park (1,470 km², Ume and Sanyati rivers, thickets and mopane woodland, African Parks, road from Karoi on the Binga road, Chifudze substation 68 km to Tashinga), Wikipedia, Matusadona National Park (boat access from Bumi Hills or Kariba, roads closed in the rainy season, African Parks from November 2019, relocated rhino), African Bush Camps, Bumi Hills Safari Lodge (10 suites, Baobab Villa, activities, Lady Jacqueline boat for up to eight, Mola about 1.5 hours by road, Matusadona experiences from 1 September 2026, black rhino back, 20 wild dogs in packs of six and fourteen), Wikipedia, Lake Kariba (tigerfish, Nile crocodiles and hippos, ferry Mbuya Nehanda capsized 11 August 2026 between Kariba and Chalala), Wikivoyage, Kariba (365 km from Harare, houseboats, tigerfish and bream, do not walk at night because of wild animals), Wikipedia, Kariba, Zimbabwe (Kariba Airport, climate table: October mean daily maximum 35.1 °C, rain mostly November to April, under 5 mm a month May to September), Wikipedia, Operation Noah (1958 to 1964, Rupert Fothergill, over 6,000 animals, most moved to Matusadona and the Kariba shore), Zambezi River Authority, Lake Kariba levels (about 36 percent usable storage in mid-October 2026, under 12 percent on the same date a year earlier), CDC, Zimbabwe traveller health (malaria transmission in all areas, prescription prophylaxis recommended).