Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve

Malilangwe is a private reserve of about 50,000 ha in the south-east lowveld of Masvingo Province, on the northern boundary of Gonarezhou. Raymond Sparrow ran it as the Lone Star cattle ranch from 1949, the last cattle left in 1985, and the Malilangwe Trust bought it in 1994 and put the rhino back. You come as a guest of Singita Pamushana or Malilangwe House, and the reserve is yours while you are there.

Getting there

Scheduled flights land at Buffalo Range, 10 km north-west of Chiredzi, for customs, then it is 45 minutes by road to the lodge. Federal Air flies from Johannesburg on Mondays and Thursdays, about 1 hour 45 minutes, and Halsted’s has a Thursday flight from Harare. Both want two guests on a three-night stay and soft bags under 15 kg. Charters use the reserve’s Lonestar strip, 12 minutes from the lodge. Driving is about six hours from Harare and twelve from Johannesburg; read the self-drive guide first.

When to go

The dry months, April to October, are best for game, and safari specialists rate August and September as the best months in Zimbabwe. May to September mornings need a proper jacket. Rain comes as short afternoon storms from December to March, when many animals drop their young and elephant breeding herds wade into the dam. Buffalo Range sits at 433 m, well under the 1,200 m line below which malaria risk is high from November to June, so ask your doctor about tablets.

What to do

Game drives twice a day, guided walks in the sandstone hills and along the Chiredzi and Runde rivers, and boats on the Malilangwe Dam, the Sparrow family’s 1963 dam, once the biggest private dam in Rhodesia. It holds tigerfish, hippo and crocodile. The reserve’s pride is rhino: 28 black and 15 white were introduced in 1998, the herd has grown tenfold and now restocks other reserves. Look for sable, roan and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, and dry-season buffalo herds in the hundreds on the basalt flats. Then the rock art. 121 painted sites sit in the hills, San figures in red ochre alongside Khoikhoi dot patterns and Iron Age finger paintings, with five double-headed animals among them, an image only a handful of other sites in southern Africa show, and the guides take you out to the shelters. Day trips run to the Chilojo Cliffs and to Great Zimbabwe.

Good to know

Pack neutral cotton, a warm layer, binoculars and enough prescription medication, as the lodges are remote. Drones are banned. The reserve has been fenced right round since 2007, when rhino poaching hit crisis levels across southern Africa, and 111 scouts from neighbouring villages patrol it from more than 20 pickets. Lodge revenue helps pay for the Trust’s conservation and community work, which feeds more than 20,000 children each school day, and a visit to those projects or to the Kambako Living Museum of Shangaan bushcraft is on the activity list. Your passport needs six months left and two blank pages; the entry requirements guide covers the visa side.

Last updated 19 October 2026. Sources: The Malilangwe Trust, home (established 1994, 50,000 ha, rhino up tenfold, 20,000 children fed each school day, Lonestar Ranch address at Chiredzi), The Malilangwe Trust, Our Malilangwe (Lone Star cattle ranch acquired by Raymond Sparrow in 1949, dam built by the Sparrow family in 1963 as the largest private dam in Rhodesia, cattle out 1985, Trust bought the ranch 1994, 38 plant communities, basalt flats with buffalo herds in the hundreds, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, lion, leopard, over 330 birds and 60 raptors, tigerfish, hippo and crocodile in the dam, elephant breeding herds wading in summer), The Malilangwe Trust, cultural heritage (121 rock art sites in the Malilangwe Range, San, Khoikhoi and Iron Age traditions, red ochre, five double-headed animals, Hlamba Mlonga Iron Age hill, Kambako Living Museum of Bushcraft), The Malilangwe Trust, our scouts (111 scouts, more than 20 pickets, whole reserve fenced in 2007 after rhino poaching, rhino reintroduced 1996 to 1998, over 400 staff from the surrounding area), The Malilangwe Trust, tourism (Singita Pamushana the ecotourism partner, game drives, walks, boating, fishing, rock art, Kambako, day trips to Gonarezhou and Great Zimbabwe), Singita, Pamushana Lodge (eight suites on a sandstone ridge above the Malilangwe Dam, 115,000 acres, 38 habitats, 28 black and 15 white rhino introduced 1998, sable and roan, twice-daily drives, walks, sundowner cruises, fishing, rock art visits), Singita, Pamushana air access (Buffalo Range 45 minutes from the lodge for customs and immigration, Federal Air from Johannesburg Mondays and Thursdays about 1 hour 45 minutes, HAC Thursday flight from Harare, two-guest and three-night minimum, 15 kg soft bags, Lonestar strip 12 minutes away, about six hours' drive from Harare and twelve from Johannesburg, passport six months and two blank pages), Singita, Pamushana weather and what to pack (dry April to October best for game, cold mornings May to September, afternoon storms December to March, births at the start of the rains, malaria area, neutral cotton, drones banned, bring enough prescription medication), Singita, Malilangwe region (Trust set up 1994 after the largest single donor investment in Zimbabwe, Pamushana run by Singita on the Trust's behalf with revenue to conservation and community work, Malilangwe House), Singita, Deeper than the soil (121 rock art sites, San, Iron Age farmers and Khoekhoen, sites clustered around springs, Tsoro boards cut into the rock, sandstone cliffs), Expert Africa, Pamushana Lodge (southern boundary shared with Gonarezhou, Chiredzi River to the west and Runde to the south-west, fly in from Harare or Johannesburg, tigerfish, bass, bream and catfish, walks along the Chiredzi and Runde, night in a bush hide, Chilojo Cliffs reachable, Paul Tudor Jones, August and September rated best, three to four nights), Wikivoyage, Gonarezhou National Park (Malilangwe a private conservation area bordering Gonarezhou, part of the wider Lowveld ecosystem, Gonarezhou in Masvingo Province, international charters clear customs at Buffalo Range near Chiredzi), Wikipedia, Buffalo Range Airport (10 km north-west of Chiredzi in Masvingo Province, 433 m elevation), Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, health and safety (malaria high November to June below 1,200 m, long sleeves after dark, repellent, nets).