Baobab Bookings – a Zimbabwean based agency offering a selection of accommodation, houseboats, transfers and activities throughout Zimbabwe, but specialising in and around Kariba Town, Lake Kariba, Binga, Mlibizi and other areas, including Victoria Falls, Hwange, Matopos, Mana Pools, Eastern Highlands area, Gonarezhou, Chimanimani.
We also offer a selection of activities in the Vic Falls and Livingstone areas and destinations in the Chobe area.
The core business of the company is the self-catering lodges at Charara - on the shores of Lake Kariba, east of Kariba town - Wild Heritage, Nzou and Cerruti Lodges. On offer are 3 or 4 bedroom lodges, fully-equipped for self-catering, each with its own cook/houseman; most have private swimming pools, and air-conditioning. Gorgeous lake views; close encounters with wild life (elephant, zebra, hippo, jackal, buffalo, resident leopard in the area; waterbuck; etc.). Tender boats are available to hire for fishing, game viewing and recreational purposes. Fishing rod hire is also available.
Baobab Bookings also specialise in the hire of houseboats in Binga (at the western end of the lake) and in Kariba town (at the eastern end, near the dam wall). These include luxury and middle-of-the-range boats accommodating from 4 people up to 50 people. A huge variety of houseboats on offer. Road transfers; charter flights or commercial flights to or from the houseboats can be arranged.
Victoria Falls or Livingstone accommodation at either 3-5 star hotels, lodge accommodation or self-catering venues are offered, including the various activities, airport transfers, etc.
Kariba Ferry bookings can be made, with all arrangements, including accommodation the night before, transfer to or from the Ferry etc. taken care of.
Reviews 129
Doug Sanyahumbi, USA
6 April 2016
Am amazing time on Kariba with a very able P-Ten Crew.
All thanks to the great attention paid to every detail by Loraine who made all the arrangements and ensured that we were all ready for a great time with family and friends.
My only suggestion for P-Ten cabins, the bar area and the deck area...ceiling fans or similar.
We will certainly be back to Zim and Kariba and will look Loraine and the Baobab team up.
Bindi Paunganwa, Zimbabwe
4 April 2016
We have just returned from four wonderful days on the houseboat P-10. There was a crowd of 16 of us - Americans, Malawians, British and Zimbabweans and I couldn't help feeling extremely proud to be Zimbabwean. The crew were friendly and so knowledgeable and willing. The chef prepared the most amazing meals with ease. Thank you for an awesome holiday. Lorraine you are a mine of information and we went so prepared, right down to the small details, thank you.
Penny Ferreira, Zimbabwe
31 March 2016
We recently spent 5 days at Nzou Lodges in Kariba. Thank you so much for a wonderful, quiet, relaxing few days with excellent staff. Fantastic quality family time spent together - Thanks to Loraine and her team for the great organisation and assistance. Highly recommended!
Gemma, Zimbawe
31 March 2016
We spent a very relaxing and enjoyable 4 days over the Easter weekend at Plovers Pad. Everything was great, from the efficiency of booking through Hilary and Loraine, arriving there with the staff to help carry and offload luggage, clean and comfy aircon and netted rooms, Kennedy the amazing cook, glistening blue pool, lush green grass, zebras grazing nearby and the list goes on. Sad to see the lake so low and the fishing was not great, but then again, quite tricky to fish with little kids on the boat when you spend your time unhooking/de-tangling. Thank you again and we will definitely be back.
Neill Darby, Zim
31 March 2016
Awesome Eater weekend spend at Hornbills Haunt in Kariba. The staff (Stephan and Tumai) were excellent and well organized. Will definitely be back. Highly recommend it.
Donna Porter, Zimbabwe
24 February 2016
We spent half term weekend with friends at Plovers Pad in Kariba. It was a fantastic weekend. Kennedy made the most delicious omelettes and divine roast chicken, just to mention a couple of dishes on the menu. Our children spent every hot moment in the pool that was very well maintained, apart from having abit too much chlorine dosed in the morning.
The air conditioned rooms were a pleasant welcome at the end of a hot day. The mosquito nets ensured a restful nights sleep without annoying mozzies, or any other bugs.
On our last morning as temperatures cooled, we had the privilege of having breakfast with some zebra grazing nearby - awesome!
Thank you and we'll done to all who made this break feel like a home away from home. We hope to be visiting Kariba again soon and look forward to yet another amazing stay!
Paul Roos, South Africa
1 January 2016
I've just returned from a wonderful holiday in Zimbabwe with my son and two friends. We all had an amazing time, for such I must give huge credit to Loraine from Baobab travel and the people from Zimbabwe.
Zephenia Gomora, Zimbabwe
30 December 2015
We had a great stay at the neat and well thatched Nzou lodge 14 from 21st to 24th December 2015. We enjoyed our stay. The accommodation is awesome, well kept and neat. Had also the chance to see the popular Mabhini (elephant) passing by our lodges. We enjoyed swimming. We left the place with kids crying for more. Its a place to be. We had achance to do boat cruising in the speed boats as well as game viewing. Me and the boys enjoyed fishing in the great lake. What a wonderful time! Thank you Wild Heritage management.
Sham Chitima, Zimbabwe
28 December 2015
We went as a small group, but we had an awesome time!!! Totally loved the lodge and loved our stay there!!! Everything was awesome and will def be going back there in the future. And will also be recommending others to go!!
Charity , United Kingdom
22 December 2015
We were a family of 10 and the lodge was fantastic with adequate equipment. Staff were friendly and very helpful. We all enjoyed the stay and the swimming pool was fun. Kids enjoyed it and spend most of the day in the pool.. We had loads of visits from the monkeys which was just priceless to see them that close. Thank you Lorraine for helping me with my booking. Would do this again
Ty Stenson, Zimbabwe
21 December 2015
We had a fantastic time at Wild Heritage. The lodge was clean and comfortable. Lovely, clear swimming pool and Freddie gave us first class service. What a great cook he is. We had a huge bull elly come right up to the lodge for a visit and also zebra grazing in our front garden It was a wonderful experience for my family who are visiting from Vancouver, Canada. We will definitely be back. Thank you all.
Tawanda, Zimbabwe
20 December 2015
My family of six were in Kariba early in December 2015. We stayed at the wild heritage lodges at Nzou #14 . We had a wonderful 5 days there. Despite the high temperatures we were comfortable with the kids spending most of their time in the little pool, and in the air conditioned bedrooms. Anna ( the cook and cleaner) was charming helpful and efficient. We enjoyed our encounter with Big Boy ( mabhini) the elephant.
The lodge is neat comfortable and we were well catered for.
We would recommend the lodges to anyone interested in holidaying there.
Brian, zimbabwe
22 September 2015
Had an awesome time with 3 other friends. Got to see elephants grazing in front of an orange background set by the sunset's aura. Wouldn't trade that moment for anything. Chef was excellent and we enjoyed every minute of it..Thank you for being well organised
Lawrence, Zimbabwe
9 September 2015
Thirteen of us, 5 adults and 8 children...a hastily arranged retreat from Harare to Vic Falls via Kariba, Mlibizi and Hwange...it was bound to be a disaster somehow..were it not for Loraine's expert advise and guidance. With changes coming up daily...confusion reigning supreme .Loraine remained patient..and professional as ever in handling our rather complex accommodation requirements and itenerary from start to end
This culminated into an exceptional retreat, of course the family will misplace their credit...they will heap all the praises on me...not knowing that behind the scenes...Loraine was literally hand holding me
Our trip was balanced in every aspect...from Nzou #20..to Hwange Safari Lodge...and then Lokuthula...it was a well thought out if not customised solution for our party.
Louise, Zimbabwe
1 September 2015
Well organized bookings for our daughter's wedding in Victoria Falls. Stayed at Lokathula which is always excellent and one night at Bayete a very good b&b in the falls. Thank you Loraine.
Andrey Obolensky, Germany
27 August 2015
We chose to go for a most complex itinerary for a full Zimbabwe Zambesi River exploration.
Start was Vic Falls with a marvellous sunset dinner cruise above the water falls (WF).
Visit of the WF. 5 o´clock high tea at the Vic Falls Hotel.
Wild water rafting daytrip and Boma dinner.
Flight to Kariba and 5 days on the lake fishing and partying on a (at least 4 star) houseboat.
5 days safari canoeing (sleeping under the stars) to Mana Pools.
Flight to Harare, visit to Domboshawa and huge dinner at Victoria 22.
14 days for 2000 USD (all in!).
A miracle and worked perfectly!
A most professional team!
Thanks, I will never forget!
Justin Hobday, South Africa
22 August 2015
We recently made a trip to Mana Pools and had a few extra days in the itinerary and decided to spend some time at Kariba. We made our bookings via Baobab Bookings and Hilary. They booked us in at Nzou Lodge and a 6 sleeper houseboat on Kariba for 2 nights. The lodge was a fantastic stopover and allowed us to replenish our supplies before heading into Mana. The lodge included a pool, was serviced and turnout to be an excellent decision to stay over. The whole experience and service received from Hilary was superb. They followed up with us on a regular basis and really went out of their way to assist us. Thanks to the Baobab team whose service I would highly recommend.
Gary Fraser, Macau SAR, China
19 August 2015
Baobab looked after our hotel bookings and activities for the first part of our fantastic trip to Zimbabwe. There were of course so many things we wanted to squeeze in to the trip and Loraine made sure it was done efficiently and with fantastic locations, the wonderful Vic Falls Safari Lodge and professional companies. Thanks Loraine!
Brian, Zambia
19 August 2015
Thank you Lorraine for organizing the House boat trip on Tantalika. We had 5 nights from 7 th August 2015. We were well looked after by the Captain and crew on board the boat. We had excellent meals prepared by Mike. Fishing was hard due to the cold nights, but we eventually caught some good bream . Caught too many squeaker's. Saw 200 buffalo drinking at Fothergill Island followed by lions and Hyena roaring during the night. Will be back for another visit . Thank you Lorraine.
Sarah Sullivan, UK
7 August 2015
We had a great trip on the houseboat What a Pleasure. The crew were very competent and helpful and we caught a lot of fish too!
Roy Ludick, Zimbabwe
17 July 2015
We had an exceptional trip. Loraine from the beginning was as professional and efficient as we could wish for! The staff on the boat (the Lady May) were outstanding. The food was exceptional and the boat was incredibly comfortable. I will definitely be using Loraine again for future bookings for my clients. It is a pleasure to guide knowing all logistics are taken care of so professionally. Thank you again!
Russ, Laurian, Kirst, Jaryd and kids, Zambia
15 July 2015
We all had the most wonderful time at Wild Heritage (Out of Africa). The place was great and William our cook was the best. Saw lots of wild life and even had a visit at our window by one of the good old regular elephants. Will definitely be back!!!
Francois van Wyk, South Africa
1 June 2015
I was very ably assisted in securing overnight accomodation at Mlibizi and Antelope Park at Gweru on our recent overland trip through Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and I can highly recommend their services.
Irene , Zimbabwe
7 May 2015
We had a wonderful 5 night stay at Nzou Lodge 20 in April school holidays. The staff were so helpful and cooked us delicious meals. We enjoyed the visits from the Elephants every day and the fishing was fantastic. The kids enjoyed the pool which was very refreshing after a morning fishing. This is our second trip to that lodge and I definitely think we will be back again. Thanks to Hilary for organizing our booking for us. Always a pleasure to work with. If you want a fantastic holiday phone Baobab Bookings - they can make it happen!!!
Andrew Davison, ZW
18 April 2015
We are all still talking about our Kariba holiday to all our friends and what we did, where we stayed and the help you all gave us.
The boat hire and staff were second to none, the fishing, fantastic all round. The staff from OH to the boats, spot on !
In the words of someone on the big screen, we shall be back
Cherrie Hapelt, Zimbabwe
18 April 2015
Nine of us, all family members spent a week at Hornbill's Haunt (Wild Heritage)
from the 20th to the 28th March, 2015. We so enjoyed our visit, we will be back next
year. Your staff are so ever helpful, we were very well looked after, thanks to you all
for such wonderful service
Sally MacKay, South Africa
11 April 2015
We were fortunate to have 5 wonderful days on the gorgeous Philadelphia houseboat over Easter 2015. The boat is a wonderful design with lovely rooms and very comfortable beds, the entertainment area on top consists of a dip pool, bar area, dining area and general seating area. The crew on board were exceptionally helpful and professional. Special mention to Pilot the cook who produced the most fantastic food for the entire trip!
Thanks to Loraine and her team for the great organisation and assistance.
Highly recommended!
shannon rodgers, zimbabwe
6 March 2015
As always everything was wonderful. Help was great. And the cooking was on point. Thanks to the Wild Heritage team.
Whaley, Zimbabwe
24 February 2015
A wonderful Half Term weekend spent @ Wild Heritage! A lovely lodge, complete with Air Con, with stunning views was our home for the weekend! We had excellent fishing - thanks to Taffy, who was the captain of our hired boat! Such a convenient service! He knew the good spots to take us to and my 2 sons (aged 7 & 3.5) were in heaven - as were their parents! Looked after at the Lodge by the friendly and willing Crispen, we could not have asked for more. Time was spent either in the pool, on the boat or simply relaxing! We will definitely be returning! Thanks to Hilary of Baobab Bookings for all her organisation!