Camping
Honde Valley is a fantastic camping destination, offering everything from wild mountain camping to lodge supported camping and community-based camping. Villages such as Samanga, Hauna and Chavhanga have open spaces and community fields ideal for cultural tourism or group expeditions. With its waterfalls, rivers, forests, and dramatic escarpments, the valley is ideal for hikers, nature lovers, and adventure travellers. Honde Valley is emerging as one of Zimbabwe’s most exciting outdoor destinations, and camping is available. Much of the valley is rural, quiet, and undeveloped, ideal for wild camping. People actively camp in the valley, including multi‑day hiking, birding, river activities, tea estate walks and waterfall chasing trips. The valley’s altitude and forest cover make it comfortable for camping most of the year. Best camping areas are around the tea estate regions, Pungwe River area and mountain slopes towards Nyanga and Selbourne.
Fishing
The valley is remote and largely undeveloped, meaning clean water, low fishing pressure, and healthy fish populations. Honde Valley’s landscape creates excellent freshwater fishing environments. Pungwe River is the largest and most famous river in the valley, fast flowing, clear water, deep pools and rocky channels, popular for both casual fishing and guided experiences. Nyamombe River, a tributary flowing through tea estates and rural communities is known for calmer pools suitable for bait fishing. Numerous unnamed streams ideal for light tackle, fly fishing and catching small indigenous species. These waters contain trout, yellow fish, tilapia species, river bream, catfish, minnows and small indigenous species. The best fishing spots include; the Pungwe River viewpoints, Pungwe Gorge, streams near tea estates and community dams.
Nyawamba Dam
A serene, beautiful water body nestled between tea estates and mountain slopes of Honde Valley. Easily accessible and surrounded by lush scenery, it offers an idyllic escape for nature lovers, photographers, and anyone exploring the valley’s attractions. The dam is increasingly recognised as a peaceful, photogenic spot for visitors. The dam is commonly enjoyed for sightseeing & photography, fishing, boat ride, picnics, nature walks and birdwatching. Its calm waters and surrounding greenery make it ideal for quiet, low‑impact recreation.
Birding
Honde Valley is one of Zimbabwe’s premier birding destinations, celebrated for its mix of lowland forest, riverine habitat, tea estates, and Eastern Highlands foothills. It is especially famous for its rich species variety and species that are rare or difficult to find elsewhere in the country. Notable species recorded here include: Palm-nut Vultur, Green Twinspot,Red-faced Crimsonwing, Lesser Seedcracker, Red-throated Twinspot, African Firefinch, Grey Waxbill, Yellow bellied Waxbill, White-starred Robin, Barratt’s Warbler, Chirinda Apalis, and Square-tailed Drongo.
Farm Tours
Honde Valley is one of Zimbabwe’s most productive agricultural regions, making it a perfect destination for immersive, educational, and scenic farm‑based tourism. Visitors can explore tea estates, banana plantations, coffee farms, and smallholder fields while learning about the valley’s rich agricultural heritage. Farm tours offer a blend of education, culture, scenery, and hands‑on experiences making them one of the valley’s most promising tourism products. Visitors can experience meeting local families, learning traditional farming methods, participating in planting or harvesting, understanding rural life and food systems. This is perfect for cultural and educational tourism.
Quad Biking
The valley has everything that makes quad biking spectacular, mountain slopes and ridgelines, steep escarpments that create thrilling uphill and downhill routes. Wide dirt roads, forested tracks and river crossings make it ideal for guided quad‑bike trails. Quad‑biking routes such as tea estate scenic ride, mountain adventure trails, riverbank explorer and cultural village rides that follow rural paths and village routes with winding footpaths, open fields and rocky trails perfect for scenic rides. The valley’s green landscapes make quad biking both exciting and visually stunning.
Murara Footbridge
Murara Footbridge is a pedestrian suspension bridge crossing the Pungwe River, vital for local connectivity and community life. Murara is a rural business and service hub known for its agricultural activity, small-scale commerce, and providing essential goods and services to surrounding farming communities. Murara Footbridge has both historical significance and modern importance. The original makeshift Murara footbridge was wooden and used by liberation fighters during Zimbabwe’s independence struggle to cross the Pungwe River. A more modern suspension footbridge was constructed in 2022 and is now a popular tourist attraction.
White Water Rafting & River Bugging
Pungwe River offers a unique and thrilling rafting experience, suitable for beginners to seasoned rafters. The river has wild, rapid‑filled sections, narrow fast channels, making it ideal for white‑water rafting. Calm pools in some sections suitable for recreational paddling. Honde Valley is perfect for adventures, mountain fed rivers with clear cold water, strong raids and deep gorges. You get to experience stunning scenery, the river winds through forested valleys, rocky cliffs and remote wilderness. Unlike Victoria Falls, the Honde Valley offers a quieter, more intimate adventure and a sense of untouched wilderness.
River bugging is one of the most exciting adventure activities available in the Honde Valley and it is growing in popularity as an accessible, high‑adrenaline water sport. It uses a small, one‑person inflatable craft shaped like a thick tube with handles. You sit inside it wearing fins, a helmet, and a wetsuit, and ride down rapids, waves, and fast‑flowing channels.
