Please find a list of answers to some frequently answered questions…but we are on hand to answer whatever you might need, just email us.
What do I need to pack?
- Comfortable clothing to walk in (no bright colours please)
- Comfortable walking/hiking shoes that you have tested out already!
- Sun hat
- Warm jacket for early mornings and evenings
- Personal toiletries and medications
- Insect repellant
- Sunscreen
- Anti-malarial tablets
- Swimming costume
- Torch
- Binoculars
- Camera
- Sense of wonder!
Where is Mana Pools National Park?
Mana Pools is a National Park and World Heritage Site. It is located in the Northern part of Zimbabwe.
The National Park is an area of outstanding natural beauty and phenomenal wildlife. Here the Zambezi River, flowing slowly eastwards for thousands of years, has left behind the remains of old river channels forming small seasonal ponds and pools spread over an area of several hundred square kilometres. These extend several kilometres back from the river where on fertile terraces, huge mahogany and acacia trees cast luxuriant shade.
Today Mana Pools, one of Zimbabwe‘s four World Heritage Sites, is the stage for one of Africa’s greatest natural spectacles – a classic theatre of the wild, attracting hordes of animals during the long, hot African summer, drawn by the abundance of water and the lush grazing along its banks.
Lots of zebras, kudu, eland, impala, and other antelope species flourish among which the lion and the leopard, the hyena and wild dogs find easy pickings.
The sanctuary, one of the only two pockets of nyala in the country, is also home to over 16 000 buffalos and more than 12 000 elephant –one of Zimbabwe’s largest concentration. Many female elephants in the region do not have tusks and are much more aggressive than those with tusks.
Along the river bank where one of the greatest varieties of bird life in the world flourishes, hippos warm themselves in the morning sun. Later in the day, they keep cool by remaining all but submerged in the river, sharing their hidden sandbanks with silent and almost unseen crocodiles.
More than 350 bird species are enough to draw the breath of any ornithologist. Its banks flutter with Goliath herons, Egyptian and Spurwing geese, cormorants, storks, brilliantly coloured bee-eaters, and kingfishers. In the river, tigerfish, bream, tilapia, vundu, nkupi, chessa, electric fish, eel fish, Cornish jack and lungfish sport and prey upon one another.
The richness of the forest trees and plants is the vital link in Mana Pools chain of continuity. The apple ring acacia keeps the elephant herds alive during the fierce October-November dry season. These handsome trees paint a unique picturesque landscape which this park is famous for.
How do I get to camp in Mana Pools?
Please contact these reputable Zimbabwean air charter companies to organise your flights:
Are activities limited?
Activities are included in the rate and there are no daily limits.