Mana Pools National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site based on its wildness and beauty, and is synonymous with the mighty Zambezi River, elephants, lions, remoteness and unique wilderness area. The wild child of the Zambezi River offers spectacular landscapes and fantastic opportunities for canoeing safaris: you will be paddling among an abundance of elephant, hippo, lions, antelope, giraffe and other animals, and explore a rich aquatic life under a sky inhabited by fantastic bird species. You will also enjoy a true wilderness experience on a walking safari, and come face to face with a wide range of large mammals, and over 350 bird species.

 

Mana Pools situation by the Zambezi

 

Mana Pools lies in the northern part of Zimbabwe, and on the southern side of the Zambezi River. After Victoria Falls, the mighty Zambezi flows from Lake Kariba through a huge rift in the earth’s crust: the Lower Zambezi Valley, marking the border with Zambia as it goes down its way to the Indian Ocean – the river was a major route for the trade in ivory and slaves in the past. A small park with just 2,190km², Mana Pools National Park is part of a larger Parks and Wildlife Estate – from the Kariba Dam in the west, to the Mozambique border in the east – the wildlife moves freely in this area and northwards into Zambia.

 

Over the millennia, the Zambezi has created islands, channels and sandbanks in the valley, and as it changed its course northwards enabled small ox-bow lakes to shape, thousands of years ago, in the mineral-rich volcanic soils. The name “Mana” means four in the local Shona language, as a reference to the four pools situated around the parks headquarters. Hippopotamus, crocodiles, elephants and a wide variety of aquatic birds are associated with the pools. The abundance of water and luxuriant vegetation has attracted large numbers of game.

 

Mana Pools national park has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, even before Victoria Falls, the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, the Khami Ruins and Matobo Hills National Park.

 

Kanga Pan

 

Kanga Pan is set in the most remote part of the world Heritage site, about 1h drive from the Zambezi River. Kanga Pan area has never been developed and gives you the pure and unspoilt African experience. The area is very diverse and has multiple of open vlei lines, river systems of the Ruckomechi River, and mixed woodland types from Mopane woodland to Jesse bushes and riverine forests. Kanga pan is the only known source of water in the area that is available all year round and makes it a hub for wildlife. The area can be best described as an explorer’s paradise especially for walking to untamed areas that are inaccessible by vehicle. The beauty of this area is that you will not encounter anybody else, making it your private Africa.

 

Walking & Canoeing Safaris

 

The privilege of walking alone in an area with dangerous wildlife is quite unique: this is because visibility is good in the open woodland on the old river terraces, reducing the risk for dangerous encounters, and the game is very relaxed about people on foot. The park is actually closed to motor vehicles during the raining season. Walking safaris offer spectacular views of the Zambezi River backed by the mountains of the Rift Valley Escarpment over the border in Zambia. Though, there is no greater thrill than canoeing the Zambezi past grazing elephants and buffalo, which take little notice as you silently drift by. The ride can turn wild as the river gets angry or windy, or a hippo turns grouchy.

 

Wildlife seen in Mana Pools

 

Mana Pools National Park offers one of the highest dry-season concentrations of animals in Zimbabwe, with large concentrations of buffalo and elephant along the river’s edges. Eland, impala, waterbuck, baboons, monkeys, zebra, warthog and hippo are also present along the river terraces where they come to eat the fruit from the Acacia Albida tree. Predators to be sighted include lion, wild dog, leopard and cheetah.’ “Long Pool”, the largest of the four pools, has a large population of hippo and huge crocodiles; it is also a favourite for the large herds of elephant that come out of the thickly vegetated areas in the south to drink.

 

Mana Pools offers a wonderful bird life, including large number of water birds and excellent mix of species. Many people also come to fish, and favourite is the fighting tiger fish, and other species include large perch, bream and catfish.

 

A special game experience

 

We would like to quote our colleagues from Natural High here, as they captured what fascinates us in Mana Pools:

When you speak to people who have made Mana their place of work, they go all dreamy-eyed and start speaking in clichés. But the photos and accounts of visitors to the area indicate that it is indeed a pretty special place. Many of the people who operate camps and safaris in Mana have developed knowledge of the place and wildlife over decades. Some guides even know individual animals and are therefore permitted to get extraordinarily close on foot.

 

Best seasons to visit Mana Pools

 

The dry seasons, staring from June and best in September and October, is the time to visit as large numbers of animals come to the river to drink and graze. The latter season (October) gets very hot for the traveller.

 

The rainy season starts from early November to the end of April: most animals move away from the river towards the escarpment north. Between January and March, many of the roads and a number of camps close, though two airstrips enable visitors to keep exploring. This is a malarial area.

 

Be our Guest

 

We have plenty to offer during the dry or shoulder seasons (May to October). Explore Mana Pools from our semi-permanent camp in Kanga Camp or Zambezi Life Styles, embark on a 3-day expedition along the Mana Pools shoreline and floodplains in a canoe and on foot with Zambezi Canoeing and Walking Safaris, or combine it within one of our suggested safari itineraries. Contact us to tailormade a safari itinerary for you.