Zimbabwe · Southern Africa
Mana Pools.
Mana Pools is a World Heritage Site on the Zambezi and one of the few African parks where you may walk unguided — though almost nobody should.
Photo Marcelo Novais / Unsplash
The albida forest along the floodplain creates the light and the open ground that make Mana famous photographically, and the elephants that stand on their hind legs to reach the pods are the image most people know it by.
Walking with a professional guide is the point of Mana. It is seasonal — most camps close in the rains — and it is not a first safari.
How do you get to Mana Pools?
Most visitors fly by light aircraft from Harare, Kariba or Victoria Falls to the Mana airstrip, close to the river camps. The drive from Harare takes around five to six hours, and the last stretch is a long, rough gravel road down the escarpment.
Why is it called Mana Pools?
Mana means four in Shona, and the name refers to the four large pools left on the floodplain by old channels of the Zambezi. Long Pool is the largest and holds hippos and crocodiles. Together with the neighbouring Sapi and Chewore safari areas, the park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984.
Can you walk in Mana Pools?
Yes, and it is the park's signature. Walking with a professional guide on the open floodplain, among elephants, lion and wild dog, is what brings most people. The open albida woodland allows long sight-lines on foot, and canoeing on the Zambezi is the other main activity.
How long should you spend in Mana Pools?
Three to five nights. Longer stays allow time with the wild dog and a walk out to Chitake Springs, in the south of the park, where game comes to drink from the springs.
What is there to see in Mana Pools?
What does Mana Pools pair well with?
- Lower Zambezi, ZambiaThe Lower Zambezi is a river park where canoeing and fishing sit alongside game drives, opposite Zimbabwe's Mana Pools.
- HwangeHwange is Zimbabwe's largest park and holds one of the biggest elephant populations in Africa.
- Victoria FallsThe Zimbabwean side holds most of the panoramic frontage, and the town is the region's adventure capital.
Planning
Elsewhere in Zimbabwe
- Matobo and the Eastern HighlandsMatobo is granite, rock art and rhino tracking on foot; the Eastern Highlands are green mountains that look nothing like the rest of the country.
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