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Write a User ReviewRiver Wild
Wild dogs have indeed been extensively researched at Mana Pools, which gets its name from four permanent pools trapped beside the river on the floodplain (‘Mana’ meaning four). On my last visit, in November 2019, I was lucky enough to spend several days following the movements of one particular habituated pack, much of the time doing so on foot. In the process, I was reassured to find that this remote
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park remains as wild as ever, with its breathtaking river frontage, alluring winter-thorn groves and looming escarpment views unspoilt by any recent developments.Beside the wild dogs, the park is known for the great aggregation of game along the river during the dry season, with buffalo, hippo and alarmingly tame elephant wandering casually through the lodges and campsites. Certain individual elephant bulls are celebrated for their trick of rearing up on hind legs to get at winter-thorn pods, and have been much photographed as a result. Several lion prides operate along the riverfront, and also around the Salt Springs area inland, where clashes with the local buffalo produce some dramatic confrontations. Spotted hyenas are numerous, and both leopard and cheetah also occur, though neither is easy to find. Notable herbivores include eland and nyala – though giraffe and wildebeest are conspicuous by their absence.
Mana Pools is not a park for racing around on game drives and ticking off sightings: it is more about relaxing by the river, soaking up the wilderness and eschewing the vehicle to head out on foot. Indeed, this is one of Africa’s very best parks for walking safaris, offering an excellent chance of encountering elephant, buffalo and even lion. Canoeing is also a must, where available, with great game viewing from the water’s edge and guaranteed close encounters with hippos and crocs. Birdlife is prolific throughout, with Lilian’s lovebird and Narina trogon among local specials, plus African skimmers and easily photographed carmine bee-eater colonies along the river. Nights can be noisy, with hippos grunting from the river while lions and spotted hyenas add their voice inland. The park is largely closed during the rains, when roads are flooded and access is difficult.
Justifiably One of the World’s Great Wildlife Hot Spots
You’re almost guaranteed to see lion here and have an excellent chance of seeing both painted dogs and cheetah. Leopard are more elusive but still frequently seen. A highlight for many visitors comes with the obligatory introduction (at a respectful distance) to tuskers so massive that they seem to have walked straight out of the journals of Livingstone. The famous Boswell, in particular, is blessed with a talent for rearing circus-like onto his rear legs to reach for the highest branches.
African Bush Camps (employing some of the best guides in the safari industry) has two properties overlooking the great river and on the evening I arrived the local pride had killed a buffalo virtually on the doorstep at
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Nyamatusi Mahogany Camp. One of my favourite camps on the entire continent is the secluded Kanga Camp. Since this classic tented camp is located beside a waterhole that at times offers the only reliable water within a 30km radius, it is usually teeming with wildlife. One day I resisted the temptation to go out game driving and instead spent an entire day on the verandah; between dawn and dusk we clocked up a grand total of 1118 animal sightings without leaving the sofa. Then, ten minutes after we closed the books on that running tally I found myself staring into the eyes of number 1119 – a huge male leopard that gazed back at me from a distance of about six feet.Needless to say, I’ll never forget Mana Pools!
Grunting Hippos
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hippo lunged at my canoe from one direction while a prehistoric-looking Nile crocodile slithered off the bank in the other direction and disappeared into the murky waters beneath me. Was I terrified? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely!Magical Mana
The scenery is gorgeous, with tree-studded floodplains and the broad Zambezi lying in the shadows of the escarpment of the same name. The four pools after which the park is named (Mana means four in Shona) also attract a wealth of wildlife and birdlife. And it offers a rare freedom in the bush, with a chance to canoe, drive and walk even without a guide. I wouldn’t recommend this, however – unless you really know what you’re doing and are confident in interpreting animal behavior, exploring with a guide is always far more interesting and relaxing.
Mana is also one of the best places to see painted wolves, also known
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as wild dogs or painted dogs. Three of the local packs featured in BBC’s Dynasties series, raising the profile of these endangered and elusive predators. If you’re as obsessed as I am about them, check out African Bush Camps’ three camps in the park: Zambezi Expeditions, Nyamatusi and Kanga. In the Dry season, these camps offer the chance to track the wolves on foot with expert guide and photographer Nicholas Dyer.The Holy Grail of Zimbabwean Wildlife Areas
World-Heritage-listed Mana Pools occupies the southern section of the Lower Zambezi–Mana Pools Transfrontier Conservation Area. This is an iconic park with incredible concentrations of diverse wildlife. All the cats and wild dogs occur here in abundance. The sight of a cheetah tearing across the floodplain or a pride of lions splashing through a crocodile-infested channel to hunt buffalo and waterbuck on the park’s many islands is a sight that makes my heart pound every time. Africa’s fourth largest river, along with its massive surrounding floodplains and sprawling albida forests full of elephants during the dry season, dominates this game-rich area. The open nature of the terrain alongside the river and the high densities of wildlife during the dry season make Mana an ideal area for experiencing a guided walking safari. If walking isn’t your cup of tea, then game drives, boat cruises and canoe safaris might whet your appetite instead.
Perfect for Vehicle-Free Wildlife-Watching
Mana Pools is the park that sends Zimbabwe’s faithful fans really misty-eyed. What makes it remarkable are its waterways. Separated from Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park by the Zambezi, it’s a superb place for a canoe adventure. And when I say adventure, I mean adventure – the type that could, for all you know, include all-too-close encounters with hippos, crocodiles or herds of wading buffalo.
On my own gentle paddle, there were no such mishaps. My guide had a knack for instilling confidence and my early worries that my canoe was a little too light and unstable soon faded as we got into the rhythm of things. We saw hippos aplenty as we cruised along; they would stare and grumble at us before disappearing beneath the glossy water.
To make a great wilderness experience even better, you can explore Mana Pools on foot on a guided bushwalk, admiring the park’s superb, mature mahogany, leadwood and baobab trees and spotting elephants and the tracks of wild dogs.