Kavinga Safari Camp

The riverbed below Kavinga runs dry for most of the year, a pale ribbon of sand under the Zambezi Escarpment. Seven raised tents stand on the cliff above it, each one turned east so the first light hits the bed before it reaches the valley floor. The tents are wrapped in gauze rather than solid walls, which keeps the air moving through the heat of the day. Inside, two beds sit under mosquito nets, with a private bathroom and dressing space set to one side. A verandah at the front runs level with the cliff edge, so the ground seems to fall away just past the rail. Elephant gather in the riverbed most evenings, and buffalo pass through on their way to Chitake Spring, roughly nine kilometres off, a site known among guides for reliable predator sightings. Leopard, civet and genet come to the pan below camp after dark, rarely before it. Guides here track by habit rather than luck, and the camp's own hide gives a fixed, disguised vantage for photographing what passes below. Camp sits inside a private concession on the southern edge of Mana Pools, about a kilometre upstream from where the Ruckomechi and Chiwuye rivers meet. Days run around walking, game drives and birdwatching; the shared lounge and dining deck look straight over the pan. It holds fourteen guests at most.