Mana River Camp

Mana River Camp is a seasonal tented camp on the bank of the Zambezi River inside Mana Pools National Park, placed between the river and a waterhole that elephants use regularly for mud bathing. Before the rains arrive each year, the entire camp is dismantled and removed — a format known as a Temporary Extended Camp. That cycle is what keeps the feel of a genuine bush camp rather than a permanent lodge, and it is why the site is left as the park intended.

The camp holds six tents, each a three-module canvas and gauze Sahara lodge with zipped entrances and a veranda with a folding chair. All six face the Zambezi. Inside, twin beds convert to a king on request, with hotel-quality linen and an en-suite bathroom that includes an outside shower. There is no perimeter fence; elephants move through camp, and other animals come and go from the waterhole.

Shade comes from riverine forest — mainly Trichilia emetica and Faidherbia albida, the apple-ring acacia whose seedpods are a high-protein food source that draws elephants and other wildlife into the floodplains. Game drives run on the floodplains morning and late afternoon. Guided walks go out at the same times; Zimbabwe's national park guiding examinations are among the most rigorous on the continent, and the camp's guides are qualified accordingly. Canoeing on the Zambezi is also on offer, as is catch-and-release fishing. Over three hundred and eighty bird species have been recorded in Mana Pools, with migrant species present from November through April. A complimentary airport shuttle connects the camp to the airstrip.