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Sunset over a water hole in Hwange National Park

Their  are 2 main areas for Safaris in Zimbabwe 

Manna Pools

Mana Pools is alive with game; remote, tough, beautiful. a natural zoo, where the animal is king

Situated in the extreme north of Zimbabwe on the Zambezi River, Mana is far from any major town or human settlement.

At Mana Pools the Zambezi river has left behind the remains of old channels, forming small seasonal pools scattered over 2000 square kilometers

Mana Pools is part of a very large wilderness area

Mana Pools is 2,196 square kilometres in extent but is part of the 10,500 square kilometre Parks and Wildlife Estate that runs from the Kariba Dam in the west to the Mozambique border in the east. This large area is without physical boundaries and the wildlife is free to move throughout the area - even northwards across the Zambezi River into Zambia, where there are also large wilderness areas set aside for wildlife conservation

During the winter months Mana pools has the highest concentration of game in the entire continent of Africa

Mighty herds of elephant and buffalo are drawn to the sweet Zambezi waters, followed by lion, hyena, kudu, nyala,impala and a multitude of plains game

On the old river terraces, tourists can walk unaccompanied by guides in the open Albida woodland because visibility is good and there is little danger of unexpectantly coming across dangerous animals.

This privilege of a Zimbabwe Walking Safari alone in an area with dangerous wildlife is unique in Zimbabwe and what makes Mana Pools the magical place it is.

* Huge numbers of antelope including kudu, eland, waterbuck and sable along with their predators: lion, cheetah and wild dog.

«450 species of birds to be seen in summer and in winter birding reverts to excellent

* The frequent mists of winter mornings in June and July along the Zambezi River can be a photographer's delight

* Rated the 5th Best Park in Africa by Getaway magazine (September 2003)

* Excellent canoeing and river fishing. For an experience of Africa bereft of the excesses of twentieth century it is hard to beat a canoeing Safari along the Zambezi past Mana Pools National Park

When to go

- For comfort, March to August is perhaps the ideal time to travel. With moderate temperatures, the climate is warm and dry.

• The seeds from the albida are rich in nutrients and they drop in the dry winter months, when the animals need the nutrients the most.
• More crocodiles are seen in the cold season when they bask mid-morning or late afternoon to raise their body temperature towards the 30°C they prefer

- September and October are the best months of the valley for game viewing as the animals come to the river to drink - September is warm and October is hot with clear blue skies,

- The rainy season from November to February is hot but cooled by frequent thunder storms. The thick silt soil of the floodplains means that game viewing can only be done in 4x4 vechiles, preferably in groups of 2 as even they get stuck. The road the the entrance to the main camp at Nyamepi (70kms) is shale and an all weather road

The number of cars allowed into Mana Pools National Park at any one time is limited. Mana Pools is only partially developed as a tourist centre, but was so popular that the available facilities were prone to saturation.

Hwange has amongst the highest diversity of mammals for any National Park in the world with over 108 species.

The opportunity for birding and botany are enormous, with over 400 species of birds having been recorded in Hwange NP, including over 50 species of raptor. .

Those that do visit Zimbabwe with it's present political problems, will find the rewards far outweigh the perceived risks. As a tourist you are barely aware of the problems and prices are way down.

A Hwange safari si easily arranged form the Victoria  Falls area

The time to visit Hwange Park is now. Why?

« Hwange Nat Park is still teeming with wildlife. Home to vast herds of elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, many predators and endangered species

« Presently tourist numbers are low and it is one of the few parks in Africa where you can watch a pride of 12 lions without another car in sight - as we did recently.

« Some Safari lodges are offering outstanding budget tour packages.« A 482km network of game viewing roads leads the visitor to some large concentrations of game and not too many other tourists.

« Hwange is one of Africa's premier elephant strongholds. with lots and lots of elephants - 30000 of them, but they need to drink water twice a day. Hwange Park has little natural water and most of the water is pumped through boreholes into the pans and troughs. Due to the major downturn of tourist receipts in Hwange, few of the 56 pumps in the Park are working..

« The park is not funded from the treasury and must survive on revenues from tourism. Your visit will assist in keeping the pumps going for the waterhole's to preserve the animals.

« The more people in the park, the better the chance for the wildlife. Poachers can't easily go unseen if there are tourists all over the place

There can be few experiences on this earth so gratifying as to sit at one of the Hwange’s viewing platforms by a waterhole, watching an endless procession of "Gods gifts" engaged in the timeless dance of survival