Mana Pools

Located on the floodplains of Africa's Great Rift Valley and offering superb wildlife viewing Mana Pools National Park is wild and remote. Mana Pools National Park a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site is synonymous with the Zambezi River, elephants, lions, wilderness and walking. This unique park is Zimbabwe's second World Heritage Site, based on its wildness and beauty, together with the wide range of large mammals, bursting with a profusion of birds and animals, especially during dry season.

Mana Pools National Park lies at the heart of the Zambezi Valley, where the Zambezi River meanders to the Mozambican border. The park stretches across 2000km² of prime Zambezi riverfront vegetation, much of which is inaccessible except on foot and as a result is completely unspoilt. The landscape includes islands and sandbanks fringed by dense forests of baobabs and indigenous trees, as well as the rugged Zambezi escarpment. Aside from the excellent walking safaris in Mana, the river adds another dimension to any safari as it is ideal for canoe safaris.

The name 'Mana' means 'four' in the local Shona language andrefers to four large pools formed by the river as it changed course thousands of years ago. These and smaller seasonal pools dotter further inland hold water all year round drawing all manner of wildlife and waterfowl during the dry season months of June to October. 'Long Pool', is the largest of the four pools, extending some six kilometres in a west-east direction. This pool has a large population of hippo and crocodiles and is a favourite for the large herds of elephant that come out of the thickly vegetated areas in the south to drink. Predators such as lion, wild dog and leopard are often sighted as Kudu, zebra impala and waterbuck graze on the open plains.