Tourist First!: Zimbabwe: North Toward the Mana Pools

Friday, June 26, 2026

Zimbabwe: North Toward the Mana Pools

White storks are one of several kinds of storks that visit Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe.
The pools are sections of the Zambezi River that were left when the river's course changed.

On our 2026 trip to Africa, the last safari camp in Zimbabwe was at Mana Pools, a national park named for four pools formed by former sections of the Zambezi River. It's near the country's northern border. Zambia is on the other side.

John's Camp was our second stay at a minimalist seasonal camp. As elsewhere on this trip, we were too soon after an unusally wet rainy season, so all the animals that should have been coming near the camp for water were still finding plenty of water elsewhere. And, as had been the case at Hwange Bush Camp, we were almost the only guests. One other tent was occupied by a father and his adult son, both from the San Diego area, which is where we live.

Being a seasonal camp means that the camp is closed during the rainy season, roughly October through March. The dirt roads that lead to it become flooded and impassable. We stayed in a real tent, complete with zippered flaps that required stooping to ground level to zip and unzip. This included a set of flaps within the tent that separated the sleeping area from the toilet and shower area, neither of which had roofs. The shower was a bucket shower, but here the bucket is suspended right above the bather's head with a valve to turn to release the water. We found that when the bucket was high enough for me to stand under, it was too high for Jane to reach the valve. The bucket shower at Hwange Bush was more sophisticated, piping water to a conventional showerhead.

Here the wi-fi is generally available only at the main tent, which has lounge and dining areas. We were fortunate that our tent was close enough that it was served by the camp wi-fi. Electrical power for guests to charge their devices is likewise in the main tent, but again we lucked out. A previous guest who stayed in our tent needed power for a medical device, and the connection was still there and working, so we could recharge everything in our tent.

The staff at the camp is pretty small. The manager Tawanda (or T. if you prefer) was very amiable and I thought from talking with him that he would make a great guide. Our guide, Fisher, though, was also friendly and almost obsessed with finding lions for us. We never found lions, but we saw plenty of other beasts on our drives here. We had thought that the camp would be on the bank of the Zambezi River, but it's actually about a kilometer away, separated by what I took to be a flood plain, though it was dry when we were there. Some antelope did graze on the plain, but none very close to the camp.

One more thing about John's Camp. After two desert camps in Namibia and three other safari camps in Zimbabwe, I thought the food here was the best. I especially liked a beef-filled meat pastry that was served at lunch one day. It was like an oversize empanada. Jane reminded me that one meal was excellent roast chicken. Cakes at teatime before afternoon drives were a nice touch, too.

After three nights here, we left on May 20, a Wednesday, on a short flight to Victoria Falls.

Here are some photos:

The waterbuck is yet another of Africa's many antelope.
These are females.

The male waterbook looks like a very powerful animal.

We saw many crocodiles such as this sunning themselves near watering holes.

A hippo takes a look at the world from a watering hole.

This hippo was walking pretty slowly, but hippos are capable of amazing bursts of speed.

Impalas are the most common antelope in Africa. We saw
them everywhere we went except Namibia's Skeleton Coast.

We saw several saddle-billed storks at Mana Pools.

A lone elephant grazes in Mana Pools National Park.

All afternoon safaris seem to end with "sundowners," a chance to get out of the vehicles
and enjoy cocktails, usually gin and tonics, at scenic spots such as this. The water
in the distance is the Zambezi River and the mountains are in Zambia.

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Argentine Patagonia

They are called what they look like: Mexican hats. They occur naturally in the highlands above the town of El Calafate. The water in the distance is glacier-fed Lago Argentino. An hour's drive east of El Calafate, near the headwaters of the lake, visitors can hike on the Perito Moreno glacier and take a boat ride among icebergs that have fallen off the several glaciers in the Parque Nacional des Glaciares. El Calafate is basically a summer (Nov. to Feb.) tourist town, and there are a number of hotels at all price points. We stayed at Esplendor El Calafate, a very stylish hotel with a full restaurant and bar. The South American picker-upper drink mate is available at breakfast. The hotel is an uphill walk from the commercial area, but that's not much of a drawback. Click on the photo to visit the Esplendor online.

Dominica

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Palm Springs

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St. Vincent

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