Mana Pools National Park

The lower Zambezi Valley is home to the spectacular Mana Pools National Park; Zimbabwe's second World Heritage Site. This area is teeming with wildlife especially during the months of June through to October. The park is popular for canoe trails, as well as walking safaris. It is an adventure safari destination and not for the faint-hearted.

Mana Pools is also known for its abundance and enormous beautiful trees providing shade and making it ideal for walking. The 'pools', for which the park is famous, provide permanent water year-round, attracting an enormous amount of wildlife, including large predator populations.

Close encounters with animals are a part of game drives, while the best way to explore this magnificent park is either on foot or by means of a canoe down the Zambezi River. The best time to visit the park is from May to October; however temperatures can be fairly high towards the latter part of October.

Mana Pools National Park is located in the heart of the Zambezi Valley. The area offers a wide variety of habitats, open floodplains, mopane woodland and riverine forests as well as large acacia and mahogany trees. The canopied albida trees attract elephants with their nutritious pods, which make for good eating.

The area is renowned for large numbers of elephant, buffalo, hippo and eland, especially during the winter when they concentrate along the river. Predators such as lion, leopard and wild dog are all found in the area.

The birdlife is incredible, particularly for both mopane woodland and riverine species with numerous local specials like Collared palm-thrush, Racket-tailed roller and Purple-banded sunbird. Activities offered in the park usually include wildlife viewing in open game vehicles, as well as on pontoon boats, guided walks and canoe safaris.