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Greater Mana Expedition camps: Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe

29/8/2018

17 Comments

 
Canoeing on the Greater Mana Expedition, Sapi, Zimbabwe
By Roxanne Reid
If the word adventure gets your pulse racing, you’ll love this six-night journey of exploration. Discover the wilderness on foot, by vehicle and by canoe, feel the thrill of being close to nature and wildlife while on safari, spend your days with a guide who knows tons of stuff he can’t wait to share. It’s the Greater Mana Expedition and you’ll find it at Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe.

By calling it the Greater Mana Expedition, Great Plains Conservation Zimbabwe has evoked the essence of an expedition that intrepid explorers might have undertaken in days gone by. It takes place in the 50 000ha Mana Pools National Park and the adjoining 118 000ha Sapi Concession, both of which are part of the Greater Mana UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Read more about the experience itself in my post 12 things you'll love about the Greater Mana Expedition at Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe. But now, come with me to discover the three camps where you spend two nights each, and find out more about what life is like while you’re in camp – the tents, the views, the food and the staff who quickly become friends.
Zimbabwe safari on the Zambezi River
You can go canoeing and boating on the Zambezi River
Acacia Camp - day 1 & 2
You’ll spend the first two nights at Acacia Camp, with its beige canvas tents under a canopy of tall mopane trees, its views out over the Zambezi River. You’ll hear African fish eagles call in the morning. At night as you lie in your bed you can listen to spotted hyenas whoop and hippos grunt and wheeze.
Acacia Camp, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
This is what your tents look like at Acacia and River camps (nights 1 & 2, 5 & 6)
There’s a writing desk and large chest in your tent, solar lights with paraffin lamps for added atmosphere. In keeping with the ‘expedition’ theme, a bucket shower is filled with hot water when you need it, and there are copper bowls and jugs of water instead of taps in the bathroom. Fresh jugs of hot water are delivered with your wake-up call and coffee in the early morning before dusk. One modern touch I appreciated was the flushing toilet behind a wooden screen.
Acaica Camp, Greater Mana Expedition, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
The bathroom with double basins and paraffin lamps
​The Greater Mana Expedition takes just six people at any time, and it’s an intimate experience with your guides around the campfire, in the lounge with its nature books, and around an eight-seater table for meals. Because of the activities – walking among wildlife and canoeing on a river where there are crocodiles and hippos – no children under 12 are allowed.
Canoes on the Zambezi River, Sapi Concession, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Canoes waiting for willing paddlers
Around the fire, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Drinks around the fire at Acacia Camp
​You won’t believe the quality of the food that comes out of a kitchen without modern conveniences. Using just a small gas hotplate and mostly wood fires, chef Traicos Ndlovu turns out amazing meals, including baked goodies from a bush oven (a big drum with coals underneath and above the baking sheet). With a background in top-notch hotels, he confessed with a grin that his first baking-with-coals efforts were a little dodgy, but he’s got it taped now.
Breakfast on a Zimbabwe safari with Great Plains Conservatiion Zimbabwe
Breakfast with a river view at Acacia Camp
​Fresh fruit, homemade muesli and porridge at breakfast, fresh salads at lunch and dinner, chicken, fish, lamb and beef, desserts that wouldn’t be out of place in a five-star restaurant – it’s all so yummy that it’s just as well this is an active safari where you may walk a couple of hours a day or go canoeing to work off some of the extra kilojoules.
Acacia Camp, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
The lounge/dining area at Acacia Camp
Skybeds – day 3 & 4
The second camp is called Skybeds and is something totally different. It’s inland away from the Zambezi River, but set on a rise above the seasonal Sapi River. Although this river flows in summer, it’s a dry riverbed during May to November when the Greater Mana Expedition is running (it closes during the wet and hot summer months).
Skybeds Camp, Greater Mana Expedition, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Your 'skybed' lit up at night
Skybeds’ units are wooden two-storey structures, with a bathroom and luggage room below and a white mozzie-net-encased bed on the upper level. There are also two chairs on the top level, where you can sit at dusk under red mahogany trees and listen to the doublebanded sandgrouse on their way to water to soak up in their chest feathers and take back to the chicks in the nest.
Skybed, Greater Mana Expedition, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Inside the mosquito net of your skybed
You can lie in bed and listen to the rustling of leaves, the call of the fiery-necked nightjar and the whoop of hyenas. In the morning you might notice paw prints in the sand or get a visit from some thrushes looking for breakfast in the leaf litter around your unit.
Skybeds, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
The dual-level Skybeds units, with bathroom and luggage room at ground level
​The centerpiece of Skybeds camp is a handsome communal deck under a large red mahogany, with couches, a dining area and tea chests set up for drinks. Other trees around camp include jackalberries, mangosteens and sausage trees. 
Deck overlooking the Sapi River, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Skybeds' deck under a red mahogany tree
​The deck looks out over the dry riverbed but there’s a natural pool directly below. Here we saw twinspots, Lilian’s lovebirds, blue waxbills and some bats flitting around in the evening light. From the tracks in the sand, our guide Lovemore Chiwara noted that other creatures that had visited recently included kudu, lion, leopard, hyena and mongoose.
Lunch on the Greater Mana Expedition, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Lunch on the deck at Skybeds
​There was less wildlife in the area around this camp – a scarcity of even impala – but it netted us two of our best sightings of the whole trip, so don’t get lazy. It’s not every day you see three bush pigs and seven wild dogs so close to camp. And in any case, your professional guide is so full of knowledge about everything from tracks to trees and animal behaviour that he will keep you engaged and entertained whether you see any big game or not.
Skybeds camp chefs, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Chefs Ronaldo Nhokwana (left) and Prayer Ndhlovu
​As at Acacia Camp, the food here is exemplary. Chefs Prayer Ndhlovu and Ronaldo Nhokwana even produced thin-based crispy wood-fired pizzas for starters on our first evening. The second evening was a triumph of theatrical proportions; paraffin lamps lit our way to the dry riverbed where a table and chairs had been set up in an unashamedly romantic setting.
Romantic dinner in the riverbed, Greater Mana Expedition, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
A romantic dinner in the riverbed at Skybeds Camp
River Camp – day 5 & 6
Your last two nights you spend at River Camp along the Zambezi River. The tents and main area are similar to Acacia Camp, but set a bit closer to the river and with a better view. For something a little different, here chef Traicos (filling in for a chef on leave) showed off his underground oven with two chickens perfectly roasted. Amazing what you can do with some hot coals, a hole in the ground and a well-sealed cover with more coals on top.
Greater Mana Expedition camps, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Sunrise at River Camp
​When you’re tucked up in bed, you may hear lions roaring some distance away. We also heard elephants breaking branches as they fed and learnt later that a honey badger had raided the kitchen at 2am. Early in the morning, you can watch the sun come up over the river to the soundtrack of hippos and hyenas. 
River Camp, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
The 'mess tent' at River Camp
​On our second day we enjoyed a lovely long walk along the Zambezi to find tracks, birds, antelope and beautiful views. When we returned to River Camp lunch had been set up on an island opposite camp. On the way over in an aliboat, we watched nine elephants walking across the river with a small calf that was completely submerged except for its little trunk above the water like a snorkel. The elephants went one way on the small island to feed as we went the other for our last lunch of the expedition, a delicious spread of meat, salads, cheeses and fruit. 
Elephants walking across the Zambezi, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Elephants walk across to an island to feed
Greater Mana Expedition lunch on an island in the Zambezi, Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Lunch set up on an island in the Zambezi opposite River Camp
​One last night in the Greater Mana wilderness with another roaring lion, an early-morning fish eagle to serenade us, and then our guide took us back to the airstrip to rejoin the ‘real’ world. After six nights in the bush, it was hard to say goodbye – to the staff, especially our guide, to the vistas and calls of the wild, to the sense of adventure.
Chef with breakfast, River Camp, Greater Mana Expedition, Mana Pools Zimbabwe
Chef Traicos Ndlovu
If you pine for a true connection with nature, I can think of few better ways of finding that than by joining the Greater Mana Expedition and experiencing the excitement for yourself. It was an experience that will live on in my memory for many years to come.

Note: I was a guest of Great Plains Conservation Zimbabwe’s Greater Mana Expedition for six nights, but I was given free rein to write what I chose. I paid for all travel costs.

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Discover the wilderness on foot, by vehicle and by canoe on Great Plains Conservation’s six-night Greater Mana Expedition in Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe. Explore the three camps where you spend two nights each – the accommodation from tents with a view of the Zambezi River to romantic two-storey skybeds, the views, the professional guides, the food. #SapiConcession #ManaPools #ManapoolsZimbabwe #GreatPlainsZimbabwe #greaterManaExpedition #Zimbabwesafari #Zimbabwe #adventure #safari #wildlife
Discover the wilderness on foot, by vehicle and by canoe on Great Plains Conservation’s six-night Greater Mana Expedition in Sapi and Mana Pools Zimbabwe. Explore the three camps where you spend two nights each – the accommodation from tents with a view of the Zambezi River to romantic two-storey skybeds, the views, the professional guides, the food. #SapiConcession #ManaPools #ManapoolsZimbabwe #GreatPlainsZimbabwe #greaterManaExpedition #Zimbabwesafari #Zimbabwe #adventure #safari #wildlife
You may also enjoy
Mpala Jena: superb addition to Zimbabwe safari lodges for a Victoria Falls safari
12 things you'll love about the Greater Mana Expedition at Sapi and Mana Pools

Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
17 Comments
Anne
29/8/2018 04:58:05 pm

What an adventure. Sound and looks fantastic. That is something I want and will do. There a very few real adventure safari's . This looks the real thing. What a romantic setting for dinner and the star bed.
Love the photos and description.

Reply
Roxanne
29/8/2018 07:10:02 pm

Adventure is just the right word, Anne. We felt a bit like explorers and it was a very special experience. Thanks for your positive feedback.

Reply
Charles Mercer
30/8/2018 08:32:45 pm

I am so envious. This to me is what life is all about, and your experience in nature must have been so refreshing.

Reply
Roxanne
31/8/2018 08:44:10 am

It is indeed a very special experience, Charles. There's something about being in nature that feeds your soul.

Reply
Madhu link
1/9/2018 01:02:42 pm

This sounds like so much adventure. I am so fond of such places. Hope to visit some day

Reply
Roxanne
1/9/2018 01:31:35 pm

If you love Africa, wildlife and safari, you'll love this adventure, Madhu.

Reply
Sue link
1/9/2018 09:05:51 pm

Great adventure in Zimbabwe. Bush camps are amazing

Reply
Roxanne
2/9/2018 08:44:39 am

100%, Sue, a great adventure that we won't forget for a long long time.

Reply
Cristina
1/9/2018 09:47:54 pm

This has my name written all over it! Specially that Skybed. I've always wanted to visit Mana Pools and what better way than by joining this adventure, am I right?

Reply
Roxanne
2/9/2018 08:45:49 am

Oh Cristina, you would love it! I've wanted to visit Mana Pools for the longest time and doing it in the company of such a well-informed guide was very special.

Reply
Alma
3/9/2018 11:13:57 am

Definitely my kind of adventure! Another one to add to the bucket list. Loved our time at Mana Pools, but think I'll have to go back for this.

Reply
Roxanne
3/9/2018 11:16:19 am

Such a special part of the world, Alma. Those landscapes will be featuring in my dreams for years to come.

Reply
Bee
4/9/2018 11:56:56 pm

Thanks for the review! We are thinking of signing up for next year. Did you actually get to see any of the mana(4) pools in the park? The food and camps sounded fabulous, but how about the wildlife?

Reply
Roxanne
5/9/2018 06:55:38 am

Yes, Bee, we saw all four of the Mana Pools. As for the wildlife, you'll have to wait for the next post, going out on 12 June, to read all about it.😀

Reply
Bee
5/9/2018 07:07:11 am

Oh, thanks for the pool information, it will be hard to wait 9 Months for the rest of the story though, like having a baby!

Reply
Roxanne Reid
5/9/2018 07:09:10 am

Oh shoot, I meant 12 September, ie next week!

Reply
Bee
5/9/2018 07:22:49 am

Oh Excellent!!

Reply

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