Elephants Rule at Zimbabwe’s rustic luxury Mana River Camp
Assistant camp manager Justin Mtunjwa told me that Machaba Safaris ‘grabbed’ this location on the lower Zambezi as soon as it became available. ‘Everyone wanted it’.
Normally I’d write it off as marketing spin, but as Justin has spent a fair chunk of his working life in Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park, I’ll take his word for it. However nothing quite beats experience, being on site at this classic rustic luxury tented camp.
Sitting outside my tent, under those aged Natal Mahogany trees, with early birdsong falling from the branches, I look across the Zambezi river to the Zambezi Escarpment on the other side. Behind me is the iconic floodplain that characterises Mana Pools, a blend of sunlight shafts, elephants and harmony.
I’d first experienced such a scene some 25 years back in the Nsefu sector of Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park (about which I’ve written in my previous reviews and posts). It could be a scene from the Garden of Eden.
Wildlife sightings and sunsets and rises aside, it’s the people who make or break a safari. Machaba Safaris’ well-known more casual approach to their premium safari offerings has established a firm niche in the Zimbabwe and Botswana safari landscape.
It’s also attracted some wonderful characters, encouraging them to be themselves when interacting with guests. At least that’s the feeling I got, as I did at their #DeteemaSprings Lodge in Hwange NP.
Meanwhile, I invite you to follow my links below for stories and reels. They’re maybe a little rough at the edges, photojournalist style, not too polished. Whether five star or rustic luxury, their treatment will be the same.
Ask about joining me on a photographic safari.
https://www.instagram.com/african_storybook