Serious guiding

The safari guides in Zimbabwe are on another level, there is no better wildlife qualification on the planet.

         Beautiful location

The stretch of mature open woodland alongside the Zambezi River is particularly scenic, an iconic safari location.

          Private reserves

Adjoining the national park lie several private reserves, where self-drive vehicles are not permitted.

           Wild-dogs

 Mana Pools is a renowned stronghold for elusive African wild-dog, the continent’s most relentless predators.

           Serious walking

The top guides here will deliberately approach potentially dangerous wildlife like elephants and lions on foot.

           Authentic camps

Most of the camps in Mana Pools are unusually simple, with a clear focus on delivering an authentic bush experience.

            6 to 9 nights

Most of our guests tend to deploy just 6 to 9 nights on safari in Zimbabwe, which allows time to combine Victoria Falls with a few nights on safari in the nearby Hwange area.

           10 to 14 nights

Experienced Africa travellers are more likely to combine two or even three different safari locations (Hwange, Mana Pools, Gonarezhou), optionally with nights in Victoria Falls.

             15 to 28 nights

For longer trips, most people will start to combine with safari areas in Botswana or Zambia, or add a self-drive extension in Namibia or the Cape.

The cost of safari in Zimbabwe

Safari in Zambia ranges from quite pricey to surprisingly expensive, certainly less than Botswana, on a par with Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya, more than South Africa. You can expect to spend USD 400 to 2000 per person per night

We are more than happy to work across this range of prices. The only important thing is that we help you find the very best safari to suit your budget.

The two dominant price factors are the length of time that you spend on safari and the specific lodges that you choose to include in your trip. Deploying more time in town, rural and beach locations can bring the total cost down dramatically.

If you have a higher budget, we will help you determine which camps do actually deliver elevated levels of service and experience. We will also highlight other subtle ways in which your trip can be raised to another level, including the use of whole camp bookings, private guides and vehicles, helicopter explorations of remote areas etc.

If you have a medium budget, the best ways to keep a lid on costs are to travel out of the Jul-Oct dry season and to carefully choose lower-cost lodges.  You can also reduce the number of core safari nights and deploy time in more cost-effective beach, town and rural locations. We will help you understand where to trim and where to splash in order to achieve the best overall experience.

If you have a lower budget, then we can always look at other fundamentally less pricey safari countries.

Hwange

The most popular safari area in Zimbabwe, Hwange is a classic savanna reserve, conveniently close to the Victoria Falls, with a great range of lodges and camps.

Gonarezhou

Remotely located in the southeast of the country, Gonarezhou is a massively under-utilised wilderness area, with just a handful of lodges.

Victoria Falls

A few days at the impressive Victoria Falls can work really well at the front end of a Zimbabwe safari, with some great lodges and lots of interesting things to do.

The best lodges in Mana Pools

Mana Pools has around 16 safari lodges and camp, about half of which are located inside the national park, the others being set in private reserves around the periphery.

We are able to include any of these properties in your trip. We ones most like to recommend fall into two categories …

Firstly, there are the truly high-end lodges, which are in the very best locations and offer the highest levels of guiding, hospitality and consistency, suitable for demanding guests.

Secondly, there are the relatively good value camps, which are also in excellent locations and also take their guiding very seriously, but which typically offer lower levels of luxury and have the potential to be slightly less consistent in their delivery, suitable for more easy-going guests.

You can always expect absolute honesty from us when describing the various lodges and camps. Our primary motivation is simply to figure out which ones will suit you the best.

Luxury trips

Our luxury trips to Zimbabwe combine lodges which are in prime locations, where high levels of comfort and service are guaranteed. This does not necessarily mean infinity pools and spa facilities, but it does always mean that you will be hosted and guided by the very best people in the country. That is how to truly guarantee the quality of a safari.

Adventure trips

In our adventure trips to Zimbabwe, we use a much wider range of lodges, still in fabulous locations and offering authentic safari experiences, but often at considerably lower cost. More strenuous activities, like walking safari, are likely to feature more prominently. These cool, sometimes edgy lodges tend to be best suited to guests who are a little more outdoorsy and forgiving.

When to go on safari in Mana Pools

The safari areas of Zambia are very seasonal. Extremely detailed knowledge of every single camp is needed to properly plan a great safari. When thinking about seasonality it is important to consider the four aspects of weather, wildlife movements, visitor traffic and prices.

May-Jun : Early dry season

The May-Jun season is a period of transition from the hot wet summer to the cool dry winter and is generally considered to be a decent time to visit, before the harshness of the main dry season kicks in.

Out in the safari areas, in dry years, the green season should be reaching an end, the long grass should be yellowing and the animals starting to move back towards the network of permanent waterholes, all of which should lead to an increase in sightings.

In wetter years some elements of the green season conditions may endure all the way into June, making wildlife viewing a little more challenging.

During May-Jun temperatures can drop pretty low during the night, but this has little adverse effect on safari, the days are gorgeous and there are virtually no insects around.

The majority of camps are significantly discounted during this period, perhaps 20% less than during the peak dry season.

Jul-Sep : Dry season

The Jul-Sep dry season is the classic time to visit Zimbabwe and is generally considered to be the best time for wildlife viewing, as serious numbers of animals are drawn in to the permanent sources of water from the vast dry hinterland.

During Jul-Aug the cooler temperatures can of the preceding season can continue, but this has little adverse effect on safari, the days are gorgeous and there are virtually no insects around. The weather during Aug-Sep should be perfect.

This is very much the high season in terms of prices. Visitor numbers are peaking, so traffic avoidance measures (such as staying on private concession areas) should be considered.

Oct-Dec : Hot rainy season

The Oct-Dec hot season represents the transition period between the peak of the dry season and the start of the rains.

During this period the temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably high in advance of the rains. This can be a very significant issue, especially since the vast majority of camps do not have air-conditioning.

If considerable rainfall does arrive (usually during December) it usually brings a blessed relief from the high temperatures, but can be heavy and prolonged.

The animals in the safari areas are delighted to see the rain and may start to migrate outwards from the permanent waterholes, potentially causing a marked drop off in sightings.

Water flow rates in the Zambezi River can become very low at this time, causing the Victoria Falls to almost run dry and greatly reducing the quality of the white-water rafting too.

The majority of camps are significantly discounted during Nov-Dec, perhaps 20% less than during the peak dry season.

Jan-Apr : Green season

The period Jan-Apr is the main green season in Zimbabwe, when the country experiences the majority of its rainfall. This is an unusual time to visit.

At this time the landscapes in the safari areas tend to be verdant and beautiful, the animals well fed and there’s lots of babies around, providing a great contrast to the harshness of the dry season.

With the animals being more dispersed and the long grasses providing extra cover, wildlife viewing can be a good deal more difficult, usually causing a drop off in sightings.

The temperatures and humidities are usually higher than usual, although not usually to the extent of the preceding season. Conditions are usually pleasant enough.

It's the Dec-Feb period which threatens the greatest chance of more cloud and rain, with safari conditions potentially become a good deal more challenging.

Water flow rates in the Zambezi River can become very high towards the end of this period, the excess spray potentially obscuring views of the Victoria Falls and possibly causing white-water rafting operations to be suspended.

The camps are significantly discounted throughout this season, perhaps 30% less than during the peak dry season.

Expert

Our safari experts are uncommonly knowledgeable and experienced

765,000

The number of superb safaris we have  so far created

Seamless

Arranging your trip should be almost as much fun as actually going on safari  

Value

Your trip should cost you no more than if you booked all the components directly

Tailored

Your trip will be perfectly tuned to meet your requirements

What our guests say

“We’ve used many different travel organizers and agents, but one truly stands like a giraffe, head and shoulders above all others.”

Linda Goddard  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“ATR are the experts in their field and I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”

Tara Stewart  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“ATR are honest in their appraisal of individual lodges. You can trust their judgement.”

Graeme Gales  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4.9   ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

70 Google Reviews

1999

The year that we started to build great safaris

           Vehicle traffic

Unfortunately, self-drive vehicles are allowed into the reserve, which can leading to some modest traffic during the peak months.

           Short season

Most safari areas in Zimbabwe are only fully open during the Jun-Oct dry season. The black cotton soil can get famously sticky when it rains.

           Difficult access

Unfortunately, the international flight routes to Zimbabwe (both Harare and Victoria Falls) are often more tortuous than those to other safari countries.