John's Camp

Mana Pools is one of the few places in Africa where you can still walk among the Big Five with a professional guide, and John's Camp is the original walking camp there. Eight tents on the Zambezi floodplain. We put it in the middle of our walking journey for that reason.

You walk the albida woodland in the morning with your guide, the light coming through green and the tracks fresh. If you are lucky you see the Mana bull. A big elephant stands under an ana tree, reaching, then leans back and rises onto his hind legs, trunk stretched to the highest pods. He holds it for a few seconds and comes down with a thud you feel through your boots.

On other days you canoe the Zambezi with your guide, past pods of hippo at close range. It is quiet, and it is the river at its own level.

John's Camp suits travellers who have done a few vehicle safaris and want to slow down and see the bush on foot. It is not for anyone who wants the full menu of a big lodge. Four nights gives you time to start noticing tracks before your guide points them out.

Your Pilatus PC-12 flies south from Mfuwe, clears into Zimbabwe and drops into the Zambezi valley. Over the Mana Pools strip your pilot makes a low pass to clear the runway, then lands. From here a Cessna Caravan takes you west along the river to Victoria Falls.

Good to know

• Mana Pools is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a malaria area. Speak to your doctor before you travel.
• Walking and canoeing in the national park carry minimum ages for children. We confirm them for your dates.
• Mana Pools is a dry-season destination; our journey here runs June to October.
• Soft bags only on the light aircraft.

Country: Zimbabwe