We were helped out of our canoes by one of the camp attendants as another attendant, Clever, pointed us toward the beer cooler. Directors chairs surrounded a tidy campfire alongside a table full of snacks. We overnighted in large walk in tents with cots, mattresses and duvets. There was also a hot shower and toilet. Paddling this part of the Zambezi, though not without its risks, is not particularly dangerous or difficult, but a guide is a must.
Victor knows every sandbar, knows the deeps and the shallows.
We danced around the edge of danger during our four days paddling and over-nighting along the waterfront of Mana Pools National Park, considered the crown jewel of the national park system of landlocked Zimbabwe. The designation protects it from development and ensures its survival as a wild place. Mana Pools is the only park in Zimbabwe where you are allowed to walk alone without a guide, although it s best to have one. The landscape is wide open and dotted with big sausage, fig, tamarind and rain trees that shower the earth with purple flowers. The animals eat much of the view-obstructing shrubbery.