6 Days Mana & Chitake in Pop-Roof

Today, your trip departs from your Harare hotel at 6:00 a.m. sharp. You will get in the 9-seat custom Land Cruiser with a bush trailer for the nine-hour trip to Mana Pools. You will eat breakfast at Lion’s Den on your own dime before entering the park at Makuti and traveling through the forest on a dusty road to the Mana Floodplain. You’ll be pitching your tent next to the river at one of Mana’s Exclusive Wild Campsites. You will be the only person using the site, thus nobody else will be there. Keep in mind that as this is a full participation tour, you will need to help set up your tent and help with cleanup. Your knowledgeable driver and chef will be familiar with the area and can help you.

After a night of hearing hippos, hyenas, and lions around your private campsite, you will awake to the sound of a chorus of birds. Before embarking on a guided walk with a Dav Safaris Parks Ranger, you’ll have a short cup of coffee. You will be led by an armed, knowledgeable ranger as they lead you through the Mana Floodplain’s vegetation and fauna. Walking through the African bush is the finest way to experience it since it gives you the immersed feeling that a car can’t give you. You came for this, so take pleasure in it.

You will return to your tent for brunch (please note that on this trip, breakfast and lunch are combined) and spend the day’s heat sitting by the river, taking in the sights. After an afternoon game drive in the car, you’ll have an early dinner and go to bed early to recuperate up for another exciting day tomorrow.

Today you won’t begin to settle into the pace of life in the jungle next to the Zambezi River. Early risers are rewarded for getting out there early, and early risers get to witness spectacular stuff. Your driver will take you on a morning and afternoon game walk in the wilderness with a licensed ranger. Brunch will be given to you either in camp or out in nature. Following your hike, dinner will be provided in camp.

After brunch, you’ll disassemble your camp and make the arid journey through the wilderness to your unique Chitake Springs campsite. When you get there, you’ll pitch your tent around the trailer at the special wild campground and head straight for the fig tree to watch for any lion or buffalo activity at the adjacent springs. By the time night falls, you will have an early dinner at camp while listening to lions roaring in the riverbed only a hundred meters away.

You’ll get up early to compare notes on the noises you heard during the night and muse over how far away the lions might have been. After that, you’ll be sent to observe any lion kills or buffalo herds that may approach the lake. Brunch in camp, followed by watching lions and buffalo until dusk, a second early, sober night, and reflection on the place of humans in the universe.

Following breakfast, you will disassemble your camp and return to Harare because all wonderful things must come to an end. You will make one final journey to the fig tree to check for and chase away any potential lions that may be lying about. You’ll leave, stop for lunch at Saucy Sues, and arrive in Harare in the middle of the afternoon. While you may physically exhaust yourself after each day of this lively, engaging vacation, your mind will be relaxed and your perspective on life will be renewed.