Africa

Zimbabwe: Zambezi Valley and Mana Pools

Between Zimbabwe and Zambia the Zambezi River has carved a deep broad valley through some of Africa’s oldest rocks. In its recent past it has sliced into eight succeeding basalt chasms to form the broad majestic sweep of Victoria Falls as movement of the earth caused cracks and ruptures to appear. With each new route, the old lip of the falls became the new gorge. Winding its way through the narrow channel of these gorges, it spills out into an area of mud stone and shale, to be dammed at Kariba Gorge. Here it spreads into an man-made lake so heavy that it has caused tectonic movement in the ock substrate. Expelled by the huge turbines that drive the hydro-electric scheme for the entire country, it finally finds it’s way into sandstone, carving a valley floor so vast that at times the opposite bank, now a steep escarpment thousands of feet high, is blue and smudged by distance.
This area of flat valley floor and abrupt great-rift walls is the region most often referred to as the Zambezi Valley. It is an area of heart-stopping beauty, vast sweeping savannas graced with stately trees, backed by the distant fringe of the escarpment, heron blue in the soft air. Well watered and much of it inaccessible, it is a natural haven for wildlife. Between Kariba and the Mozambique border all of the Zimbabwe side of the valley is devoted to wildlife use of one kind or another.

Over many years the Zambezi River has cut its channel slowly northward into Zambia, leaving a series of old channels and river terraces on the Zimbabwe side, where there are now countless pools and small ponds, which is where the park got its name, Mana Pools. Mana Pools National Park, a million hectares in extent, is the main attraction for game viewing, but the entire length of the river from Kariba Gorge to Kanyemba on the Mozambique border provides endless opportunities for canoeing, fishing, game viewing, and simple inert gazing. From a true wilderness 20 years ago this is now a busy recreational river – luckily it’s too shallow for industrial transport. Once famed as being the last redoubt of the black rhino, the remnants of this species have now been removed to the safer confines of private conservancies. Flanked by wildlife areas set aside for safari hunting, Mana Pools is renowned for its glorious views of elephants in the tall stately parkland of the Zambezi flood plain, the much browsed undergrowth allowing vistas for kilometres between the giant trees. The park has four camp sites, and is a really great park for the do-it-yourself camper since it’s possibly the least restrictive of all the parks, visitors being allowed to walk as freely they would in un-proclaimed bush, despite the presence of the more dangerous animals. However, care should betaken as accidents do occur; there have been incidents of canoes (and canoeists) destroyed by hippo, and sleeping under the stars more than once resulted in the sleeper being claimed as a prize by a passing hyena. The park is increasingly being opened to upmarket international visitors by the provision of neighbouring luxury bush camps and lodges on the Zambezi like those at Chikwenya and Ruckomechi. The park is only open seasonally, between the beginning of May and the end of October. During September and October this area has the highest concentration of wildlife in Zimbabwe. In recent years there has been a tremendous growth in canoe safari operations. These companies organise guided canoe trails down the Zambezi from Kariba in the west to Kanyemba in the east – or any portion in between. Each trip is accompanied by well-trained, competent and experienced guides, and is an incredible way to experience the river at first hand.