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Bush camp
Wild, facility-free sites on a dry riverbed by the only spring for miles, where buffalo herds drink and lions follow them into camp.
Park conservation fees are extra, paid at the gate.
The wildest camping in Mana Pools, built around a spring that pulls in buffalo herds and their predators. Expensive and demanding, it is for experienced, fully self-sufficient bush campers.
Chitake is a different Mana Pools: no river frontage, but a spring that seeps into the sandy Chitake riverbed at the foot of the escarpment, far inland from the Zambezi. In the dry months it is the only water for a long way, so buffalo, elephant, baboons and hyenas use the riverbed as a road to it, and lions hunt the herds, often close enough to be heard beside the tents at night. Sites 1 and 3B sit under big natal mahoganies on the bank; site 2 is on a bare rise about 150 m from the spring with the closest view of the action. People come to sit and watch rather than drive, and walking is only allowed with a professional guide. It is 4x4 only, with no water or services, and bookings go up to a year ahead.
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| Chitake 1 or Chitake 3B (overflow), per site up to 6, 2026 t, international | US$355 per site |
| Chitake 2, per site up to 6, 2026 tariff, international | US$235 per site |
| Chitake 1 or Chitake 3B (overflow), per site up to 6, 2026 t, citizen | US$215 per site |
| Chitake 1 or Chitake 3B (overflow), per site up to 6, 2026 t, resident | US$215 per site |
| Chitake 2, per site up to 6, 2026 tariff, resident | US$176 per site |
| Chitake 2, per site up to 6, 2026 tariff, citizen | US$176 per site |
| Extra person beyond 6 (Chitake sites), per night, 2026 tarif, international | US$85 pp/night |
| Extra person beyond 6 (Chitake sites), per night, 2026 tarif, citizen | US$60 pp/night |
| Extra person beyond 6 (Chitake sites), per night, 2026 tarif, resident | US$60 pp/night |
Last checked 2026-11-03. Campsites charge in local currency.
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Reviews are campers' own opinions, not Campesa's. They don't change the campfire score.
4x4 only; sandy riverbed crossings and clay tracks. No fuel or supplies inside the park. Dry-season access only.
Collect the entry permit at Marongora on the A1 Harare–Chirundu road, then check in at Nyakasikana Gate (not Nyamepi) and take the 4x4 track south-east to Chitake in the park's southern sector at the foot of the escarpment.
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