Mana Pools or Matusadona?
The two parks side by side on what you will see, what you can do, what it costs, how you get there and the health picture, with the facts behind every rating.
Our verdict
Both belong to the Zambezi system, but Mana Pools is a river floodplain you walk and paddle, while Matusadona is a Kariba lakeshore you work by boat. Pick Mana Pools for walking and canoeing: unguided walking on a permit, ranger walks at $12 per person per hour, and the canoe safaris Matusadona does not offer. Lion is likely and wild dog a good chance. Pick Matusadona for boat cruises into the Sanyati Gorge, a shoreline with hippo guaranteed and the multi-day Matusadona Trails, though walking there is only allowed with a designated official. Entry is $24 at Mana against $30 at Matusadona, and neither park runs night drives. Mana closes in practice from December to March, and its valley is tsetse country. Without a vehicle, the Kariba link of about 30 minutes by air joins the two.
Best for big game Mana PoolsBest for birding Mana PoolsBest for walking Mana PoolsBest for on the water Mana PoolsBest for self-drive Mana PoolsBest for low budget MatusadonaBest for families MatusadonaBest for a first safari Mana PoolsBest for wilderness Mana Pools
Tap a row label to see the reasoning behind a rating.
| Compare | Mana Pools2,196 km² | MatusadonaAbout 1,400 km² |
|---|---|---|
| 4Aug to Oct | 3June to October, on the lakeshore | |
4bestAug to OctElephant sightings: 100% of visitors; Wild dog sightings: 58%; Hippo & crocodile: Largest in Zimbabwe | 3June to October, on the lakeshoreElephant: About 480 (2022 count); Hippo on the shoreline: Over 2,100 (2021 survey); Wild dog: 20 reintroduced, Feb 2026 | |
| Elephant | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Lion | Likely | Fair chance |
| Leopard | Fair chance | Rare |
| Buffalo | Likely | Likely |
| Wild dog | Fair chance | Rare |
| Cheetah | Rare | Absent |
| Hippo | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
| Giraffe | Absent | Not published |
3best380 speciesAbout 380 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | 2350 speciesAbout 350 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | |
| 5Water | 5Water | |
5bestOne of a tiny handful of parks where the public may walk unaccompanied, on a permit and on the open floodplain; a ZimParks ranger walks with you at $12 per person per hour, and under-16s may not walk. | 4Guided walks of two to three hours with park guides at about $40, and the Matusadona Trails, multi-day escarpment backpacking at $275 a day; walking only with a designated official and no under-12s on the Trails. | |
2Night driving and spotlighting are prohibited and a curfew keeps you in camp from 18:00 or 18:30; only Kavinga and the Ruckomechi concession on private land at the edges run night drives. | 2The park runs no night drives; only Bumi Hills offers them, on its own concession outside the boundary. | |
5Canoe safaris on the Zambezi are the signature, from half days to multi-day trails, alongside tigerfishing from bank or canoe on a $15 licence; motorboats are not allowed in the park. | 5Morning and evening cruises from Tashinga and every lodge, the Sanyati Gorge by boat, houseboats along the shore and tigerfishing under a five-fish limit; canoeing is not offered. | |
4bestSelf-drivers are welcome on the designated roads: 384 km and 6 to 7 h from Harare with a Marongora check-in and 74 km of gravel, a high-clearance 4x4 required and the park closed in practice Dec to Mar. | 2Self-drive is allowed from sunrise to sunset, but getting a vehicle in means the private McMaster ferry, 3 to 3.5 h plus about 2 h of bush road, or 9 to 10 h from Harare with a 4x4 recommended. | |
| $120cheapest bed | $30cheapest bed | |
$24bestInternational adult per day ({'name': 'Official ZimParks tariff, published February 2026', 'url': 'https://www.zimparks.org.zw/media/2026/02/De-Gazetted-Tariff-2026.pdf'}, 2026-07-26). | $30International adult per day ({'name': 'ZimParks De-Gazetted Tariff 2026 (Matusadona conservation row p.12, vehicles p.23)', 'url': 'https://www.zimparks.org.zw/media/2026/02/De-Gazetted-Tariff-2026.pdf'}, 2026-09-24). | |
$120Lowest listed rate per person per night across 21 places; 6 are budget tier. | $30bestLowest listed rate per person per night across 38 places; 22 are budget tier. | |
$235bestMedian of 9 priced places; top end $1,140. | $630Median of 6 priced places; top end $999. | |
2Cheapest listed bed $120, 6 of 21 places in the budget tier, park fee $24 a day. | 3bestCheapest listed bed $30, 22 of 38 places in the budget tier, park fee $30 a day. | |
| $915mid-range | ||
$810Budget one: self-drive camping at Nyamepi | Not published | |
$915Budget two: a ZimParks lodge, Hippo, Nyati or Muvee | Not published | |
$6,240Budget three: fly-in to Wilderness Ruckomechi | Not published | |
| Harare, 384 km, 6 to 7 h by roadnearest airport | Kariba townnearest airport | |
Harare, 384 km, 6 to 7 h by road; ±1 h 35 by light aircraftFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | Kariba town, about 1 h by speedboat to TashingaFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | |
High-clearance 4x4 requiredFrom the getting-there page. | RecommendedFrom the getting-there page. | |
| Aug to Octpeak game viewing | June to October, on the lakeshorepeak game viewing | |
Aug to OctFrom the best-time page. | June to October, on the lakeshoreFrom the best-time page. | |
Effectively closed Dec to MarchFrom the best-time page. | No closure published; interior roads may close in the rains (unconfirmed)From the best-time page. | |
| High all year in the Zambezi Vall…malaria | Prophylaxis recommended by the pa…malaria | |
High all year in the Zambezi ValleyFrom the health page. | Prophylaxis recommended by the parkFrom the health page. | |
PresentZimbabwe's surviving tsetse belts sit in the Zambezi Valley; worst in the mopane and jesse bush between escarpment and river. | Not publishedThe guide found no Matusadona-specific source; the management plan says tsetse were eradicated from the surrounding communal areas. | |
October, 36.9°C mean daily maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | October, up to 40°C and moreMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | |
Kariba, Karoi, Chinhoyi (stabilisation only); serious cases by air to HarareAir evacuation: MARS (Kariba base) or ACE (Chirundu, Chinhoyi) to Harare. | Clinic at Tashinga headquarters; hospitals a boat ride or a long day's drive awayAir evacuation: Recommended by the park. | |
| 4Wilderness | 4Wilderness | |
2Every camp is unfenced, malaria risk is high all year in the Zambezi Valley, tsetse is present and under-16s cannot walk; Nyamatusi Mahogany is the family exception with a kids' programme. | 3bestThere is a clinic at Tashinga and Changa has family tents with adjoining children's tents, but every camp is unfenced, the park recommends malaria prophylaxis and Jenje and the Trails take no one under 12. | |
3bestElephant is seen by 100 per cent of visitors and lion by 89, but access is a 6 to 7 h drive or a charter and night drives are banned. | 2Hippo, crocodile and impala are guaranteed and elephant likely, but lion is only a chance in what the guide calls a recovering park. | |
4Unfenced camps, a five-vehicle cap at sightings and no facilities at all at Chitake Springs, though most visitors share the 15 by 3 km floodplain and September books out up to a year ahead. | 4Across the lake from the nearest town, with a park fleet of two pontoon boats and four vehicles in 2023 and no more than three vehicles allowed at a sighting. |
Compare all of Zimbabwe's parks on the comparison page. Matusadona has its own guide at visitmatusadona.com.
How the ratings work
- Big game is calculated from each park's sightings table on its wildlife page: guaranteed counts 3, likely 2, a fair chance 1, rare 0.5 and absent 0, across elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, hippo and giraffe, scaled so that 16 points is 5 out of 5.
- Birding follows the species count on the wildlife page. Low-budget safari follows the cheapest listed bed, the share of budget places and the daily park fee.
- Walking, night drives, water, self-drive, families, first safari and wilderness are our ratings, whole numbers from 1 to 5. Press "Why?" on any row to read the facts each one rests on, with the page they come from. Where a rule is not published we say so rather than guess.
- Prices are per person per night in US dollars as listed on the lodges pages, before park fees; the three-night totals come from each park's costs page and use the dated rates there. Fees are the international adult rate per day.