Camp Mana
Seasonal solar-powered tented camp · On the Zambezi bank inside the park · Sunpath Safaris (Steve & Debbie Bolnick)
Mid-range
Inside the park
Owner/family-run
Tents go up at the start of each season and come down at the end, and in between the owner walks you through the park himself. Wi-Fi runs two hours a day and charging happens in the dining tent, which tells you exactly what kind of camp this is. That is the appeal.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Steve Bolnick guides personally and is widely praised by other guides
- Runs its own Chitake Springs extension and a safari-and-wine programme
- Flush loo and hot shower, with no pretence beyond that
- Tents go up and come down fresh each season
Cons
- Wifi runs only two hours a day, from noon to 2pm
- No cell service at all and no charging in your tent
- Rates unpublished; priced below the big-brand camps
- No child policy found for this owner-guided tented camp
What's here
- Wi-Fi
- Campsite
- Solar or 24h power
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Boat trips
- Guided walks
- Fishing
Read from Camp Mana's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Mana Pools National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entryVAT and the tourism levy are included.
- $24per person, per day
- VehicleForeign-registered vehicle, if you are staying inside.
- $3per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $153 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
The full fee schedule for Mana Pools National ParkRates at Camp Mana
Enquire. Rates unpublished; deliberately not a luxury product, and priced below the big-brand camps.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Very few Mana Pools camps publish rates, so treat all dollar figures as indicative and confirm with the lodge. ZimParks accommodation is priced per site or unit, not per person, from the February 2026 tariff. Private camp bands reflect operator and agent data gathered July 2026; check whether park fees are included when you compare.
Questions about Camp Mana
Does Camp Mana have wifi?
Wifi runs for two hours a day, from noon to 2pm Zimbabwe time, confirmed on the camp's own site. There is no cell service at all, and charging happens only at a station in the dining area, not in your tent, so plan to be offline for most of the stay.
Is Camp Mana good for families?
We found no published child policy, so ask when you book. What it does confirm is personal, hands-on guiding: owner Steve Bolnick walks guests through the park himself, in a camp built around simple comforts rather than polished infrastructure.
How do you get to Camp Mana?
Fly in, typically with MackAir from Harare to the Mana Main airstrip, then transfer into camp on the Zambezi, as one guest review on the camp's own site describes. The camp is not built around self-drive access.
When is Camp Mana open?
It runs through the dry season, roughly April to November; by the camp's own account, the whole camp comes down and goes into storage for about four months of the year so the ground can recover.