Arrive and Drive Zimbabwe: Your Self-Drive Safari, Sorted

Best adventure !  - When planning our trip, Ant''s advice was precious to put up a realistic itinerary allowing us to combine both must sees (Vic Falls, Mana Pools) and pretty unique experiences (sailing... read more the Kariba lake on a catamaran then crossing the lake on the ferry, securing a spot at Chitake, managing a spot for us at Kazuma at the last minute ). On arrival, he was also very helpful in dealing with my lost luggage: I was only reunited with my bag 10 days into our trip but thanks to Ant's superb assistance that inconvenience did not interfere with our experience in anyway 😉 During our stay at the Sunbird guest house before hitting the road we got a complete brief on the car and on the dos and don's while on the go: we used every recommendation as we went and genuinely loved every minute of our adventure. The set up of the cars is really well thought out, the car itself was very reliable. The whole team is dedicated and warm. We loved Zimbabwe and most probably the help we got from the whole team who provides a superb service altogether. I cannot recommend the country enough nor going with Mana Pools Tourism services for the trip.

Life changing holiday.  - Superb from the first, we were very impressed with the service we received from Ant in advance of the trip. Organising an itinerary that suited our timescales and requirements over... read more WhatsApp, email and phone, was all done with a minimum of fuss.

Upon arrival in Harare, we received a detailed briefing from him and Beaven in advance of departure. Because one of our party had been held up due to a cancelled flight, we had to re-jig the schedule and, again, this was done in a heartbeat and without any bother.

The trip itself was fantastic. Beaven was magnificent and negotiated the dreadful Zim roads like the pro that he is. At the sites we stayed, erecting the tents and sorting out the facilities became second nature - part of the joy is mucking in, and within hours, it feels like you are a million miles from home. The food was great (including one of our number who was vegan) and nothing was too much trouble for Bev. We visited Mana Pools, Chitake, and Chizarira national parks - all of which had their own individual appeal, which meant that we all had different favourites! There's not enough space to talk about the amazing experiences at each of the camps and sailing on Lake Kariba. All magnificent!

At every stage, Beaven's expertise and knowledge shone through. He looked after us, and we felt we had made a friend for life. There were some early starts and by the end, some of the teenagers were less than enamoured with getting up at 0600, but they saw it through and came back to the UK with memories that will last a lifetime, all thanks to the Mana Pools Tourism Services.

10 out out 10, guys!

Amazing experience at Mana and Chitake  - Everything was great from initial inquiries
to customising an itinerary to suit our needs - Ant was quick to respond and extremely helpful.
Once we arrived in Zimbabwe... read more Ant and Beaven did an efficient handover and the trip began the following morning.
The vehicle was comfortable (important on the rough roads) and well equipped.
Everything was great from the journey to Mana Pools and Chitake to the camping equipment and the food and drinks supplied.
Beaven our driver/camp manager/chef deserves special mention - he was wonderful and never hesitated to go above and beyond with a smile and nothing was too much trouble.

Fantastic fully-kitted 4x4 rental company, Zimbabwean owned and run, reliable, helpful, efficient.  - Manapools.com is a fantastic Zimbabwe-run 4x4, fully-kitted rental company. Ant Brown and Costa Kapupurika are super informative and helpful. Their vehicles and equipment are reliable and their locally resourced recovery... read more plan, in case of breakdown, is effective given the challenges faced in Zimbabwe.

This is the second time using Manapools.com and we were impressed with the handovers, the safety briefing, the vehicle familiarisation, and the support once deployed. I would not hesitate using them again and plan to do so in 2026. There are other companies out there but they may not have the required documentation or support in case of breakdown.

What impressed us most was the reliability of the vehicles but also the efficiency of the fridge/freezer. Even in 40+ Celsius heat it kept meat and ice frozen.

We did Harare - Nyanga - Gonarezhou - Great Zimbabwe - Bulawayo - Matopos - Hwange - Vic Falls - Harare, c. 3,000kms.

Great experience in Mana Pools and Chitake - We rented Land Cruiser and drove to Mana Pools. Except for the bad state of the road (common issue in ZIM) everything went smoothly and the car was great on... read more and off the road and served us well. In addition, Ant made camping sites reservation on a very short notice and we enjoyed all the campsites he booked for us. Very much appreciated. And everything that Ant advised and recommended was as he said - thank you.
Unfortunately ZIM uses USD and everything is expensive, so we could not stay longer in this beautiful country.
Mana Pools NP is the place where one can leave their vehicle and walk closer to animals (on your own risk) and we loved it.

Booked a holiday - got an adventure! Happy days!  - It’s been about a week since we’ve been back after 24 nights in Zim and we can’t get enough of reminiscing. To start with there were dozens of calls and... read more WhatsApp messages with Ant as we planned a once in a lifetime holiday/expedition/challenge - he is so generous with his time and encyclopedic knowledge and has the most amazing love for his country which comes across clearly in everything he does. We had a nigh enough perfect itinerary - for the novice adventurers that we are - and visited Nyanga, Bvumba, Manapools, Lake Kariba, Hwange, Victoria Falls and Matopos.

Ant arranged a wide variety of accommodation from the gorgeous Sunbird Guest house in Harare (where he and his wonderful team are based) to a four star hotel to cottage to campsites for our 4x4 and roof top tents (and kept a watchful eye over our late arrivals to some places and let venues know when we couldn’t do it ourselves) - but the tents and the Toyota Land Cruiser were our home for most of it.

The Land Cruiser is a no-nonsense fortress on wheels and driving it on very steep and lumpy mountain roads was our almost daily dose of adrenaline (but we are not silly daredevils and it felt more like riding a blancmange than a neck-breaking stunt ride - speed is not your friend when you’re navigating a rugged Zim landscape - great fun all round though). No doubt that we would not have seen half the things we saw without a reliable 4x4 so this was the perfect way to travel. We drove in excess of 2,000 miles without any car trouble which is a testament to the great care Ant and his team take with the cars.

We didn’t get, nor did we want, a restful poolside holiday. We were ‘geographically uncertain’ (i.e. lost), dusty and achy more often than not. It was a challenge at times to pack up camp by 6am for the sake of seeing the animals before the heat set in but it was well worth it and we only got guides/rangers a couple of times - this is the great advantage a self-drive expedition like this offers. We did start a bit wary but felt quite empowered (dare say fearless) and independent by the end of it.

It’s a worthwhile side note to say that we are all female - two not particularly fit fifty somethings and a nineteen year old- all long term London dwellers with no prior experience of anything like this. We felt completely safe and comfortable throughout.

And finally, it feels redundant to say it but still Zim is a beautiful country - so many different landscapes and something special wherever you look. Manapools elephants are the calmest, quietest and most graceful living things you’ll ever see. Hwange lions let you get your car within six foot of them (and their cubs!), Nyanga ponds are so clear and a (freezing) joy to swim in. The beauty of Lake Kariba sunsets is equalled only by the Milky Way which was so easy to see as there is hardly any light pollution. Matopos rock formations might as well be on another planet and would make a fine location for a future Sci-Fi classic. We felt at times like we had six holidays in one - and there was so much more we didn’t get a chance to see.

All in all we feel so lucky and grateful to have found Ant and his team - none of this would have happened without their care and attention. Thank you Ant, Trymore, Godfrey, Tino, Chris, Moses, Costa - and Ant’s mum too 🙂 - for your warm hospitality.