CHITAKE MOBILE CAMP – MANA POOLS NATIONAL PARK

Chitake Mobile Camp is located in the wild Chitake area close to the Chitake Spring, famous for its fantastic wildlife and amazing close up encounters with animals. We recommend spending a few days at either Vundu or Little Vundu first before moving on to Chitake Mobile Camp.

There is no driving at Chitake and mornings are spent on incredible nature walks around the Chitake foothills and afternoons can bring you much excitement as you watch the spectacular game come down to drink for hours on end from the vantage point of a nearby cliff.

Nick and Desirée are both professional guides with decades of experience, and they offer guests exclusive and authentic private guided safaris in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. Their camps include the luxurious Vundu Camp built on the banks of the Zambezi River, Little Vundu, the Ruwesi Canoe Trail which is ideal for adventurous travellers and lastly the rugged Chitake Mobile Camp.

Enjoy exceptional wildlife encounters and superb close-up photographic opportunities of painted wolves, elephant, lion, plains game and colourful birdlife – all with the backdrop of Mana Pools’ amazing scenery. Activities on offer include game drives, walking safaris, fishing on an island or gently drifting down the Zambezi River on a canoe or motorboat.

LOCATION

Chitake Mobile Camp is set in the remote Chitake area within the Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe. Access is via a light aircraft flight which takes 1.25 hours from Harare and 2.10 hours from Victoria Falls. You are met at the airstrip and transferred to Vundu Camp via a game drive and then on to the mobile camp.

CAMP

The camp is a mobile camp set up in the remote and wild Chitake Springs area of Mana Pools. Accommodation is in spacious 3m x 3m walk-in mobile Meru Tents with ensuite open-air bush bathrooms with bucket showers and flush toilets. The camps are set up before you arrive each evening and the tents furnished with large proper beds on steel frames with a comfortable mattress on a wooden base and a bedside table. Paraffin lamps are used throughout the camp.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served alfresco style with a private chef on site each day preparing fresh, wholesome meals.

The camp is run entirely on solar and there is no WiFi available.

ACTIVITIES AND WILDLIFE

The Chitake River flows out of the Zambezi escarpments’ southern mountains and during the dry season the river turns into a sandy riverbed so that all that is left is a small spring which becomes the only water source for miles around. It is for this very reason that the spring becomes active in the drier months with wildlife congregating around it to drink. You can look forward to seeing a variety of wildlife from troops of baboons to herds of playful elephants, lion and leopard.

Bushlife Safaris is known for their excellent guiding and both Nick and Desiree are both qualified guides who have nearly 60 years of experience in the bush between them.

Mana Pools is a photographer’s paradise and is one of a few parks that allows you to get out of your vehicle allowing for upclose encounters and lower camera angles. The light also varies dramatically throughout the day and in different areas of the park.

Nick has a wealth of knowledge on wildlife and is a qualified Zimbabwean Professional Guide. He was appointed as the head guide to help the BBC Earth crew for the duration of their filming in Mana Pools for Dynasties’ Painted Wolf episode which took 2 years to produce.

Nick and Desiree also founded Bushlife Conservancy that is dedicated to the protection and conservation of wildlife and habitats in Africa, primarily in the Zambezi River Valley of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

All game activities are done on foot – no vehicles activities are provided so adequate fitness is required for a truly enjoyable trip.

One of the best ways to see Mana Pools is on a walking safari. It’s the slow and natural pace of a walk that connects you to the ground; it’s the sounds of the bush as you pause and listen; it’s the ability to stop at a moment’s notice and look at a footprint and decide what animal left it there and where it was heading.

GIVING BACK

Bushlife Safaris are very active members in the Mana Pools National Park community and are passionate about wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe. Nick and Desirée are completely dedicated to conservation – for their children’s generation, and generations to come.

In 2015 following many years of continuous work on the anti-poaching front the Bushlife Support Unit was set up uniting the Zambezi Valley community together in a consolidated effort to stop poaching in the area. The Bushlife Support Unit is the ‘boots-on-the-ground’ team and anti-poaching patrols are deployed daily in vehicles and boats.

The Bushlife Painted Wolf Conservancy is a branch of Bushlife Support Unit Trust and specialises in the research and conservation of the African Wild Dog.

CHITAKE MOBILE CAMP IS CLOSED FROM DECEMBER THROUGH TO JUNE EVERY YEAR

THE CAMP WELCOME FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN AGED 12 YEARS AND OLDER