Mana Pools national park is located in Hurungwe, the Mashonaland region of Zimbabwe right on the border to Zambia. Spanning over 2100 square km, it is home to four out of the big five and to an abundant birdlife, with over 450 species recorded.
Staying a night in the national park, you are sure to fall asleep to the sound of hippos and likely to wake up to the sight of an elephant or a crocodile by the riverside. Although the UNESCO Herritage site is currently one of the least developed national parks in Southern Africa, and is a unique landscape in many senses, it also faces many threats. Amongst them are climate change, poaching and prospects of mining. While the MOU on the Lower Zambezi and Mana Pools Transfrontier Conservation Area signed by Zimbabwe and Zambia in 2023 was a step in the right direction, much remains to be done to protect the area.
The photographs above are analogues from one of my stays in Mana Pools National Park + mirror self portraits from 2 of the hotels where I always stayed on my work trips to Hurungwe. All shot on my aunt's old Nikon EM.