Ingwe Pan Camp

Each of the Luxury Tents at Ingwe Pan Camp features your choice of either a queen-size or two twin beds, fitted with soft linen made from breathable natural fabrics. The rooms are elegantly furnished with subtle touches of colour, and include a writing desk and outdoor seating area on your elevated private deck. From here, you can enjoy uninterrupted views of the water, and watch visitors such as elephants and warthogs as they congregate at the pan.

All of the tents have their own private en-suite bathroom, consisting of a double vanity, flush toilet and shower, with an additional shower outside. The tents have access to both hot and cold running water, and a selection of natural bath products will be provided for you.

Guests can enjoy dining in the large tented main area, or outdoors under the stars if the weather permits. At Ingwe Pan Camp, you can look forward to 3 delicious meals a day, all freshly prepared in the camp’s eco-friendly kitchen. Start the day with a light breakfast before venturing out on your first activity. On your return, you can enjoy a hearty brunch before enjoying a relaxing afternoon.

High tea is served from 3.30 pm, before your second activity of the day, and includes a range of sweet and savoury treats. Dinner consists of a three-course meal which concludes with a sweet dessert and beverage under the night sky, while the calls of big cats echo from the distance.

Venture out on an exciting game drive and explore Mana Pools National Park from the comfort of a specialised safari vehicle. The camp’s knowledgeable guides will be able to teach you interesting facts about the incredible animals of Zimbabwe, as well as showing you the best spots for viewing wildlife. Look out for elephants, zebras, elands, antelope, buffalo, lions, hyenas and hippos, as you traverse the plains and roam the African wilderness.

Explore the bush on foot on a walking safari, and experience the smaller details that make safaris more immersive. Your experienced guide will be able to teach you how to recognise tracks, and follow clues left in the wilderness that will lead to incredible game viewing opportunities.

Explore at your own pace, without the noise of an engine to startle the wildlife, and take advantage of incredible photographic opportunities. Walking safaris usually take place in the morning when wildlife is most active, and are dependant on the weather.

Mana Pools National Park is home to over 380 species of birds, which can best be seen during April when the rainy season is coming to an end and migratory birds return to the area. Several species of kingfisher can be found along the Zambezi River, along with cormorants, darters, herons, and African fish eagles. As the dry season progresses, guests may find colourful carmine bee-eaters and Pel’s fishing owl as they nest along the riverbanks.

Mana Pools National Park’s diverse landscape features woodland, riverine, and dry plains, making it the ideal habitat for a range of land birds such as the Nyasa lovebird and banded snake eagle. Enjoy searching for these incredible creatures and listening to their gentle songs.

Verney’s camp is a Machaba Safaris camp. Machaba Safaris provide support for the Main Camp Primary School, located in a remote village that borders the Hwange National Park. This support includes providing teacher’s wages, facilities, textbooks and a new solar-powered computer lab.

They also built the first Gonnye Sethlare Pre School in May 2019 which provides education for 36 children, and there are plans to build more of these education centres in other locations that Machaba Safaris work in. Their youth development plan gives young men and women the chance to gain work experience, and youths are given the necessary training to become lodge managers.

Machaba Safaris work with local stakeholders and communities in order to safeguard the crucial ecosystems that exist in Botswana and Zimbabwe. They provide educational programmes and talks in order to teach how humans and wildlife can coexist, as well as giving aid to anti-poaching patrols within the NG32 zone. Human-wildlife conflict can occur when humans and wildlife are living close together.

Predators may attack livestock, and elephants can trample or steal crops, causing people to lose their livelihoods and/or retaliate. By teaching peaceful solutions to these issues, and showing the benefits of living alongside wildlife, Machaba Safaris is helping to both protect wildlife and prevent local people from resorting to poaching.

Machaba Safaris work to identify infrastructure needs within the communities and countries that they operate in, and find ways of creating them. This includes providing water to vulnerable communities, establishing sustainable vegetable gardens, putting up animal-proof fencing, and building homes for impoverished families.

Machaba Safaris intentionally do not use certain appliances such as hairdryers and air-con, which demand a lot of electricity, in order to reduce their energy consumption. Ingwe Pan Camp is powered by a combination of solar energy gathered by the camp’s solar panels, and a backup generator. Energy generated by the solar panels is stored in a battery bank which is then used to power the camp. The hot water supply is generated through a thermodynamic solar energy system so that hot water is always available despite the weather conditions.

The camp also uses low energy consuming light bulbs in order to lessen their impact on the planet. To reduce their carbon footprint, Machaba Safaris use energy-efficient fridges in their kitchens, which are switched off at night to conserve power. Heat-sensitive items can then be stored in coal cold rooms and in the cellars to prevent them from heating up.

Machaba Safaris lodges are built with an ever-present consciousness for the environment at the forefront of operations. By utilising locally sourced, recyclable and biodegradable materials, their camps pose little detrimental effects to the environment in which they are situated. Negating the need to haul industrial quantities of construction materials and lumber long distances through vast habitats and ecosystems serves to maintain the ecological equilibrium desired within such operations.

Furthermore, the implementation of such eco-friendly architectural practices allows for the swift and complete recovery of all land used in the construction of Machaba Safaris properties, allowing for the rehabilitation of all properties in as few as 1 and a half years.

Machaba Safaris have strict measures in place to ensure the responsible handling of waste. All waste is treated in a way that means it will not have a negative impact on the surrounding environment. Each camp has separate bio plants that manage kitchen, laundry and staff village solids. Once processed using in-camp bio-plant facilities, these inherent and inevitable waste products pose minimal detriment to the environment and serve to reduce the collective footprint of camp operations.