Changa Safari Camp opened at the end of 2012 and remains one of the newer permanent camps in Matusadona National Park. It is family-owned and run by the Preston and Higgins families, local Zimbabweans who have camped and fished along this stretch of Lake Kariba for as long as they can remember. That long association shows in the detail of the camp and in the team’s knowledge of the water, the woodland and the wildlife beyond.
The camp holds its own private concession on the eastern side of the park, with roughly 4.5 kilometres of lakeshore frontage. It faces south across Hydro Bay towards the Matusadona mountain range, set under sprawling Mopane woodland with a private white-sand beach below. Skeletal drowned trees stand offshore, a hallmark of a lake that formed after the Kariba dam wall closed in 1959, giving the shoreline an almost coastal feel.
The camp’s defining proposition is the blend of land and water safari from a single lakeshore base. Guests can track game from an open vehicle in the morning, walk in the bush with a guide, then cruise among hippos and drowned forests at sunset, moving between bush, beach and lake as each day allows.
Game-viewing by vehicle in the morning, cruising past hippos and drowned forests by sunset.
A frequent highlight is the boat trip across the lake to the Sanyati Gorge, where the water winds up to ten kilometres between steep cliffs amid prolific birdlife, crocodiles and hippo. Fishing is catch-and-release for the fighting tiger fish, bream and vundu, southern Africa’s largest freshwater fish. Swimming in the lake is not permitted because of crocodiles and hippo, so an elevated plunge pool overlooks the beach instead.
Matusadona National Park stretches along the lakeshore between the Sanyati and Ume rivers, covering roughly 338,000 acres. Declared a game reserve in 1963 and a national park in 1975, it is a Big Five park, historically renowned as one of the last sanctuaries of the endangered black rhino and once cited as having one of Africa’s highest natural lion densities. Large elephant bulls, buffalo herds along the shore in the dry months, leopard, cheetah, zebra and antelope all share the woodland and water.
Conservation runs through the camp’s story. The Matusadona Anti-Poaching Project was founded in 2013 as a joint initiative with neighbouring Spurwing Island and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, responding first to a fish-poaching crisis and then expanding to land-based protection of elephant and rhino.
Black rhino returned to Matusadona in 2026, the first time in more than thirty years.
In November 2019, African Parks signed a 20-year management agreement with ZimParks, the first protected area in Zimbabwe under its model, and the anti-poaching operations were handed over. Black rhino were reintroduced to a 175 km² Intensive Protection Zone in June 2026, sourced from Imire, Matobo and an undisclosed site. The camp runs entirely on solar power, supports the Matusadona Lion Project, channels curio-shop revenue to the local Tonga community and works with Manhanga Primary School through Pack for a Purpose.
Activities flex around the guest. Open-vehicle game drives, guided walks for ages 16 and over, boat and pontoon cruises with sundowners, birding among several hundred recorded species and rhino tracking are all on offer. Dining moves around the camp, served on the elevated deck, by the pool or on the beach beside a fire-pit.
Access is by light aircraft. From Fothergill airstrip it is around a 30-minute game drive in the dry season, or a 20-minute boat transfer when high water turns the airstrip into an island. In the rainy months, guests fly into Kariba Main Airport and reach the camp by road and a boat cruise across the lake.
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accommodation
Changa Safari Camp has eight luxury tents: six double tents and two family units, each a pair of interconnecting tents joined by a passageway so children can move safely between their room and their parents'. Olive safari canvas sits on polished concrete, with indoor and outdoor bathrooms, double basins and private decks facing the lake.
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activities
Days combine open-vehicle game drives, guided walks for ages 16 and over, and boat or pontoon cruises with sundowners. Catch-and-release fishing targets tiger fish, bream and vundu, while the Sanyati Gorge excursion winds between steep cliffs amid birdlife, crocodiles and hippo. Rhino tracking is now possible in the park.
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conservation
Changa Safari Camp helped found the Matusadona Anti-Poaching Project in 2013 with neighbouring Spurwing Island. African Parks took over park management in 2019, and black rhino returned to Matusadona in 2026. The camp runs on solar power, supports the Matusadona Lion Project and works with Manhanga Primary School through Pack for a Purpose.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
You fly into Kariba Airport, reached by air from Harare or Victoria Falls, and from there a light aircraft transfer and a short boat trip bring you across Lake Kariba to the camp's own concession on the park's eastern shore. The boat leg is part of the arrival, and we arrange each connection for you.
The charter flights are shared and set the day before once the airline fixes its routing, with luggage limited to soft bags of around 20kg per person including hand luggage, which we confirm before you pack. A private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, is easy for us to arrange if you would rather fly to your own schedule. We time each leg so the flights, the transfer and the boat join up without a long wait.
Yes, the Kariba and Zambezi valley area carries a seasonal malaria risk, so it is not malaria-free. The risk is lower in the dry winter months from June to October, the prime game-viewing season, and higher through the wet summer.
Please check the current advice with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel, take antimalarials if they recommend them, and cover up against bites after dark.
The dry-season days from June to October are warm with cooler early mornings, and it can be breezy out on the lake, so bring a light layer for the morning and for sunset boat cruises. The heat builds from September, and October is intensely hot before the rains.
Light, neutral-coloured clothing, a hat, sunglasses and strong sun protection cover the days, with a warm top for early starts and time on the water. Pack into a soft bag for the light aircraft, and bring a swimming costume for the lake and the beach below camp.
Both, from a single base on the lakeshore. A morning might be spent tracking game from an open vehicle or walking with a guide, and the afternoon out on the water, cruising past hippos and the pale skeletons of drowned trees that stand offshore where the lake flooded the old forest. You move between bush, beach and lake as the day suits.
A longer boat trip runs up the Sanyati Gorge, where the water threads between steep cliffs alive with birds, and there are crocodiles and hippo along the way. Fishing is catch-and-release for tiger fish, bream and vundu, and rhino tracking has recently become possible in the park, a real addition to the days here.
Yes. Two of the eight tents are set up for families, a pair of tents linked by a covered walkway so children have their own room next to yours and can pass between the two without stepping outside. It is a good setup for a family travelling together.
Guided walks are for ages sixteen and over, but younger children can join the game drives and the boat cruises. Tell us your children's ages and we will shape the days around them.
There is wifi in the main lounge area, along with a central point to charge devices, but it is limited given the remote lakeshore setting rather than fast or reaching every tent. Mobile signal is patchy.
It is enough to check in now and then rather than to work or stream, and most guests are happy to let it go for a few days. If you need to stay reachable, tell us before you travel and we will confirm what to expect on your dates.
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