Where to stay in Gonarezhou: every camp and lodge by area and budget
Almost every bed in Gonarezhou belongs to the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust, and almost every one of them assumes you arrive in your own 4x4 with your own food. Two private lodges sit outside the park. This page sorts all of it by area, by budget and by the kind of trip you want, with the Trust's 2026 rates and how they are actually charged.
For most visitors the best place to stay in Gonarezhou is a Trust camp on the Runde River in the north: Chipinda Pools Tented Camp for the first night, then Chipale Tented Camp or Chilojo Bush Camp within sight of the Chilojo Cliffs. The Trust's rates are a nightly minimum charge for a base group, plus a per-person charge for anyone beyond it, not a price per person: a Chipale tent is from $150 a night for two (local tier, $175 international) and a developed campsite from $55 a night for up to four (local tier, $104 international), on the 2026 rate card, with the conservation fee of $15 per person per day on top. Outside the park, Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge on the Save River is the full-service choice, and Singita Pamushana in the private Malilangwe reserve is the luxury one, from $2,395 per adult per night. Trust camps book by email only, and the Trust has not published 2027 rates yet.
Places to stay
12 inside, 2 outside
Cheapest roof
Swimuwini, from $90/unit (2026, local)
Camping
From $50/site minimum (2026, local)
Catered camp
Chilojo or Mahove Bush Camp
Luxury
Singita Pamushana, from $2,395 pp (2026)
How Trust rates work
Minimum charge + extra per person
Book Trust camps
reservations@gonarezhou.org
Park closed
10 Jan to 1 Mar
How Trust rates work: a minimum charge, not a price per person
Read this before you compare any number on this page. The Gonarezhou Conservation Trust, the ZimParks and Frankfurt Zoological Society partnership that runs the park, prices its camps and campsites as a minimum charge per night. That charge covers a base group, which is the camp's stated minimum number of guests, and each guest beyond it pays an additional per-person rate. A developed campsite with a minimum of four costs from $55 a night at the local tier and $104 at the international tier for up to four people, not $104 each.
The clearest example on the Trust's own site is the Mananga Camps: $220 a night at the local tier is the minimum charge for four adults, which the Trust spells out as $55 per person per night, with additional guests charged at the per-person rate. The bush camp page also prints 'ppn' next to its figures, which is why many websites, including older pages on this site, turned these into per-person prices. Ask the Trust for the total for your exact group and get it in writing.
All rates here come from the Trust's 2026 rate pages, checked on 23 October 2026, in three tiers: Local, SADC and International. The Trust has not published 2027 rates; if you are planning for next year, expect a new rate card and budget with some margin. Accommodation rates exclude the conservation fee, community levies and vehicle fees. See entry fees for those.
This is where most visitors should stay, and where most of the beds are. The Chipinda Pools gate is about 55 km and 1 to 1.5 hours from Chiredzi, and the Trust's 2026 park map puts the Chilojo Cliffs 37 km and about two hours' drive further east along the river. The red sandstone cliffs, the Runde's pools and the densest network of game loops are all here.
It suits first visitors, anyone short on time, and anyone who wants the cliffs at sunset without a long transfer. The trade-off is that it is the busiest part of a very quiet park.
The southern section around Mabalauta sees far fewer vehicles. It is a long way from the north inside the park: the Trust's map gives 111 km and about five hours from Chipinda Pools to Mabalauta. Most people reach it from outside instead, through Boli Gate from the Mwenezi side or Sango Gate from Mozambique, and both must report to the Mabalauta office first.
Swimuwini Rest Camp has eight chalets above Buffalo Bend on the Mwenezi and is the only camp with a fence, a small two-strand one; some units are wheelchair-friendly. Mabalauta has five developed campsites with tree shade. Mathuli Mananga is a four-bedroom group camp under the big Mwenezi riverine trees, and Bosman's Community Camp sits downstream with a view across to the Malipati Safari Area, built with the Malipati Development Trust so neighbouring communities share in the revenue.
It suits second-time visitors, people coming from Kruger through Mozambique, and anyone who wants a solid roof at the lowest price in the park.
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and roughly what you want to spend. A safari specialist we work with checks which camps have space and replies with options, usually within a day or two. Free, no obligation.
Outside the park: the Save River and Malilangwe
Two private lodges serve the park from outside it. Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge stands on a cliff above the Save River near the Runde confluence, in the Jamanda Conservancy on the park's north-eastern edge. It is reached past Mahenye, and the closest way into the park is the Save-Runde Basecamp entrance, which the Trust says needs a 4x4 for the sand crossing of the Save. The lodge runs guided game drives and walks, a 3 km trail to Chivilila Falls, and visits to Mahenye village, and also sells a tented camp on the Runde floodplain, fly-camping and the Nhambo self-catering chalets.
Singita Pamushana is in the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, a private reserve of about 115,000 acres next to Gonarezhou, not inside it. Eight suites with plunge pools sit above Malilangwe Dam, and day trips into Gonarezhou can be arranged. If you sleep outside the park, you pay the higher $25 per person day-visitor conservation fee every day you go in, not the $15 park-camp rate (2026 tariff).
Park-run and budget: camping, starbeds and self-catering
Everything in this tier is run by the Trust and booked directly with the Trust, by email. Prices are 2026 minimum charges per night for the base group shown, Local and International tier, accommodation only.
Transit campsites: from $50 local, $100 international, minimum 3 people, maximum two nights. For crossing between north and south.
Developed campsites at Chipinda Pools, Chinguli and Mabalauta: from $55 local, $104 international, minimum 4, maximum 6 adults per site. Running water (untreated), shared ablutions, a thatched rondavel and braai.
Starbed platforms at Bhenji Weir, Malugwe and Gorwe: from $60 local, $120 international, minimum 3 or 4. Nothing provided beyond a firepit.
Wilderness campsites (11): from $63 local, $120 international, minimum 4. Bush loo and firepit only.
Exclusive campsites (7): from $95 local, $180 international, minimum 6 adults. The Trust's pick of its best ground.
Swimuwini Rest Camp: from $90 local, $120 international for a one-bedroom chalet, $160 local and $180 international for two bedrooms, per unit.
Chipinda Pools Tented Camp: from $130 local, $150 international, minimum 2 per tent, up to 4 with stretchers.
Chipale Tented Camp: from $150 local, $175 international, minimum 2 per tent.
Additional guests above each minimum pay a per-person rate the Trust confirms when you book. Bring your own drinking water everywhere: camp water is untreated borehole or sand-abstracted river water.
Mid-range: whole camps for a group
Gonarezhou's mid-range is unusual: you book a whole small camp with an attendant, and you still bring and cook your own food. The Mananga Camps at Masasani and Mathuli have four en-suite bedrooms around a central kitchen, dining area and boma, hot bucket showers and a fridge and chest freezer. The 2026 minimum charge is $220 a night at the local tier, which the Trust states as $55 per person for four adults, $260 SADC and $300 international, with extra guests charged per person up to eight. The camps are built by hand from natural and recycled materials and rebuilt each year by artisans from the surrounding communities.
Bosman's Community Camp has six Meru tents, split as Bosman's Main Camp with four and Little Bosman's with two, which can be booked together or separately. The 2026 rates are $240 local and $320 international for the main camp and $120 local and $160 international for Little Bosman's, accommodation only. The Trust's page does not state how many guests that covers, so confirm the total for your group. Both are park-run or park-partnered and book through the Trust.
Chilojo Bush Camp and Mahove Bush Camp are the Trust's top tier inside the park: six en-suite Meru tents each, linen, a chef and a camp attendant, for a minimum of six and a maximum of twelve guests and six vehicles. The 2026 minimum charge is $600 local, $660 SADC and $720 international per night for the base group of six, accommodation only, with additional guests charged per person and conservation fees, levies and vehicle fees on top. The Trust designed them for private guides running exclusive safaris, so most people book them through one of its operator partners. A Trust guide with an open vehicle can be added.
Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge does not publish rates on its own website, and the figures that circulate elsewhere conflict, so ask the lodge for a quote. It is open year-round, unlike its own seasonal tented camp.
Singita Pamushana publishes its rates: from $2,395 per adult per night in the off-peak season and $3,150 in peak season (1 June to 31 August and 15 December to 5 January), on Singita's current season rates, including VAT and levy. That covers all meals and drinks, twice-daily game drives, walks, boat cruises, fishing, rock-art visits and airport transfers. Children aged 2 to 16 pay 50% when sharing a suite, and under-2s stay free.
Prices are the Trust's and operators' own 2026 figures, Local or International tier as marked. Trust prices are a nightly minimum charge for the base group in brackets.
the Mananga Camps, because each bedroom takes two adults and two children and the whole camp is yours. Swimuwini Rest Camp is the only camp with any fence. Malaria risk is high from November to June; read our health page first.
Walking
Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, which guides walks including the Chivilila Falls trail. Inside the park, walking only runs through the Trust's registered operators.
Swimuwini Rest Camp, from $120 a night for a one-bedroom chalet at the international tier, or a developed campsite at $104 a night for up to four.
Self-drive
the wilderness campsites, eleven sites with a bush loo and a firepit, for fully equipped 4x4 travellers.
Who should not stay inside the park
Trust camps assume you have your own vehicle, and the Trust's FAQ recommends a high-clearance 4x4, two vehicles and recovery gear for the remote corners. There are no shops, no fuel and no food for sale inside; Chiredzi, about an hour from Chipinda Pools, is the last resupply. Driving at night is not allowed, and the 2026 park map tells you to be in camp from 18:00 (May to September) or 18:30 (October to April) until 06:00.
If you do not want to drive or cook, stay at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge or Singita Pamushana, or book the bush camps through a guided operator. The Trust's own guided game drives run for a minimum of six guests. For the camping logistics in full, read our camping guide, and to see where each camp sits, the park map.
Every Trust camp and campsite is booked directly with the Trust, never through a third party, by email to reservations@gonarezhou.org or by phone on +263 779 788 811. There is no online booking or payment system. Send your dates, the number of adults and children, your vehicles and your preferred camps, and ask for the total including any extra-person charges. The bush camps are handled by the Trust's Gonarezhou Bush Camps team, which our lodge pages list as gbc@gonarezhou.org.
Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge and Singita Pamushana book directly with the lodge or through a safari specialist. Guided trips inside the park run through the Trust's registered operator partners. A specialist earns its keep when you want flights, transfers and a guided vehicle stitched together.
We do not take bookings ourselves. If you send a request through this site, it goes to a safari specialist we work with, who may pay us a commission. That never applies to Trust camps, which you book directly with the Trust.
When to book
The Trust calls April to August its peak season, and September to November brings the best game viewing as the rivers shrink. Those are the months to book early. The camps are tiny: four tents at Chipinda Pools, six at Chipale, six at each bush camp and nine pitches at the busiest campground. The Trust publishes no lead time, so our advice is to email as soon as your dates are fixed, especially for school holidays and for July to October.
Two dates are fixed. The whole park closes to tourists from 10 January to 1 March, and the remote camps close from late November to March or April because they become unreachable in the rains. Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge itself is open year-round. For the month-by-month picture, see the best time to visit, and for the full trip cost, our costs page.
Pick your area, then your style. For a first trip, two or three nights on the Runde in the north covers the essentials; with five nights or more, add the Mwenezi in the south. Our itineraries page lays out routes day by day, and every place on this page has its own page in our lodges and camps guide with facilities, pros and cons.
Rather have someone put this together?
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and roughly what you want to spend. A safari specialist we work with checks which camps have space and replies with options, usually within a day or two. Free, no obligation.
