Sunset over Lake Banamana seen from the lodge grounds

Lake, bush and wild Mozambique, far from everyone else

An eco-lodge and private wildlife sanctuary on Lake Banamana, between Zinave and Banhine National Parks, in Inhambane Province.

Plan your stay See the experiences

309 days until we open
15 August 2027

ZINAVENATIONAL PARK · BIG FIVE

60 km

BANHINENATIONAL PARK · BIRDS

70 km

MABOTEDISTRICT TOWN

40 min

PAFURIKRUGER BORDER

300 km

Road distances from the lodge. Vilankulo and the Bazaruto Archipelago are a short private flight or a 4x4 transfer away.

Welcome to Banamana

An eco-lodge with its own wildlife sanctuary, on the shore of a lake in the heart of Inhambane Province. Far from mass tourism, close to everything that makes Mozambique wild: national parks, villages, ancient ruins and a sky full of stars.

Zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, impalas, kudu, ostriches, hippos and warthogs live on the sanctuary land. The kitchen cooks largely from our own farm, gardens and lake. The cottages are built and furnished by local craftsmen.

If you have a wish, tell us. A candlelit dinner by the water, a birthday surprise, a sunrise you will never forget. If it can be done, we will do it.

Aerial view of Lake Banamana stretching to the horizon — Lake Banamana from above, in the rainy season

Aerial view of the lake and the wooded shore — The eastern shore, where the lodge is being built

A giraffe browsing at the top of a bush — Giraffes

Three impalas walking past a waterhole — Impalas at the waterhole

Two hippos on the bank, a third swimming, seen through binoculars — Hippos, through the binoculars

The lodge, taking shape

Thatched round suites along the lakeshore, a main house with restaurant and bar, a pool, a dormitory and a campsite, all set in the existing trees. These are the architect's 3D views; construction is under way on site.

3D view of the thatched round suites with private decks — Round suites with private terraces along the lawn

3D view of the main lodge building, pool and parking — Main house, pool and arrival

3D aerial view of the lodge layout between trees and lake — The layout, between the trees and the lake

3D aerial view of the camp among the trees — Paths through the existing trees

24 seatsRestaurant, expandable

800 mPrivate airstrip

Water towerOur stargazing platform

From 2028A treehouse cottage

Stay

Four ways to sleep at Banamana, from your own tent to a cottage with a king-size bed. Prices per night, in US dollars.

Cottage

King-size bed, air conditioning, private bathroom and terrace, breakfast

USD 190for 2 people

Room

Air conditioning, breakfast

USD 120for 2 people

Dormitory

A bed in a shared dormitory

USD 35per bed

Camping

A pitch for your tent, with access to the camp kitchen and washrooms

USD 15per person

From 2028: the treehouse. A cottage in the branches, looking over the bush and the lake. Ask us to put you on the list.

Meat grilling over an open fire on a wooden rack, the lake at sunset behind

Restaurant and bar

The heart of the lodge. Mozambican and European cooking, made largely with what grows on our farm, in our gardens and in our lake. Lunch on the terrace, long dinners under the stars, breakfast in the bush after the morning safari.

The bar is where every Banamana story ends: cold drinks, local beers, wine, and a view over the water at sunset.

Things to do

Everything starts from the lodge. All activities include instruction and a guide.

At the lodge

Per person	Half day	Full day
Quad	USD 90	USD 160
E-sand bike	USD 45	USD 75
Kayak, two-seater (per kayak)	USD 50	USD 85

Clay shooting

30 shots with instruction, 12-gauge	USD 60
30 extra shots	USD 35

Private guns are welcome. Ammunition is supplied by the lodge only.

A full day in a national park

Zinave or Banhine with our ranger and 4x4. Park fees, coffee break and bush lunch included. 2 to 9 people.

USD 160

Included for lodge guests

Night Sky. The southern sky through our electronic telescope, with a guide, on the water-tower platform. Up to 8 people, on booking.
Sunset cruise. The lake at golden hour on our motorboat, with a skipper. Up to 6 people.

Meet the neighbours

A day in Banamana village. Farming, cooking and crafts with the people who live here. About MZN 500 per guest plus MZN 1,000 for the community, paid in cash.
Manyikeni ruins. A stone town from the Great Zimbabwe era, with a local guide (Portuguese only), 1 to 2 hours. MZN 1,000 for the community.

On request

Walking and driving safaris in the Banamana sanctuary, among giraffes, zebras and antelopes
Dawn birdwatching with our guide
Catch-and-release kayak fishing on the lake
Private bush breakfast or dinner, for two or for your whole group
Birthdays, weddings and team retreats

Motorboat speeding across Lake Banamana under a cloudy blue sky — Out on the lake by day

Acacia silhouetted against a sunset over the lake — Golden hour, when the sunset cruise sets off

Neighbours and old stones

Banamana is a working village before it is a destination. Guests meet the people who live here on their terms, and every visit pays the community directly.

Women of Banamana village sitting together on the sand in front of thatched houses — Banamana village. A day of farming, cooking and crafts costs about MZN 500 per guest plus MZN 1,000 for the community.

A woman drawing water at the village hand pump — The village water pump

Young people from the village chatting by a fallen tree — A flirt between young people

A local guide standing between dry-stone walls at the Manyikeni ruins — Manyikeni: dry-stone enclosures of a town from the Great Zimbabwe era, shown by a local guide

Long dry-stone walls under trees at Manyikeni — The walls, still standing among baobabs

Baobab trunk carved with initials and dates — A baobab at Manyikeni, carved by visitors for well over half a century

Signature experiences

Four things you will only find at Banamana.

From autumn 2027 · 1 to 5 days in the bush

Banamana Wild Crossing

A small team is dropped in the Mozambican bush with one mission: reach a point on the map at a set time, relying only on its skills, teamwork and nerve. No actors, no script, no TV crew.

Prepare. A full day of training with our team and your local guide: water, heat, edible plants, tracking, navigation, animal behaviour, first aid.
Cross. Your team sets off with minimal kit. Route, pace, camp and water are your decisions.
Recover. Two days at the lodge: pool, a real bed, a long dinner, a debrief by the fire, and a drone film of your adventure.

	Discovery	Crossing	Expedition
In the bush	1 day, 1 night	3 days, 2 nights	5 days, 4 nights
Total stay	4 nights	6 nights	9 nights
Navigation	Guided route	Map and compass	Map, compass or nothing
Per person	USD 1,750	USD 2,950	USD 4,950

Teams of 2 to 6. Satellite SOS beacon with live GPS tracking, a support 4x4 always nearby, drone overwatch, water caches, and a code word that ends the exercise at any moment. Medical certificate, malaria prophylaxis and evacuation insurance required.

Bush camp on the sandy lakeshore at sunset, a fire burning — Camp on the shore of Lake Banamana

Private · 2 days in Zinave or Banhine

Banamana Safari Nights

Leave Banamana in the morning. In the afternoon, follow lions and elephants in a national park. At sunset, a candlelit table for two waits by the river. Your own ranger, your own steward, your own bush camp.

Zinave, the only park in Mozambique with the Big Five, by the Save River. Banhine, "the Okavango of Mozambique", a flooded delta full of storks, cranes and flamingos in the rainy season.

Per person, based on two
Zinave, Big Five by the Save (2 days, 1 night)	USD 690
Banhine, the Okavango of Mozambique (2 days, 1 night)	USD 620
Both parks (3 days, 2 nights)	USD 1,190

Includes transport, ranger, steward, park fees, all meals, soft drinks and a sundowner. Spacious tents with real beds, private toilets and hot showers. Small groups and families on request.

Open safari vehicle watching elephants at sunset — Late-afternoon drive, front-row seats

Elephants silhouetted against a low sun — Elephants at sunset

A young zebra in golden light under an orange sky — The last light of the day

A guide with coffee beside an open 4x4 — A coffee before the safari

Guests and a ranger at a sundowner table in the bush — Sundowner with the team

First weekend of August · first edition 5–6 August 2028

Le Tour de Banamana

Seventy kilometres of sand, gravel and game trails around the lake, and a whole district cheering you on. August is ideal: dry, sunny, pleasant temperatures and clear skies.

Route	Distance	For
The Big Eight	about 70 km	The full figure-of-eight around the lake
The Bridge Loop	about 35 km	The southern loop over the Banamana bridge
Fun Ride	Your pace	E-bikes, music and surprises, no stopwatch
Bicicleta do Povo	Local loop	Free race for local riders, on their own bikes

Weekend packages from USD 180 (own tent) to USD 440 (cottage) per person: two nights, breakfasts, race entry, pasta party, the Grand Braai, feed stations and a souvenir photo. Bring your own fat bike.

Fat bike riders racing on a sandy bush track — Fat bikes, sand and bush

First weekend of November · 5–7 November 2027

Banamana Barbel Classic

One lake, one night, fifty anglers. The target: the African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus. No boats, no gadgets, no VIP spots: everyone fishes from the same jetty, on a place drawn by lot. Only the fish decide the winner.

Catch and release. Every barbel is weighed, photographed and returned alive.
Official weigh-in on calibrated scales, with photo and certificate.
First prize: the Classic trophy and a Wild Crossing Discovery for two.

Packages from USD 180 to USD 440 per person, including two nights, breakfasts, entry, welcome drink, the Grand Braai, cap and t-shirt. Limited to 50 anglers.

A small boat crossing the calm lake at sunset — Dusk on Lake Banamana, when the barbel start to feed

No city light for 50 kilometres

From the water-tower platform, with an electronic telescope and a guide who knows the southern sky: the Milky Way from horizon to horizon, the Southern Cross, the Magellanic Clouds, Omega Centauri, the Jewel Box, and the planets of the season. You photograph them yourself, with your phone.

Three national parks within reach

The lodge sits at the crossroads of Zinave and Banhine, with the Indian Ocean and Bazaruto on the other side.

Painted mural of the Big Five with the words Distrito de Mabote, Big Five animals — Mabote, the Big Five district

Three white rhinos grazing on a hillside — Rhinos grazing

A breeding herd of elephants drinking at a waterhole — Elephants at the waterhole

An elephant calf beside its mother, seen through binoculars — Mother and calf

A Cape buffalo staring at the camera, herd grazing behind — Buffalo

Two buffalo bulls locking horns — Two bulls settling an argument

Elephants walking at sunset — Elephants at sunset

Male lion on a kill in the grass — The king at breakfast

A lioness walking along a sandy track — A lioness on the track

Two lionesses walking down a sandy road — Two lionesses on the move

Park map of Zinave National Park showing roads from Mabote, Vilankulo and Pafuri — The park map: from Mabote it is a short drive north to the Zinave gates

A Zinave ranger checking in a visitor at the park gate — Checking in with a Zinave ranger at the gate

A large safari tent on a raised platform under trees — A tented camp under the trees in Zinave

60 km north · Mabote is the Big Five district

Zinave

The only park in Mozambique where the Big Five are present all year round: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, along the Save River.

Official park page (ANAC)

Entrance sign of Banhine National Park — Banhine, part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area

African fish eagle catching a fish — The fish eagle, lord of the waters

70 km south-west

Banhine

In the rainy season the plains flood into a vast delta, home to thousands of birds: storks, cranes, flamingos and fish eagles.

Official park page (ANAC)

A sand dune crest above a turquoise sea — The great dunes of Bazaruto

A woman with arms raised on a dune above a turquoise bay — On top of the world

A woman dancing on an empty white beach — The beach to yourself

Two lines of footprints across a white sandbank — Only our footprints

A dune sweeping down to a curved beach under storm clouds — Dunes, beach and a passing storm

Boats moored off a white sandbank — Lunch stop on a sandbank

A woman with arms wide on the beach, sea sparkling behind — Arms wide open

A twin-engine boat anchored in shallow turquoise water — The boat out to the islands

Dhows anchored off a white beach near Vilankulo — Vilankulo beach, the archipelago on the horizon

Via Vilankulo

Bazaruto

The archipelago off Vilankulo: dhows, dunes, coral and dugongs. Combine the bush at Banamana with a few days at sea.

Park page (African Parks)

The site

The lodge, the sanctuary and the farm sit along the eastern shore of the lake, with the village to the south and tracks north to Zinave and east to Mabote.

Illustrated site plan of Banamana Lodge, sanctuary, airstrip and access roads — Site plan. Tap to open full size.

On the plan

Main lodge, restaurant and camp
Banamana wildlife sanctuary
Farm sector
Main and north entrance gates
Airstrip, 800 m
Quad training circuit
Banamana bridge, bikes and quads only
Clay shooting range

Map of Mozambique showing Banamana between Zinave, Banhine, Vilankulo and the Pafuri border — Where we are in Mozambique

Getting here

International flights land in Maputo or Vilankulo. From there, fly or drive.

Helicopter landed on the grass by the lake, people walking towards it

By air

Private flight from Vilankulo to the lodge's own 800 m airstrip, 2 to 4 passengers, on request. Other departure points on request.

A 4x4 on a red sandy road between palm trees

By road from Vilankulo

Transfer in our 4x4 on request. Self-drivers are welcome; the last stretch is sand, so a 4x4 is needed.

Road map from Pafuri and Kruger to Mabote, Zinave and Vilankulo

Overland from South Africa

Through the Pafuri border and Mapai on the RN222, about 300 km and eight and a half hours from Pafuri. A natural stop between Kruger, Zinave and the coast.

Big opening

15 August 2027

The official inauguration, by invitation only. Music, a party, fine food and drinks by the lake.

Partners, agencies and neighbours who would like an invitation can write to us.

Ask for an invitation

Join the founding team

We are hiring on site in Mabote for the opening. Postings are in English and Portuguese.

Nine members of the Banamana site team in uniform and hard hats — Part of the team already at work on site

Cook

Cozinheiro(a)

One position · Full-time · Reports to lodge management

Um posto · Tempo inteiro · Direção do Lodge

Design and run the lodge's kitchen from the very beginning: local and European cooking, refined yet accessible, in a 24-seat restaurant, with regional produce and our own crops.

Conceber e dirigir a cozinha do Lodge desde o início: cozinha local e europeia, cuidada e acessível, num restaurante de 24 lugares, com produtos da região e as nossas próprias culturas.

Full descriptionDescrição completa

Role

Local and European cuisine, 24-seat restaurant, expandable
Cook with regional products, in close contact with local producers and our crops
Take part in food production and processing: dairy, meat, oils, grains, fruit and vegetables
Organise the kitchen, menus and purchasing; train the local team

Requirements

Proven professional kitchen experience
Good knowledge of local and European cuisine
Rigour in hygiene and food safety
Working Portuguese; English is an advantage
Valid work permit for Mozambique

Assets

Experience in a lodge, hotel or remote restaurant
Charcuterie, cheese-making, baking or preserving
Kitchen garden, orchard or small-scale production
Cost, stock and menu management

Conditions

Accommodation at the lodge
Trial period, then a renewable fixed-term contract
Salary, days off and leave to be agreed

Missão

Cozinha local e europeia, restaurante de 24 lugares, ampliável
Cozinhar com produtos da região, em ligação com os produtores e as nossas culturas
Participar na produção e transformação: lacticínios, carnes, óleos, cereais, frutas e legumes
Organizar a cozinha, os menus e as compras; formar a equipa local

Requisitos

Experiência profissional comprovada em cozinha
Bom conhecimento da cozinha local e europeia
Rigor em higiene e segurança alimentar
Português corrente; inglês é uma vantagem
Autorização de trabalho em Moçambique

Mais-valias

Experiência em lodge, hotel ou restaurante isolado
Charcutaria, queijaria, padaria ou conservas
Horta, pomar ou pequena produção
Gestão de custos, stocks e cartas

Condições

Alojamento no Lodge
Período experimental, depois contrato a termo renovável
Salário, descanso e férias a definir

ApplyCandidatar-se

Ranger

Two positions · Men or women · Full-time, 10–11 months a year on site

Dois postos · Homem ou mulher · Tempo inteiro, 10–11 meses por ano no local

Guide visitors in Zinave and Banhine two to three days a week, and spend the rest of the time on anti-poaching patrols and wildlife monitoring on the lodge's land. Includes a 3-month training in the national parks.

Guiar os visitantes em Zinave e Banhine dois a três dias por semana e dedicar o restante tempo a patrulhas contra a caça furtiva e à monitorização da fauna nas terras do Lodge. Inclui uma formação de 3 meses nos parques nacionais.

Full descriptionDescrição completa

Role

Guiding tourists in Banhine and Zinave (2–3 days a week)
Anti-poaching patrols, always in teams; recording traps, snares and tracks; coordination with authorities and park rangers
Wildlife monitoring: counts, logbook, patrol reports

Requirements

Fluent Portuguese; basic English and a will to improve
Driving licence, ideally 4x4 on bush tracks
Good knowledge of local wildlife and flora
3-month training in the national parks
Live on site 10–11 months a year
Firearm training within the legal framework
Valid work permit for Mozambique

Assets

Safari guide or ranger experience
Remote first aid
GPS, radio, camera traps
Birdwatching, basic vehicle maintenance
Xitswa or Changana

Conditions

Accommodation at the lodge; meals, equipment and vehicle to be specified
Trial period of 3–6 months, then a renewable fixed-term contract
Salary, days off and leave to be agreed

Missão

Acompanhamento de turistas em Banhine e Zinave (2–3 dias por semana)
Patrulhas contra a caça furtiva, sempre em equipa; registo de armadilhas, laços e rastos; coordenação com as autoridades e os guardas dos parques
Monitorização da fauna: contagens, diário de bordo, relatórios

Requisitos

Português fluente; inglês básico com vontade de progredir
Carta de condução, de preferência 4x4 em picada
Bons conhecimentos da fauna e flora locais
Formação de 3 meses nos parques nacionais
Residência no local 10–11 meses por ano
Treino com arma de fogo no quadro legal
Autorização de trabalho em Moçambique

Mais-valias

Experiência como guia de safari ou ranger
Primeiros socorros em meio isolado
GPS, rádio, armadilhas fotográficas
Observação de aves, mecânica simples
Xitswa ou changana

Condições

Alojamento no Lodge; alimentação, equipamento e viatura a precisar
Período experimental de 3–6 meses, depois contrato a termo renovável
Salário, descanso e férias a definir

ApplyCandidatar-se

Plan your stay

Tell us what you have in mind. Your message opens in WhatsApp, ready to send to the lodge.

Call or message us

+258 86 295 0725

Banamana Lodge
Mabote, Inhambane Province
Mozambique

Prices are indicative, in US dollars unless stated, and may change before opening.