Mana Meadows Photography

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Mana Meadows Photography

Conservation storytelling + editorial photojournalism based between Lusaka, Zambia & Harare, Zimbabwe

Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, Mana Meadows Photography specialises in editorial and corporate editorial photography and writing throughout Southern and East Africa. Mana obtained her Bachelor of Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa where she specialized in photojournalism. She has worked as a freelance photographer in magazines and newspapers in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

26/10/2025

Last light, pink jacaranda. Zambezi Valley. September time.

22/07/2025

The film "Abashimba: Return of Lions to Nsumbu" was the first feature length film I've worked on. I co-directed it together with Matt Blair and we produced it under Conservation Connect Films in collaboration with Nsumbu Tanganyika Conservation Programme - the conservation organisation spearheading the protection of the iconic Nsumbu National Park. "Abashimba" premiered last week and is out now and available for free on YouTube at the link below.

If you watch it and like it - please help us out by sharing the link below😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtXC_uMtDwk

For those interested I have added some more about the story below:

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On the shores of the world-famous Lake Tanganyika in northern Zambia lies Nsumbu National Park — a recovering wilderness, a refuge for wildlife, and a cornerstone of ecological stability in the region. The surrounding landscape is also the cultural heartland of the Tabwa people, whose Royal Family proudly identifies as the “Clan of the Lions,” or Abashimba. Yet, lions are conspicuously absent, their presence erased by decades of poaching that removed Africa’s apex predator from these lands. Restoring lions to Nsumbu is not only ecologically vital but symbolically significant. Leading this ambitious effort is the Nsumbu Tanganyika Conservation Programme. But what does it truly take to reintroduce lions and rebuild a balanced ecosystem? And will local communities — with deep cultural ties to lions — embrace the return of this powerful predator to their homeland?

16/07/2025

At the end of our workshop with Great Plains Foundation last week we spent some magical time with this guy 💫🐘🌳

Zambezi River, Mid-Zambezi Valley, July 2025
zw

15/07/2025

Tonight, at long last, our film, “Abashimba: Return of Lions to Nsumbu” premieres live in Lusaka – and at the same time will be released via YouTube for public viewing (see link in my bio).

We’re so excited to share the story of this very special national park – a beautiful wilderness that has recovered – and prospered – in the face of serious adversity. More so, the journey taken by the small but extremely dedicated team of the Nsumbu Tanganyika Conservation Programme , who are behind this remarkable recovery. And of course – the story of both ecological and cultural revival – as lions return to a landscape, and to a people who have never forgotten them.

It’s also a huge personal and professional milestone for .zw and me. Our first feature documentary, nearly three years in the making, this project began when Zambezi was just a newborn. As a tiny husband-and-wife film crew – and a brand-new family travelling to some of the remotest parts of Zambia for long stretches – it pushed and shaped us in ways we hadn’t imagined.

Thank you to everyone who’s been with us on our own little journey – and we hope you watch it soon!

31/01/2025

Calm breeds calm 🦓🐃

Slowly going through the archives - and sorting through 20 years of photo assignments spread over 34 harddrives 😅 It’s a happy, if frenetic, rabbit warren. This was the Nsumbu Buffalo + Zebra translocation 2021, from North Luangwa National Park to Nsumbu National Park. Check out the wonderful work is doing up in one of the most beautiful corners of Africa

29/01/2025

What happens when you skip the game drives in favor of staying in one place? It can be daunting – the height of FOMO – to trade the chance of seeing the ‘big stuff’ to study birds and baboons instead. But sometimes the small, in-between moments can surprise you, even transform you. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to spend ten mindful days observing the rhythm of life at a waterhole in Mana Pools National Park. It was game-viewing with slowness, deliberation… decelerating to nature’s pace. I’m a person used to sitting still, used to quiet. So I was surprised when the first few days weren’t easy. My skin crawled with the decadence of all the sitting around. I realized being bored and alone with one’s thoughts is something that requires practice…even more so these days unfortunately. I kept a journal most days.

Slow safari series, 1 of 5: One feature is extraordinary in its ordinariness: the Combretum obavatum interspersed with the wooly caper bush that surrounds the pan forms a loose boundary between the water and the evergreen canopy behind this arena. With my beginner’s eye, I find this vegetation duo frustrating. The tough, spidery branches stretch out like dried witch’s fingers – grasping and unphotogenic. Animals and birds melt into it and out of sight like ghosts.

But as I sit and watch, I realize that is exactly the point. This scraggly scrub is a bastion of neutral sanctity, offering peace and protection to all creatures, night and day. Leopards and hyena slink away from defensive cow elephants by night. By day, trouble-stirring teenage baboons fling themselves into its interior, fleeing retribution from older siblings. Mother baboons desperately shove wide-eyed babies into its scratchy depths – shielding them from thundering dog baboons intent on infanticide….. cont in comments

27/01/2025

Bright mornings, dark looks. Nsumbu National Park buffalo and zebra translocation, 2021, carried out by the Nsumbu Tanganyika Conservation Programme - - a partnership between .zoological.society and Zambia’s Departmentof National Parks and Wildlife. Two hundred buffalo and 48 zebra were moved from North Luangwa National Park to Nsumbu over the course of a two week operation which took over two years to plan.

25/01/2025

Storm approaching, Nyaminyami awoken.
Rain rain, come again, let that blue line rise.
Lake level @ 20th January 2025: 476m

24/01/2025

One of my favorite photos - and favorite safari companies. On foot with

04/10/2024

Lions return to Zambia’s Nsumbu National Park! Congratulations to the Conservation Programme on achieving another historic milestone for this rapidly recovering national park.

I was delighted to be on the ground in Nsumbu, Zambia’s far northern park, two weeks ago, helping to document another monumental chapter in its history: the arrival of three lions from North Luangwa National Park ( ) — two females from the same pride and one male from a separate pride. This move has involved years of careful planning, ecosystem recovery and close engagement with key stakeholders. This trio will hopefully establish a new breeding population of lion in Nsumbu - and a new chapter in its ecological recovery!

In previous decades, heavy local poaching combined with geopolitical conflicts in neighbouring countries decimated Nsumbu’s wildlife. Sadly, lions were no exception and are thought to have gone locally extinct due to snaring, a threat that has since been addressed after seven years of incredibly hard work throughout the ecosystem by the NTCP ( ) — an organisation formed in 2017 through a partnership between .zoological.society (FZS) and Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW).

Address

Harare
Lusaka

Website

http://www.manameadows.com/

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