Our Lower Zambezi
A PERVADING SENSE OF THE WILD AND NATURAL
When the idea of a national park was conceived many decades ago, there was a common ideal; the preservation of wild and beautiful places for posterity and as symbols of national pride. If there ever was a picture of that idea, there are many places along the Zambezi that could be it.
The difficulty in telling people about a place such as the Lower Zambezi, is the desire to lay broad claim as to how exceptional it is, and you are often lulled into the use of comparisons and abstractions so as to adequately convey a sense of what it is to be here and in such an encompassing moment. It might be having an elephant watch you catch a tigerfish or it might be that you feel as though this place hasn’t changed in thousands of years. Home to large elephant and buffalo herds, high big cat populations, rare predators such as wild dog and cheetah, abundant birdlife and a world-class fishery, the Zambezi Valley is a genuine avenue of enchantment.
SAMPLE itinerary - 9 days
Day 1-3 - After arriving in Lusaka you'll board a private air charter into the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia. Here you'll be based on one of the remotest sections of the Zambezi and you'll have the privilege of enjoying rare wildlife spectacles in genuine peace and solitude. Your activity options will be abundant and include canoeing, boat cruises, game drives, bush walks, relaxing in your private pool, fishing and game drives by boat. You might also want to get comfortable with elephants venturing through the camp as they feed on the yellow pods of the Ana Tree, of which there are many in and around camp.
Day 4-6 - At this point you'll embark on a transfer the like of which you'll probably never experience again. After traversing 100km of the wild and beautiful Zambezi by boat, you'll arrive at a remote riverside border post which we'll use to cross into Zimbabwe where you'll be based in our private camp. After enjoying the myriad islands and wide Zambezi (3km in some sections) during days 1 through 3, here you'll have the opportunity to experience a narrower river as it passes through a gorge and all that comes with that. Expect birds of prey, leopards, rare antelope, agile elephants and samango monkeys.
Day 7-9 - Because the river transfer was so glorious the first time around, you'll get to do it again as we transfer you upstream to the eastern edge of Mana Pools National Park. Here you'll commence a three day walking safari on the Mana Pools floodplain, the only national park in the Africa in which you are permitted to walk unguided should you so choose. You'll be guided of course but it speaks to the fact that the Zimbabwe Parks authority has endeavoured to keep Mana Pools as wild and natural as possible. As a mobile camping experience, you'll get to see different parts of the park on each day ensuring varied landscapes, world-class game and bird sightings and certainly a story to bring home.
