The beautiful and wild Lower Zambezi Valley is a pristine area of untouched Africa centred on the Zambezi River downstream of Lake Kariba. The park is home to many species including big herds of elephant, and buffalo and plentiful lions, it is also a great place to see leopard.
The park itself is home to some of Africa’s finest, small, upmarket camps widely spaced along the river bank throughout the park.
I was exploring the Lower Zambezi with a view to designing some exciting adventurous safaris which could be a natural extension to Safari Clubs “Luangwa Trail” safari and other Zambian safaris.
The big attraction of this park in addition to the magnificent river is the variety of activities on offer, these include the usual day and night game drives, guided walks, canoeing and boat safaris on the river and arguably the best catch and release tiger fishing in Africa, naturally I tried them all.
The game drives here were rewarding and the specialist guides very knowledgeable and competent, the best game viewing seemed to be in the central region of the park near to Old Mondoro and Chiawa Camps.
A delicious lunch on a floating pontoon drifting slowly down the river was an unexpected and very enjoyable treat.
I very much enjoyed my guided two hour bush walk, which I did near to Anabezi Camp, we came across a herd of elephant on foot and plenty of other wildlife. We also came across a safari vehicle with guests who were observing a pair of leopards which were hiding in a thicket, we gave them a wide berth.
The canoe safaris were a real highlight, most camps where to buy aciclovir tablets offer them and I did one from Chongwe River Camp and another from Chiawa. A rigorous safety briefing precedes the canoe safaris which are not too strenuous. As you glide slowly and silently downstream along one of the Zambezi River’s many channels navigating the pods of hippo and watching the huge crocodiles slide into the river the adrenalin really starts to flow. At one point our way was blocked by a herd of bathing elephant and we had to wait our turn to pass.
I also took a couple of fishing trips whilst at Anabezi Camp and Sausage Tree Camp, the fishing is incredible and a number of fearsome tiger fish were landed up to around 6 kg in weight. The great thing about this activity is that you don’t need to be a keen angler to enjoy it. The guides are great at teaching you the basics and supporting those having difficulty with their catch, with all the equipment at hand it’s a very relaxed and rewarding experience. There is so much wildlife and birdlife both in the river and on the banks and many islands that non anglers will enjoy the relaxing boat trip equally well.
The wildlife and birdlife seen at close quarters on the canoe and boat trips is a joy to behold!
Whilst in Lower Zambezi I also had the opportunity to look at the brand new Amanzi Camp which had just been built, Amanzi is a four room luxury camp in the eastern section of the reserve. I think this camp will be really special as it has such a great location and superb design.
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