EMBARKING ON BOATS
There is something special about seeing the world from a boat – whether it’s a larger one with comfy seats or a two-person traditional dugout canoe (the mokoro). It is from a boat that you can see the hippo and crocodiles and from the silence of a dugout canoe, the variegated reed frogs, malachite kingfishers and Pel’s fishing owl.
The Okavango Delta is your boating and mokoro destination. Visit between June and October when the waters are at their highest. Some camps focus entirely on water activities such as Delta Camp, Setari Camp and Xugana Island Camp. For the best combination experience of water and rewarding game drives, opt for a combination camp. Here, your game drives are included as well as your boating and mokoro safaris. Our top spots are Shinde Camp, Jacana Camp and Kanana Camp.
For a superb camp combo safari experience that has both boats and island walks, we love Camp Okavango. And for those with deeper pockets, our top picks are Little Vumbura (you need to book a year in advance at least), the newly built Jao and Kingspool camps, Duma Tau and Qorokwe Camp.
Boating on big rivers is the place to see the variety of aquatic mammals as well as spot game on the shorelines. The Chobe River in Botswana is one such location. The riverfront area can get crowded in the high season so we like to send our guests to quieter spots such as Chobe Game Lodge (the only lodge inside Chobe National Park), Muchenje Safari Lodge (on the western side) and for those on a tighter budget, Tlouwana, which is in the Lesoma Valley outside the town of Kasane.
The Zambezi River systems are also excellent boating destinations. In Zimbabwe, avoid the hustle of the river close to town in Victoria Falls and opt for Old Drift Lodge or Victoria Falls River Lodge. In Zambia, near Livingstone, our top picks are Thorntree Lodge, Waterberry Lodge and Chundukwa River Lodge. Then, in the Lower Zambezi area, look no further than The Royal Zambezi or the sublime Anabezi.
The vast Shire River in Malawi is where you will see the biggest concentration of hippo and crocodiles (head for Mvuu Lodge). For the most concentrated mix of birds and beasts, the Kazinga Channel in Uganda is unbeatable (stay at Mweya Lodge) and combine this with a memorable boat trip on the Nile River from Baker’s Lodge up to Murchison’s Falls.