Zambezi Canoe Safari

Most Inspirational Moment

Being surrounded by elephants at our camp and canoeing past so many pods of hippo's. They are in abundance here! Seeing so many different bird species, including the carmine bee-eaters' & their nests which only occurs at a certain time of year. Being a part of the best group of adventurist souls on this departure! Canoeing on the Zambezi of course!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, CB and assistant guide, Julius, were top notch! They were caring, compassionate, extremely knowledgeable (you can ask them anything) and very experienced. I had a great time canoeing with their crew in training, Chuchu. This is not excluding the flycamp crew who tended to our every need and, even though it was camping with basic amenities, they gave us five star service.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Read the trip notes! Everything you need is in there. Make sure you follow the guidelines. I used a large drybag to pack my first 4 days' worth of baggage and had a small shoulder bag that I could keep with me while canoeing for things like binoculars, sunscreen, shades etc. For the warmer months, a sarong or two is very much recommended. You can wet this and cover your shoulders and your legs to keep cool and protect yourself from the sun. The 2x2m tents are actually large enough for two to share. You will have a mattress on a stretcher at the fly camp so you will be elevated from the ground. Take carabiners to clip your items to things like your tent/bag/ the showers. These I found to be super useful. Phone signal is almost non-existent on the trip, so keep this in mind when going back into the wild!

Most Inspirational Moment

Hmmm lots to choose from! Watching two elephants playfighting from the fly camp, being taught how to navigate using the stars by our tour leader, going to sleep to the sound of elephants and hippos.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Martin was incredible. His knowledge about the local wildlife, plants, culture and history was so impressive. He worked tirelessly to make sure we had an amazing trip, always making sure we were comfortable and safe. Such a pleasure to spend the week with him. His assistant Stuart was fantastic too - also went the extra mile to make sure we had a great trip!

Most Inspirational Moment

The sunrises and sunsets - beautiful

Thoughts on Group Leader

Put our safety and wellbeing first, but was always happy to laugh and joke with us :-)

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just enjoy it

Most Inspirational Moment

The fact that you could get safely so close to wild animals like elephants, which you could never do on land. It was magical to go to sleep in your tent knowing elephants and hippos would wander past during the night.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, one of the best. There were 13 people and six canoes, so one canoe had to take three and we ended up in the canoe with the guide. This was great as he did most of the paddling, making ours a premium adventure! The trip has its' potential hazards; at one stage a large crocodile sallied forth towards us, but our guide got us to splash the water with our paddles which drove it away; he would keep a close eye on us and get us to move back if we were getting potentially too close to elephants in the water.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing all the wildlife- I loved the hippos and we even had an elephant join us for lunch one day!

Thoughts on Group Leader

CB was a very good leader- knowledgeable and quick to help with any problems. He definitely had a sense of humour as well! Evans, the assistant leader, was quieter, but always on hand to help.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Tips- you definitely need a torch and a camera! There are no shops on the trip so if you want snacks or alcohol, buy it on the way to the campsite from the airport. This is not the trip for anyone who likes a lie-in! We had breakfast at 7 every day.

Most Inspirational Moment

We had visited Kruger Park earlier this year and seen many animals but it was not the same as seeing then close up and personal on this trip. Many close encounters. Highlights include elephants gatecrashing my birthday celebrations, close up views of hippos, crocs, and numerous antelope. Apart from the wildlife, sunrises and sunsets over the Zambezi were pretty impressive.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our leader CB exuded a sense of calm and always seemed in control of situations which included persuading elephants to leave our camp. He and his assistant Best looked after us and cooked wonderful meals. It is difficult to praise them too highly.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Travel light. You do not need that extra t-shirt. Make sure you have sufficient sun cream. Take a camera.

Suggestions

I have been on a number of adventure holidays. This has got to be one of the best.

Most Inspirational Moment

Getting so close to the elephants (which is the main reason I chose the holiday). the sense of achievement for actually getting to the end without breaking!

Thoughts on Group Leader

CB was amazing. Very knowledgeable, humorous, kind, professional and clearly enjoyed his job. It is no wonder he is an award winner. Best made the perfect assistant guide and is clearly learning a great deal from CB. Both together looked after us so well and work brilliantly as a team.

Advice for Potential Travellers

sunscreen. I ran out of 2 tubs (although half of one ended up at the bottom of the safari truck). Deet - I had 2 and ran out although I was probably the one with more bites than anyone else. Bite cream offers a major relief for the bites. Head torch (with a red light), gloves for the rowing. Prepare for no showers until the comfortable camping half way through but we were able to cool off and kind of clean off in the river a couple of times. It is proper wild camping so there are no toilets until the comfortable camp but the views you get when behind the bushes are literally stunning :-) If you can, add on a quick trip to Livingstone for the Victoria Falls. You are so close it would be a shame to miss it. As well as bringing a load of school supplies bring an extra suncream with you if you can. They give any spare suncream to a charity looking after albino children as it is prohibitively expensive in Zambia.

Suggestions

Bring your sense of adventure with you and you will not go wrong.

Most Inspirational Moment

The animals!

Thoughts on Group Leader

He was just wonderful.

Most Inspirational Moment

Paddling to one of the islands to watch the gorgeous sunset with elephants eating 50m away. Then listening to them as drift off to sleep. Seeing a pride of 5 lions on a game drive was also pretty special.

Thoughts on Group Leader

CB was well liked by everyone, right combination of humour, knowledge and always there with advice or a calming reassurance. He clearly loves the job and all the guests agreed he was as much like a friend on the tour as well as never stopping in looking after us. If you needed it then CB would have it or find a way to get it for you. First class guide and especially nice to see him teaching Best the assistant guide in any downtime.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Packlight but bring an extra t-shirt or top. Antibacterial soap can wash hardwearing clothes if want to do that too. Plenty of bug spray and sunscreen as you will use it. Bring a good point and shoot as well as dslr as in the canoe wielding a big lens isn't always practical. Change about $50 at the airport and get a few bonus items at the shop on the way - you will need about 1 - 2l for the drive in the heat. Try and find a right sized paddle Lastly have most of your stuff for the first 3 nights ready to go in a separate daysack in your softbag. When you reach the 1st camp it is often dark and you don't have much time.

Suggestions

This is an incredible adventure and feels like a true old style safari up river. It isn't for people who want air con lodges and to be sat 200m from the animals, but if you can skimp on the mod cons it is worth every penny

Most Inspirational Moment

Sat in the front of the canoe looking a huge male elephant in the eye just 19 feet away

Thoughts on Group Leader

TK and his assistant Beste were fantastic - helpful, knowledgeable, encouraging, great cooks and brilliant sense of humour.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take rowing gloves to prevent blisters

Suggestions

You do get very close to the wildlife and the hippos and elephants graze and walk through the camps at night - magical moments but not for the faint hearted. And this really is wild camping - no creature comforts but absolutely brilliant .