Zambia & Zimbabwe

Nights

12

Party

2–4 guests

Countries

Zambia · Zimbabwe

From

US$ 35,000 per person, based on four guests sharing, including private aircraftExcludes international flights to and from Africa.

Best season

Jun–Oct

This is the one for people who want to walk. South Luangwa is where Norman Carr started taking guests out on foot, and Mana Pools is one of the few national parks in Africa where you can still walk the floodplain with a professional guide among elephant and buffalo. The Zambezi ties it together. You canoe it in Mana Pools, canoe it again at sunrise near Victoria Falls, and finally see it from a helicopter where it goes over the edge. Three camps, twelve nights, and a good part of every day on foot or on the water.

Highlights

• Walking in South Luangwa
• Mana Pools on foot
• Canoeing the Zambezi
• The Mana bull at the ana trees
• Victoria Falls by helicopter

1. Day 1–4

   Lusaka → Time + Tide Chinzombo, South Luangwa (4 nights)

   Your Pilatus PC-12 meets your international arrival in Lusaka and flies you east to Mfuwe, a short drive from Chinzombo's six villas on the Luangwa River. Four nights in the valley where walking safaris began. Walk in the morning, when it is cool and the tracks from the night are still fresh, and drive in the afternoon and on into the dark. The rest of the time, sit on your deck; the river in front of the villa brings the animals past.

2. Day 5–8

   South Luangwa → John's Camp, Mana Pools (4 nights)

   The PC-12 flies south, clears you into Zimbabwe and drops down into the Zambezi valley. Over the Mana Pools strip the pilot makes a low pass to clear the runway, and you are on foot not long after landing. Four nights at John's Camp. Walk the floodplain woodland with your guide and keep an eye out for the Mana bull, who stands up on his hind legs to reach the ana tree pods. One day you canoe the Zambezi, keeping a respectful distance from the hippo.

3. Day 9–12

   Mana Pools → Thorntree River Lodge, near Livingstone, Zambia (4 nights)

   A Cessna Caravan flies you west along the Zambezi to Livingstone, where you clear back into Zambia. Thorntree River Lodge is on the Zambian bank of the river, upstream of the Falls. Early one morning you go out by canoe on the Zambezi as the sun comes up. On another, your helicopter comes at the Falls from upstream at eye level and holds over the middle while the whole width of the river drops away under you.

4. Day 13

   Victoria Falls → departure

   The Embraer Phenom 300 flies you from Livingstone to Johannesburg for your international flight. It takes about two hours, and the valley you spent a week walking is right there under the wing.

Flown by turboprop, light and super-light jet and helicopter. How we choose the aircraft