Zambia | Sausage Trees & Colonial Luxury | 5 Nights Lower Zambezi National Park & Victoria Falls

The Zambezi was the site of our first safari adventure, and we were thrilled when we arrived at its mighty banks, where a motorboat awaited to take us to Sausage Tree Camp. A while later, we could see the eight Bedouin-style tents of our camp and the large teak deck of the main mess area on the riverbank – home sweet home! So enticing were the river views over lunch – including that of elephant on the opposite reed island – that we chose to spend the rest of the afternoon on a walking safari, photographing the Lower Zambezi’s wildlife, both big and small. I’d read about the thrill of a Zambezi canoe safari, so we awoke eager to experience it for ourselves. As we paddled along a shallow channel, our guide pointed out Goliath herons hunting for frogs in the reeds, pied kingfishers, African fish eagles and quite a few scary-looking crocodile. We carefully bypassed hippo, who snorted as if unimpressed. Just before the end of the channel, we disturbed a flock of yellow-billed storks, whose departure revealed a lone bull elephant drinking at the riverbank. After a stop for coffee and biscuits, we were met by a motorboat that took us – and our canoes – back to camp. Our morning was a lazy one – spent at the swimming pool after a breakfast that morphed into lunch and a siesta. The afternoon’s activity was relaxing too; as our first time tiger fishing in the Zambezi we weren’t much good at catching or releasing anything! After several failed attempts, we were resigned to practicing our casting and enjoying the pleasant views and birdlife from our boat. Suddenly, a tiger was struggling at the end of my line with surprising force. After I managed to reel it in, I gazed at my worthy adversary for a few awe-struck seconds before returning it to the Zambezi.

Glorious coffees at sunrise didn’t make leaving any easier, but we were so excited to see the Zambezi plunge down into Batoka Gorge at the famous Victoria Falls that we barely registered our journey. A plume of spray heralded our arrival at the grand, colonial-style Royal Livingstone Hotel, set on the edge of the Zambezi just metres away from the Victoria Falls. We enjoyed a drink at the outdoor bar and seating area, with views of the rising spray heightening the drama and excitement. After exploring the falls on foot, we decided to do a sunset river cruise, discovering the rich wildlife of two countries on the banks beside us. We enjoyed gourmet canapés and bubbly as hippo honked beside us, sinister crocodile disappeared into the depths and waterfowls thronged the isles and channels of this majestic river. A microlight flight on the last day of our safari gave us the chance to see the falls from a completely different, aerial perspective. Being a bit of a land-animal, my partner watched anxiously as I was strapped into the rather tiny and fragile-looking aircraft behind the pilot. Soaring like an eagle over the Zambezi, my heart was in my throat as I watched the waters plunge and crash into Batoka Gorge, while intriguing facts about the falls were relayed through my helmet microphone. It was the perfect climax to what had been the safari of a lifetime.

What made our luxury Zambia safari special was, in essence, the marriage between exceptionally good service with beautiful scenery and the type of wildlife encounters most people can only dream of. While the Zambezi is the common thread, this safari straddles two vastly different sections of the river. Whether on foot, by boat or in the air, we followed its tumultuous course right to the point where it plummets into Batoka Gorge, discovering the vast array of differing landscapes that make up the Lower Zambezi and Mosi-oa-Tunya national parks. Although both set along the edge of the Zambezi, the two lodges differed completely in architecture and style: Sausage Tree Camp a collection of luxury Bedouin tents strung along the river, and The Royal Livingstone an imposing Victorian hotel with sprawling gardens – a suitably grand setting for the dramatic Victoria Falls. Both lodges provided unsurpassed service, with private butlers providing those extra touches – candlelit dinners, bubble baths and personalised attention and advice – that make your safari truly special. In each case, the presence of the Zambezi River created a distinctive energy, an ambiance underscored with a sense of drama at one, and the tranquillity of the river’s ebb and flow at the other. What both had in common was a range of activities that highlighted the best of Zambia – from canoeing down the Zambezi to game drives, walking safaris and catch-and-release tiger fishing, microlight flights or river cruises – and left us determined to return for more.