Lower Zambezi National Park
The counterpart to Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe is Zambia’s newest national park. Lower Zambezi National Park is still slightly rough around the edges, but already one of the most popular parks in the country. On the north-western shores opposite of Mana Pools the park’s rich wildlife and lush vegetation feeds of the mighty Zambezi River.
Zambezi Wildlife
The park is known for close-up views of incredibly large herds of elephant and hippopotamus. The large mammals love the water of the Zambezi and marvelling at them from a boat or canoe will give you a new perspective. The river also supports large amounts of buffalo and waterbuck as well as some stunning birdlife. The cry of the fish eagle can be heard from afar and the colourful carmine bee-eater is always a favourite among birders. A little further inland you’ll find lion and leopard as well as various antelope and zebra.
Canoe Tours
The nourishing water of the Zambezi gives the park its character and creates fantastic opportunities for water-based game viewing. A multi-day canoe tour is an incredible experience of the African wilderness and will get you close to elephants and hippos playing and swimming in the water. Camping on the riverbanks or in islands within the Zambezi certainly has an adventurous touch to it and will leave you with priceless memories.
The river also offers great fishing with tiger fish, bream and large specimen of vundu lurking beneath the surface. Many of the lodges offer waking safaris with great animal viewing and a completely different experience of this habitat.
When to Go and How to Get There
Lodges are generally open from April to November, but the best game viewing is from June to September. The park can be explored by 4×4 but being a fairly new park is not yet very well mapped out. A guide will a quality to your experience, but the way to get the most out of Lower Zambezi National Park is by canoe. These multi day tours are downstream and can be done fully accommodated or as a camping option.
