Floating down the Zambezi in a canoe is the best way to see Africa's animals. The Lower Zambezi National Park covers an area where the sluggish river spreads over a wide valley and breaks up into little channels, ideal for animals.

Canoeing from the park means that you can enter this environment noiselessly with minimal impact on the environment. You feel part of the landscape and the animals seem to accept you. As you travel downstream, six-foot crocodiles plunge from the banks into the river and the odd hippo comes to check you out. But don't worry, the canoe guides are well trained and hippos are pretty stupid. Once they submerge they swim to where they last saw you, by which time you are safely downstream.
Elephants move slowly across the river, occasionally stopping to have a bath or to hose themselves down with trunkfuls of water, and buffalo and antelope graze on the riverside. Your guides can point out all the different animals and birds that you encounter on the trip. They can also direct you to shallows where you can walk around without danger of being munched by crocodiles. It really is a very special experience. There is an amazing peace that hangs over the waters of the river and the world seems to move in slow motion.

This is also true of the evenings, when you can dine while antelope and buffalo come down to the river for an evening drink. In the morning you may discover traces of elephants that have moved through the camp in the night and maybe even the spoor of lions. Canoe trips can be arranged through the various lodges in the National Park, or you can join one of the canoe safaris that operate down the Lower Zambezi. Itineraries vary, but the best trips travel through the national park and even further downstream towards Mozambique.
Accommodation in the park is in luxury lodges. The roads demand 4WD vehicles and there is nowhere to pick up supplies. Plan your trip carefully if you want to come here under your own steam.
The best time to visit is from June to September, although the lodges and canoe operators run from April to November.