10 Day Lower Zambezi Canoeing and Kafue National Park Safari

You arrive at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka (LUN), where you will be welcomed by our representative who will then assist you with luggage and transfer you to Pioneer Lodge where you will spend your night before your fantastic canoeing Safari on the Zambezi River in lower Zambezi.

Check-in, relax, enjoy your room, and later dinner and bedtime.

Morning Breakfast at Pioneer Lodge, then our driver will transfer you to Zambezi Breezes in Chirundu where your canoeing Safaris will start.

Meet at Zambezi Breezes in Chirundu at approximately 10:00 for a two-hour drive downstream to the lunch place. After a briefing and lunch on the edges of the river, you begin your afternoon canoeing to Mtondo Island for your very first night camp, arriving at around 17:00.

Canoeing on the first day is kept to the mainstream on a natural going strong current. Setting up the lodge accompanied by tea or coffee, snacks, and later dinner before retreating at night.

Canoeing begins early after morning tea or coffee and biscuits. About at 06:30, depart Mtondo Island for a downstream breakfast stop at roughly two-hour canoeing.

You are continuing through the Lower Zambezi National Park for lunch between 12:30 to 14:00 away from the midday sun. Then canoe to your next night's camp at or near Chikwenya Island if the weather permits. On this day, you travel a good 25 kilometers of the river into both Mana Pools National Park and Lower Zambezi National Park.

All daily routine, on this day, you will canoe through offshoot river channels where birdlife and game abound. Leaders will stop at points of importance to witness wildlife. Fascinating parts of the river at this point pass three kilometers in width with a labyrinth of canals to explore.

Both sides of the river at this spot are flanked by magnificent national parks where one is likely to see the highest concentration of game on the river.

Exiting Mana Pools National Park and enter the safari area on the south bank while staying within the Lower Zambezi National Park. Starting to narrow down, and the current becomes stronger as the stream proceeds into what is known as the False Mupata Gorge.

From this point, the safari is restricted to the mainstream for about 30 kilometers as you pass through this scenic gorge with sheer rock structures and cliff edges. Campsite on this night is chosen from one of many natural sandy beaches on the land within the confines of the gorge

The day is spent canoeing through the rest of the Mupata Gorge, watching the 300-million-year-old volcanic rock that forms part of the Great Rift Valley. At approximate midday, the canoes exit the gorge, and the guide proceeds through to Red Cliffs for lunch and a break away from the midday heat before continuing to the night’s island campsite.

Depending on joining flights the next day, the guide may discuss a more proper camping site with the team closer to the finishing point. Absolute Zambia Safaris does suggest that connecting flights are caught the day after the safari ends.

Depending on the choice of campsite, there is an early rise tea or coffee and breakfast before the remaining canoeing through to the end of the canoeing safari. The take-out point arrives at approximately 09:00 for the return transport to Lusaka.

This ride is in an open-roofed Land Cruiser with a shaded canopy. Alternatively, depending on the group’s wishes, you may continue paddling on day 5 to the Feira take-out point. This means, the transport will be able to leave earlier for the return five-hour trip to Lusaka, but it says there will be no canoeing on the final day. Lunch will be served on the roadside under a tree.

You will spend a night at Pioneer Lodge in Lusaka. Arrival at Pioneer lodge Check-in and relax later it's dinner and bedtime.

Morning breakfast and transfer to Mukambi Safari Lodge in Kafue National Park. This will be an adventurous road trip, passing through villages and most of it is in the bush, so there is a lot to see along the way, and the fact that it is a private safari means you have the flexibility to stop along the way when you find something interesting.

Begin your day with breakfast and then go for a morning game drive you can choose to do a walking safari and return to the lodge for the lunch break and relaxation time. Later afternoon tea and night game drive, or a Sunset Boat Cruise, return to the lodge for dinner and bed.

The morning will start with breakfast and depending on your flight time out of Lusaka our driver will pick you up after breakfast or you will do your morning game viewing activity and then depart for Lusaka. You will be transferred to Lusaka International Airport (LUN) in Lusaka for your onward connection.