Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the river becomes the border between Zambia and Namibia, and then between Zambia and Zimbabwe, before
plummeting over the world-famous Victoria Falls and forcing its way down the Batoka Gorge to Lake Kariba.
Beyond Kariba Dam, the major Kafue River adds its waters to the flow, and the Zambezi runs between Zimbab-
we's Mana Pools and Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park. It is joined by another large tributary, the Luangwa
River, before entering Mozambique and another dam-created lake - Lago de Cahora Bassa. Downstream from
here the giant river crosses the last few hundred kilometres of coastal plain, finally flowing into the Indian Ocean,
north of Beira.
Most of the river is wide, deep and slow-moving - ideal for canoes and even large boats. But these lazy sec-
tions are interrupted by the odd waterfall, where the river crosses bands of harder rock. These mere specks on the
map were enough to prevent navigation between the interior and the coast, as the explorer David Livingstone dis-
covered in the 19th century. Later, the colonial powers in Zambia were also unable to develop the Zambezi for
serious transportation.
From time to time, boosters - often politicians and businessmen in Zimbabwe - have proposed the creation of a
seaway linking the landlocked countries of southern Africa with the Indian Ocean along the Zambezi. Little pro-
gress has been made beyond the financing of feasibility studies - needless to say, the political, economic and en-
vironmental obstacles are immense.
Wildlife
Because of Zambia's diverse landscape, plentiful water supplies, and position between
Eastern, Southern and Central Africa, the diversity of animal species is huge. The rivers,
of course, support large populations of hippos (at around 40,000, the Zambezi River has
Africa's highest population) and crocs, and the associated grasslands provide plenty of
fodder for herds of zebras, impalas and pukus (an antelope common in Zambia, but not
elsewhere). Although the tiger fish of the Zambezi are related to the South American
piranha, there's no record of a human being attacked (however, they are attracted to blood
in the water).
Huge herds of rare black lechwe live near Lake Bangweulu, and endemic Kafue lechwe
settle in the area around the Kafue River. Kasanka National Park is one of the best places
on the continent to see the rare, water-loving antelopes called sitatungas. South Luangwa
and Lower Zambezi National Parks are good places to see tall and stunningly graceful gir-
affes, and Zambia has its own subspecies - Thornicroft's giraffe. South Luangwa has its
very own subspecies of wildebeest, too - the light-coloured Cookson's wildebeest - but
the best place to see these creatures is the Liuwa Plain, a remote grassland area in western
Zambia where thousands converge every year for Africa's second-largest wildebeest mi-
gration.
These animals naturally attract predators, so most parks contain lions, leopards, hyenas
(which you'll probably see) and cheetahs (which you probably won't). Wild dogs were
