The crimson flush of sunset stains the water as our small powerboat pulls out from a clump of reeds and heads for the African Dream, CroisiEurope’s 16-passenger luxury vessel on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba. High overhead, a fishing eagle gives its lonely-owl cry, while a crocodile pokes sly eyes above the water to assess us. Then a baby hippo wanders into view and nibbles at a patch of grass in the shallow water. He continues browsing, content as any domestic cow, until we’re just a few yards away. Then he gives an angry little snort, tumbles heavily into the water and paddles off. If you love cruising and you also want to see Africa’s “Big Five”– lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and Cape buffalo – CroisiEurope’s nine-day Safari cruise is a great way to have your cake and eat it. With three days sailing, there are numerous shore excursions, plus several days in a remote Namibian safari lodge, so the opportunities to spot wildlife up close are endless. “I think we would give your money back if you didn’t see anything”, jokes our press officer. The itinerary criss-crosses Africa’s “Four Corners”, the point where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe all meet, and we soon discover that it involves frequent (though usually interesting) stops at immigration offices to get the appropriate stamps in our passports. The flight from Victoria Falls in a six passenger prop plane is thrilling – our pilot swoops low over the snaking silver estuaries and small islets of Lake Kariba, as herds of startled impala scatter below. From the airport it’s a short drive along a muddy, bumpy track, where we meet zebra and baboons, before hopping aboard the powerboat that takes us to the African Dream.
Currently the only river ship to cruise both the Chobe and Zambezi rivers, Croisi’s new vessel was built in Zimbabwe’s Harare shipyard and it took her nearly a year to make the 621-mile journey to her Kasane homeport. Elegant as an old colonial mansion, the all-suite ship has stylish bedrooms with zebra-striped bedspreads and African-themed decor, and the goodsized bathrooms come with rain showers. Picture windows give magnificent views of the surrounding Lake Kariba – at 139 miles long, the world’s largest manmade body of water (created when the Zambezi River was dammed to provide Zimbabwe with electricity). A warm welcome from the ship’s crew is followed by the first in a succession of leisurely dinners, served in the ship’s glass-walled restaurant: tilapia fish from the lake, in a tangy lemon sauce,with a well-stocked cheeseboard and crème brûléefor dessert, served with an excellent bottle of South African wine. The following day we head out in small boats for our first water safari on the Gache Gache River. At its remote estuary in the eastern part of the lake, the Gache Gache is home to a huge diversity of wildlife. Our boat cuts through still waters where fishermen cast lines to catch enormous tiger fish, and on past petrified tree trunks where African darter birds stretch their wings to dry in the sun. Serenaded by a hundred wails, warbles and whistles, we slide into a small creek, hedged by butterfly-leaved mopane trees. Above us are lumpybeaked trumpeter hornbills, while vivid Malachite kingfishers flash back and forth above a pod of wallowing hippos. Our guide, Sam, tells us that these deceptively cute-looking beasts can be extremely aggressive. “Statistics show that hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal”, he warns, as we head back to the African Dream for dinner.
