If I Were Going...: Africa: Zambezi River Cruise

More Elephants!

We signed up for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River above Victoria Falls. We opted for the sunset cruise instead of the dinner cruise because we were told that the sunset cruise covers more of the length of the river and, really, wouldn’t you rather just look instead of eating?

Becca, Kandice, Kristen and Alexis on the cruise

The cruise did include complimentary drinks and snacks. Of course, I was taking medication, so I couldn’t drink.

Caty, Becca and me on the cruise

I expected a benign, relaxing cruise with maybe a few bird sightings. We got way more! A pretty sunset.

This looks just about right!

And, some cool birds and Elephants!

This one is a bit worked up

I didn’t really expect that (although I guess I should have).

The Zambezi

At 1,599 miles long, the Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa. It begins in the northeast corner of Zambia and flows in a southerly direction through eastern Angola, back into Zambia, then it turns east along the eastern border of Namibia and just kisses the northern border of Botswana before running along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean. Victoria Falls, of course, is where the river drops 354 ft. over a 5,604-foot-long cliff edge into a ravine at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

River's course

Above the falls, the Zambezi is broad and shallow, and flows slowly. That’s where we were. As we floated along, we saw other tour boats …

Cruising is the big activity

Hippos …

Hippos!

... Accompanied by Red-billed Oxpeckers …

On the shore

… Nile Crocodiles …

Crocs!

… and on the shore, an African Skimmer snuggled down into the sand …

Resting in the setting sun

... another Hadeda Ibis ...

Feeding by the river

… a bunch of Egyptian Geese with a majestic African Openbill, so called because its top and bottom bills have a wide gap and join only at tip …

A collection of interesting birds

… an even more majestic Wahlberg’s Eagle sitting on a snag on the river’s edge …

Pretty raptor

Unlike some of the other birds, we were able to get really close to this one, along with the Reed Cormorants sitting on the lower branches …

Reed Cormorant

There were lots of flying birds and, since it was rapidly getting dark, I couldn’t capture most of them. I did get a Yellow-billed Stork ...

Stork fly-by

... and Marabou Stork without even realizing what it was!

A surprise

And, I got a rather dark photo of a Giant Kingfisher right after it landed in a tree. This 18-inch-long bird was the third Kingfisher species we saw in Africa – and it almost escaped us.

I wish i could have gotten a better shot

We kept scouring the shore, hoping to get a glimpse of an Elephant because we had been told they live along the banks. As we approached the turnaround point for our trip back to the dock, the sun was setting and we were resigned to seeing no large animals except Hippos. And then we saw some Elephants a bit back from the shore.