A horseback safari in the wilds of Zambia
The sight of lions "lurking" in the grass lends a certain edge to most African riding safaris – but there are places where you can take in the continent's magnificent landscapes on horseback "without feeling like prey".
One such is Simalaha, said Sophy Roberts in the Financial Times. This roadless, 18,000sq km community conservancy on the banks of the Zambezi River in Zambia was founded in 2012 by two local Lozi chieftains, in collaboration with the Peace Parks Foundation, which works to rewild ecosystems stretching across national borders in southern Africa. Many species have been reintroduced, including roan antelope, eland, sable and giraffe. So far, however, there are no big cats, and recently a Zambian couple, Gail Kleinschmidt and Doug Evans, launched riding safaris here – the only tourism operation in the area. Most guests of Zambian Horseback Safaris fly into Livingstone, next to the Victoria Falls, and travel to Simalaha by boat – a glorious journey along the "colossal, swirling" Zambezi, past "belching" hippos and "fat" crocodiles "basking on bone- white sands".
The accommodation consists of four tented guest rooms on wooden stilts, each with a terrace facing a waterhole, and a kitchen hidden in a copse, where a Lozi chef, Henry Mununga, cooks up "spectacularly good" food (including flame-seared steaks, nasturtium and green leaf salads, and homemade ice cream). The 25 horses graze freely as a herd, and guests ride out twice a day – morning and evening – to beat the "sizzling" midday heat. Simalaha is on the Zambezi's flood plain – this is "big sky country" – and when I was there, shortly before the rains, the light was often magical.
There was lots of wildlife to see, including galloping herds of wildebeest; and plenty of time to chat with local villagers and cattle herders, or just to take in the heart-stopping views across the landscape, punctuated with "islands of waxen baobabs" and "lines of grazing game".
Safarious (safarious.com) has a seven-night trip from £3,270pp, excluding flights.
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