Zambezi

Africa calling

Imagine drifting along in a tiny boat ... and looking down a hippo’s throat. Our Zambezi cruise is Africa up close - as if flamingos and marabous, zebras, gazelles and antelopes, rhinos, meerkats and, last but not lightest, the hippos are about to clamber aboard!

A boat with full expedition equipment and a corrugated iron roof to keep off Hannover’s tropical sunshine leaves the jetty every few minutes to glide silently downstream on a 12-minute expedition through the Dark Continent. Expect close animal encounters when giraffes, wild asses and antelopes come down to the river to drink. This Zambezi boat adventure is waiting for you, all day every day from late March until the end of October, and is included in the admission price – travel as often as you like!

Zebras, antelopes and gazelles race across the gentle hills of a steppe landscape beside blue neck ostriches. A hanging bridge, tortuous paths and caves wreathed in mist turn a stroll around the zoo into the expedition of a lifetime. 'Africa to touch' is for real on Pelican Island. These wacky birds will stretch their downy necks to be stroked, but watch out - they’re also shameless pickpockets! A little further on, a hundred flamingos colour the banks of the Zambezi a delicate shade of pink.

Zambezi Lodge is the best lookout point over the African savannah where giraffes, springboks and blesboks live, hungrily regarded across a moat by two magnificent lions. From the Lodge you’re face to face with a giraffe when he comes to the high feeding basket and pulls out hay with his astonishingly long blue tongue.

The hippos don't get quite as close to visitors in the Zambezi boats - their territory in a tributary of the river is separated by rocks and tree trunks. When our 'plump ladies' aren't patrolling the Zambezi or parading their Rubenesque proportions on the riverbank they like to retire to Hippo Canyon, where you can still watch them through the glass sides of their pool. Ever seen a heap of hippos cuddling underwater? Unforgettable!