Besides the other guests, you may even be lucky enough to welcome hippo, buffalo, lion and leopard into camp. (Don’t stress it. You’re perfectly safe.) Your lodge guides are well trained and will escort you to and from the main areas to your tent at all times. This is what being on safari is all about.

Inside the Chiawa Game Management Area, along the northern bank of the Zambezi River, you’re privy to 3,5km of unspoilt river frontage. Opposite the Mana Pools National Park and against a backdrop of the Zambezi Valley ridge. Ideally located, you are minutes away from the Lower Zambezi National Park and all the incredible sightings you are bound to experience. This is prime wildlife area. A whole 200 hectares of it. Wow!

All it takes is a 30 minute flight by small aircraft from Lusaka to Royal Airstrip and you are touching down for a safari the moment you arrive. Possible too by boat or by road  if you're up to the 70km of sensationally slow-going jeep track. If this doesn't shout middle-of-nowhere then your hearing aid needs testing. This is one of Zambia’s best areas for game viewing.

Royal Zambezi Lodge is family owned and intimate.  So if the abundance of wildlife isn’t enough to blow you away, the hospitality on offer sure will win you over. Head out into the bush on numerous activities with your lodge guide or simply do nothing, a strong recommendation here. Stay longer to do it all. You’ll be sorry if you don’t. Family friendly (for children from age 8), there’s loads to keep the kids busy too.

Stop during a boat cruise to play on a sand bank, angle for smaller species than the fierce tiger fish or custom your game drive to keep the young ones entertained. Want to enjoy a romantic dinner? No problem. You can leave the kids sound asleep in your suite watched over by security guards.  Meal times can be tailored for the kids and the menu too. After a day of activities and a full belly, they'll sleep like a dream. Win win.