'Rivers of Life' itinerary breaks down borders for a rewarding safari experience

Travel Weekly

3 days ago

Africa's wildlife isn't bound by borders, and in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), neither are travelers. Five countries recently looked at their shared borders and asked a simple question: What if we took down the fences?
The answer to that question is the world's largest conservation area. Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe created a seamless 200,000-square-mile ecosystem where elephants migrate freely across international borders and safari-goers can follow the same herds across three countries without ever feeling like they've left one destination for another.
This cross-border vision is now captured by KAZA's new "Rivers of Life" tourism brand, a coordinated effort launched by all five partner nations to present this vast wilderness as a single adventure for travelers looking for more than just a classic game drive.
Nyambe Nyambe, executive director of the KAZA Secretariat, said that this isn't just another game park with artificial boundaries but a living ecosystem that happens to span five countries. KAZA said the absence of traditional safari crowds makes wildlife encounters in KAZA that much more intimate.
Crowd control
While Kenya's Masai Mara battles overcrowding and Tanzania's Serengeti sees endless vehicle queues, KAZA said it is offering something that is becoming increasingly rare: authentic wilderness experiences without the crowds. This is especially relevant after the July 21 incident in Kenya's Kogatende area, where video footage showed tourists disembarking from safari vehicles and physically blocking the free migration of wildebeest, a clear example of how overtourism pressure is damaging East Africa's wildlife experiences.
The best way to understand KAZA's seamless nature is through an actual cross-border itinerary that showcases how easily travelers move between countries while following wildlife and water.
The destination platform Uncover Kavango Zambezi features several sample itineraries that make these experiences easy for travel agents to string together. One such route, an itinerary called Treading the Lesser Known Pathways, starts from Caprivi Mutoya Lodge in Namibia, positioned near southern Africa's largest carmine bee-eater breeding colony. From August to November, up to 4,000 of the bright-red birds create aerial displays that rival East Africa's famous migrations. Between wildlife viewing, guided village tours let visitors interact with local families, meet their children and taste traditional foods during two-to-three-hour walking experiences.
The drive of about 180 miles to the Divava Okavango Resort and Spa shows the beauty of KAZA as it follows the river system that connects the entire region. Divava resort's 20 luxurious chalets overlook the Okavango River near Popa Falls, with Mahango National Game Park just 10 minutes away. Boat trips downstream enable travelers to see hippos, crocodiles and incredible birdlife, while sunset cruises upstream to Popa Falls provide perfect endings to days exploring both Namibian and Angolan border waters.
Hartebeests, lions and wild dogs
From here, the route ventures into Khaudum National Park in northeast Namibia, 384,000 hectares of incredible wilderness that requires serious 4x4 skills. This underrated park offers encounters with tsessebe, roan antelope, red hartebeest and important populations of lions and wild dogs. With virtually no signage and few visitors, Khaudum represents an authentic wilderness challenge where your vehicle might be the only one tracking wildlife across fossil river valleys.
The journey's cultural highlight comes at The Living Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi-San, where traditional hunter-gatherer culture continues in authentically reconstructed nomadic villages. Local San communities present their nearly forgotten culture in traditional clothing, demonstrating survival techniques developed over millennia.
Crossing into Botswana, Tsodilo Hills is sometimes referred to as the "Louvre of the Desert" with over 4,500 San paintings preserved in a small portion of the Kalahari Desert. These paintings have remained in their original state and record human activity for more than 100,000 years. Current San guides interpret these galleries, sharing stories and traditional knowledge that connects past and present.
Nxamaseri Island Lodge provides a distinctly African experience on a private island in the permanent waters of Botswana's Okavango Delta. As one of the Delta's oldest lodges, it showcases the beauty of permanent swamp and embodies the values of the indigenous people. From here, mokoro journeys cross from Botswana into Namibian waters, the only place where visitors can paddle traditional dugout canoes across international borders.
The circuit completes by crossing back into Namibia at Mohembo Border-post, continuing to Bwabwata National Park and Kazile Island Lodge. Situated on a private island within the park itself, Kazile is one of only two lodges uniquely positioned inside Bwabwata. Its 13 Meru tents overlook the Kwando River and expansive floodplains, providing direct access to some of Africa's last unfenced wilderness corridors.
This route naturally connects two of KAZA's three Unesco World Heritage Sites, the Okavango Delta and Tsodilo Hills, while positioning travelers within easy reach of Victoria Falls. But these aren't isolated attractions; they're bound together by rivers whose annual flood cycles shape not only migration routes but also cultural calendars across hundreds of communities throughout KAZA.
KAZA's mokoro safaris enable travelers to paddle traditional dugout canoes across international waters, from Botswana into Namibia, without leaving their boat. Photo Credit: Uncover Kavango Zambezi
Each year, seasonal rains in Angola's highlands create floodwaters that take four months to travel through the system, first swelling Namibia's rivers, then creating Botswana's famous delta floods and finally feeding the thunderous Victoria Falls. This annual water cycle transforms the entire landscape, creating different wildlife-viewing opportunities and water-based activities, depending on when visitors arrive.
Fams tell the story
Recent fam trips for international tour operators have demonstrated KAZA's potential as a unified destination. Amanda England of Ethos Marketing, which handles KAZA's international promotion, highlighted the transformation of tourism marketing in the region: "Previously, marketing focused on individual protected areas like Victoria Falls. These familiarization trips help bridge this gap, equipping international agents to promote the destination as a cohesive experience."
As overtourism pressures traditional safari destinations and conscious travelers seek authentic conservation stories, KAZA offers genuine alternatives. Tourism revenue directly funds wildlife corridors, enabling over 130,000 elephants, nearly 75% of Africa's population, to follow ancient migration routes between 36 national parks without human interference.
The "Rivers of Life" brand provides a compelling narrative for what could be a complex multicountry experience, proving that when countries cooperate, they create tourism possibilities that none could achieve alone.