Lodges in

Zambezi (Caprivi) Region

In 2014, the Caprivi Strip was renamed the Zambezi Region, swapping the name of a German governor for that of one southern Africa's great Rivers. There are 13 regions in Namibia, but of these only the Zambezi boasts 6 ethnic tribes – Subia, Yeyi, Mafwe, San, Tortela and Mbukushu. Amazingly, they have adapted a Zambian language – Lozi – as a common medium of communication. The Zambezi Region is also the only region that shares its borders with 4 other countries – Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, all members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The regional capital is the town of Katima Mulilo, which is located on the Zambezi River. There are no other major towns in the area, although it is fairly densely populated and travellers will encounter numerous villages.

Another huge draw-card is that the Caprivi is surrounded by 4 perennial rivers – Chobe, Kwando, Linyanti and the mighty Zambezi. For years, this area was the domain of the South African Army – wildlife suffered as a result- but with soldiers long gone, wildlife populations have recovered. These waterfront areas combine riverine forests with vast wetlands, attracting over 600 species of bird, 4 of the big 5 (less rhino) as well as boasting 4 National Parks – Bwabwata, Nkasa Rupara, Mudumu and Mahango. Nearly 200 kinds of flora, shrubs, trees and fruits, complement the wildlife and amazing geography.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise looking at a map, to learn that the Zambezi Region has a unique history. Until the end of the 19th Century it was known as Itenge and was under the rule of the Lozi Kings. In the late 1800's the strip of land was administered as part of the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (Botswana) until 1890 when Germany laid claim to the British administered island of Zanzibar, to which Britain objected. The dispute was settled by the Berlin Conference in 1890, when Queen Victoria acquired Zanzibar, and Germany settled for the territory which became known as the Caprivi Strip; named after German Chancellor, General Count Georg Leo von Caprivi di Caprara di Montecuccoli. 

The German motivation behind the swap was to acquire a strip of land linking German South-West Africa with the Zambezi River, thus providing easy access to Tanganyika (Tanzania) and ultimately the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately for the Germans, the British colonization of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia) stopped them well upstream of Victoria Falls, which proved a considerable barrier to navigation on the Zambezi. (Not the old British colonial treaty chestnut again!) During WWI the Caprivi Strip again came under British rule and was governed as part of Bechuanaland, but it received little attention and became known as a lawless frontier. (Reputations can be hard to shake off!) Nowadays most people who live in the Zambezi Region, survive as subsistence farmers, who make their living on the banks of the Zambezi, Kwando, Linyati and Chobe Rivers.

In terms of visiting this beautiful region, the dusty dry desert climate gives way to wetter, greener tropical conditions. Many of the lodges, hotels & accommodation establishments found in these areas are situated on the banks of one of the region's main rivers (the Kwando, Kavango & Zambezi) or one of their tributaries.

Activities from these establishments are often water based, with game viewing by boat and river cruises at sunset being particularly popular at most lodges. The wildlife found in the area is also strikingly different to that which one would expect to find in the rest of Namibia - Here hippos and waterbuck are likely to roam past your lodge room, while crocodiles rest on sandbanks along the rivers