KAZA A TO Z
A IS FOR AFRICA’S EDEN
The hope is that one day a single tourist visa will allow for easy movement around KAZA, but until then, itʼs operations such as Africaʼs Eden that can make travelling the region painless. Any SADC resident can join the Africaʼs Eden Travellerʼs Club, which gives members access to discounts on accommodation, flights and various extras all across KAZA. With Victoria Falls as the gateway, it comprises more than 400 members – and counting – across Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana. Members include lodges and guesthouses, local service providers, restaurants, tour companies and airlines, all of which pledge to support and promote NGOs, conservation organisations, and small local businesses on the periphery of tourism. Annual club membership starts at $350.
B IS FOR BUSHTRACKS AFRICA
Hereʼs your answer to getting around KAZA in comfort and style. Bushtracks offers airport transfers, local tours, river cruises on the Zambezi and the Chobe, game drives and even a little choo-choo on the Bushtracks Express, a steam train that parks on the Victoria Falls Bridge at sunset.
C IS FOR CAPRIVI
Of all the random and baffling ways 19th-century colonialism carved up Africa, the Caprivi Strip, now known as the Zambezi Region, must be one of the strangest. It was kind of an accident, and in fact it only exists because some German negotiators forgot about one of the largest waterfalls in the world. Leo von Caprivi was the chancellor of Germany in 1890, and was responsible for negotiating land swaps with the United Kingdom. He signed away Zanzibar in exchange for Heligoland and this little strip of Bechuanaland, which Caprivi arranged to be annexed to German South West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi. It was a good plan, one that would link German South West Africa to its colony on the east coast, except for the pesky 108mdrop that made the river unnavigable. So the Caprivi Strip was useless for trade, and to add insult to injury, mineral-poor as well (as an expedition in 1909 proved). Now it is useful as an elephant corridor and tourist paradise, home to Bwabwata, Mudumu and Nkasa Rupara national parks.
D IS FOR DEVIL’S POOL
A dip in the notorious Devilʼs Pool is a thrilling experience, although it really doesnʼt deserve the notoriety its name suggests. Although you may be disturbed by the
