Boat Cruise

A boat cruise offers a completely different perspective on safari, taken at water level, where the wildlife comes to you. Rather than tracking animals across the plains, you drift quietly along a river or lakeshore while hippos surface just metres away, crocodiles bask on the banks, elephants and buffalo come down to drink, and kingfishers dart between the reeds. Uganda's Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the finest, lined with one of the highest concentrations of hippo in the world, while the cruise up the Victoria Nile in Murchison Falls builds to the thunder of the falls forcing themselves through a narrow gorge. Elsewhere, the Chobe River in Botswana delivers spectacular elephant gatherings, and Rwanda's Lake Ihema offers hippos, crocodiles and superb birdlife. Cruises typically last two to three hours and are at their most magical in the late afternoon, when the light turns golden, and animals gather at the water's edge, making this a relaxed, rewarding way to experience the wild without the bumpy roads.