Above: The Zambezi Queen cruising the Chobe River in Namibia

The Zambezi Queen may be a riverboat, but the experience aboard is not a traditional cruise. The 14-cabin vessel doesn’t take passengers from one point to another. Instead, it makes day excursions along the Chobe River, which forms the border between Botswana’s Chobe National Park and Namibia’s Caprivi Strip, returning to the same mooring each evening. Here, the flat land encourages the slow-moving river to spread out into sinuous curves and numerous small side channels, creating a wetland environment rich with life.

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