For a different perspective of the Zambezi Region, embark on the Zambezi Queen houseboat as you float along a 25- km stretch of the Chobe River on a two-, three- or four-night itinerary. This is a water safari of a different kind. One that rivals, some would say, a land-based safari, especially during the Emerald Season – between November and late March – when the riverbanks are bountiful with new growth, tall grass and dense bush. Watch how elephants walk across the riverbed from Chobe National Park to Namibia with their trunks in the air, how lazy lions seek afternoon respite in the shade of the tree-lined riverbank and how open-mouthed hippos compare incisors before grunt-laughing off the competition. Wildlife cautiously crouches at the water to drink, eyes darting in search of any movement that could point to crocodiles. This watery lookout point – whether it is from your private balcony or the top, front or rear deck of the boat – offers a closer look at the region’s close to 500 endemic and migratory bird species, among them African Jacanas that “walk on water” with stick-like legs, earning them the name Jesus birds. Venture out by tender boat to see Kingfishers, Southern Carmine Bee-eaters and Secretary birds from up close. The Zambezi and Chobe rivers, and the interconnecting Kasai Channel, are equally famed for catch-and-release fishing. Here you can hook a tiger fish, bream, African pike, tilapia, catfish or upper Zambezi yellowfish.