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“Canoeing down the Zambezi River – from hippos to elephants, an incredible conservation trip.” 
Sir Richard Branson
It is finished! The ZEF Trans Zambezi Walk for Wild Expedition 2023 has been completed and what an amazing few weeks it has been. Our final team of intrepid canoeists paddled confidently into Kanyemba and claimed in unison to be quite prepared to continue to the ocean! What an impressive team they were – some first timers to traveling through remote Africa, but all proving incredibly capable and willing to take on the challenge. And the challenges did come. 
Image: Branson family
Inevitably, close encounters with hippo and crocodiles provided plenty of focused attention and a headwind in the Mupata gorge is no joke in a canoe. The team had to pull hard through choppy waters. But work as a team they did; keeping to the strict instruction of the superb Natureways professional guides and maintaining an organised wild-camping routine on the islands and beaches where they spent the nights. 

A big thank you to the Natureways team for facilitating an outstanding canoe safari with excellent catering and mobile camp outfitting. And a mention of thanks also to the Kellys at Chewore Lodge for their fantastic hospitality and assistance with logistics.
“I was so grateful to be part of such an inspiring adventure, which was generously inspired and brilliantly organised”
Images: Branson family
“Thank you all for making it so special and contributing to the challenge to maintain the beauty and diversity of the Zambezi Valley”
The final event of the expedition took place in Harare, where expedition participants and Zambezi Valley stakeholders met for a fitting celebratory dinner and the opportunity to share in a review of the month of travels through the valley. A great end to what has been a remarkable experience for everyone involved.
“What an adventure it has been. Physically and emotionally challenging, but am so happy to have been a part of this magical team…” 
So, what does success mean for the ZEF Trans-Zambezi Walk for Wild Expedition? What did we set out to achieve and did we fulfil those objectives? 

We set out to increase collaboration between stakeholders and raise awareness of the conservation successes and challenges of the Zambezi landscape.
 
As the expedition passed through many of the major concessions and National Parks of the mid/lower Zambezi region, the ZEF team was able to discuss the state of conservation in the landscape with several key actors invested in assisting Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) with the long-term preservation of the area. The expedition’s achievements therefore evolved into four prominent results:

– An increase in collaboration and communication between stakeholders, sharing successes and challenges with those invested in the long-term preservation of the Zambezi Valley protected complex

– A progression towards defining a shared vision and common goals between conservation entities, which we hope will inform our collective strategic developments and investments going forward

– Bringing fresh attention to the needs of the Zambezi landscape to the international participants that joined us, and finally (and perhaps most importantly) –

– Reminding ourselves of the joys of adventure within the splendour and natural spectacle of the Zambezi Valley, and a reaffirmation of the immense value this landscape represents in an era of acute global biodiversity loss.
We therefore hope that hereon the gains of the Expedition will continue to advance, including an improved efficiency of conservation programming, with renewed attention on shared environmental, local community and economic goals.
A final note on the practical execution of the expedition, which went extremely smoothly thanks to the full cooperation of generous local stakeholders and ZPWMA, to whom we are very grateful. Of course, traveling by foot or canoe through such a wilderness brings with it a certain risk of unpredictability through encounters with dangerous wildlife or accident, but we were very fortunate to have had no adverse incidents along the way, which is a testament to the outstanding skill of the professional guides and ZPWMA personnel that led the various stages of the expedition. 

Being the first of its kind, we are delighted with the Expedition’s success and have learnt valuable lessons on how to improve the event, should it become an annual feature of the Zambezi Elephant Fund calendar in the future! 
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The Zambezi Elephant Fund (ZEF) supports the active protection of elephants in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe through anti-poaching initiatives and development and placement of systems that ensure the long-term safety of these incredible animals and the security and growth of other wildlife in the area, together with the growth of local communities, protection of the environment and the improvement and sustainability of these efforts.
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