begins with the Chobe River

The story of the Zambezi Queen Collection begins with the Chobe River.

Flowing between Namibia and Botswana and alongside Chobe National Park, this remarkable stretch of water is where wildlife, landscapes and communities have shaped a way of life around the river for generations. It is where our story has taken shape.

Today, the Zambezi Queen Collection brings together three distinctly different ways to experience the Chobe: aboard the elegant Zambezi Queen, on one of our intimate Chobe Princess houseboats, or from the riverbanks of Impalila Island at Ichingo Chobe River Lodge.

Different in character and pace, each is connected by the same idea: that some of the best ways to experience this part of Africa begin on the water.

Long before there was a Zambezi Queen Collection, there was the river.

Flowing between Namibia and Botswana and alongside Chobe National Park, the Chobe River has shaped the landscapes, wildlife and communities that surround it. Over more than three decades, it has shaped our story too.

What began with individual vessels, a small island lodge and some rather ambitious ideas about exploring these waterways has evolved into the Zambezi Queen Collection: three distinctly different ways to experience one extraordinary stretch of Africa.

And, as with most good stories, things didn’t always go according to plan.

The original Zambezi Queen was built in Katima Mulilo in 1990, with ambitions of travelling the waterways of the Zambezi.

In the early 1990s, she made several journeys down the Zambezi River, through the Kasai Channel and onto the Chobe. But navigating a vessel of her size through these changing waterways proved challenging, and the original venture was eventually abandoned.

She found herself permanently moored on the Chobe.

It could have been the end of her story. Instead, it became the beginning of another.

Years later, entrepreneurs Tony Stern and Brett McDonald saw the potential in the vessel and set about transforming her into something quite different. After an extensive redesign, Zambezi Queen was relaunched in 2009 as a floating safari hotel, created around the very landscape that had changed her original course.

The river had changed the plan. In doing so, it gave the Queen her place.

Today, at 42 metres long, Zambezi Queen remains the grand dame of our Collection and one of the Chobe River’s most distinctive landmarks.

Ichingo Chobe River Lodge began as a small, family-run tented lodge founded by Ralph and Dawn Oxenham. Set beneath the trees on the banks of the river, Ichingo developed a character of its own: relaxed, intimate and deeply connected to island life.

Its story also gave rise to another way of exploring these waterways.

The Ichobezi houseboats were introduced for guests wanting to travel further along the river, spending their days fishing, birding and exploring before sleeping aboard.

The first, Ichobezi Moli, was followed by Ichobezi Mukwae in 2007 as demand grew. Guests had discovered something rather special about being on the Chobe: from the water, they could spend their days watching wildlife move along the banks of Chobe National Park, away from the roads and vehicles on land.

A third, larger houseboat followed.

Over time, these vessels would become the Chobe Princesses we know today.

These stories did not begin together.

Zambezi Queen had travelled her own path. Ichingo had grown from a family-run lodge on Impalila Island. The smaller houseboats had evolved from a desire to explore and fish the waterways surrounding it.

What connected them was the Chobe.

Over time, these individual experiences came together as the Zambezi Queen Collection, creating three very different ways to discover the same river.

Today, guests can watch the landscape unfold from the decks of Zambezi Queen, explore from the intimate setting of a Chobe Princess, or stay beneath the trees on Impalila Island at Ichingo Chobe River Lodge.

They aren’t three versions of the same safari.

Each has its own history, personality and pace. What they share is a perspective that has defined our Collection from the beginning: some of the best ways to experience this part of Africa begin on the water.

The vessels and lodge may tell part of our history, but our people have lived it.

Some members of our team have been part of this story for decades, long before the name Zambezi Queen Collection existed.

They have watched the properties change, welcomed generations of guests and built careers alongside the river. Their knowledge isn’t learned from a handbook. It comes from years spent understanding its channels, seasons, wildlife and communities.

They are our captains and guides, chefs and hosts, boatmen and behind-the-scenes teams. They know where elephants are likely to cross when the river drops, which call belongs to the bird hidden somewhere in the reeds and when sitting quietly with the engine switched off is better than moving on.

At Ichingo, some of our longest-serving team members can trace their time at the lodge back to its original family-run days.

That continuity matters to us.

Because while our vessels have been redesigned and our Collection has evolved, the warmth and knowledge of the people who call this region home remain at the heart of the experience.

A new chapter began when Zambezi Queen became part of Mantis in 2012.

Founded in Africa by conservationist Adrian Gardiner, Mantis was built around the belief that tourism and conservation should work together, protecting remarkable places while creating meaningful benefits for the people and communities connected to them.

It was a natural fit for a collection whose existence is so closely tied to the health of one river and the landscapes surrounding it.

Today, the Zambezi Queen Collection is proudly part of the Mantis family, connecting our distinctly local story to a wider collection of hotels, eco-lodges and waterways around the world.

The relationship has allowed our Collection to continue evolving while remaining true to what makes it different: our people, our place and our perspective from the river.

More than three decades after the original Zambezi Queen first took to these waterways, our story is still being written.

The Zambezi Queen has been reimagined more than once, most recently through an extensive refurbishment in 2023. The Chobe Princesses have evolved too, while Ichingo continues its own story on Impalila Island.

But progress here isn’t simply about changing interiors or adding new experiences.

It’s about looking carefully at how we operate in a place where nature sets the rules.

The Chobe River is our workplace, our route through the wilderness and the reason guests travel from around the world to find us. Its wildlife, waterways and neighbouring communities make everything we do possible.

That brings responsibility.

Our approach continues to evolve as we work to reduce our impact, support the communities connected to the Collection and ensure tourism contributes positively to the place that has given us our story.

Because after more than three decades, one thing hasn’t changed.

The river still leads the way.

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