Messing about in boats is one of life’s great pleasures. Messing about on boats in Africa, however, must be the greatest pleasure of them all. Whether you’re bobbing up and down the Zambezi, sundowner in hand, or cruising past snorting hippo in the Rufiji River in Tanzania, boats offer a different perspective on your surroundings – those crocodiles certainly look a lot larger at eye-level. If you like your boats with a little less nature, then head to the coast where magnificent old dhows billow through the Zanzibar Archipelago and glittering catamarans jaunt around the Seychelles.