Birding & Wildlife Sites 

(Listed in approximate order visited)

Lusaka

Zambia’s capital and its largest city, while there are a few birding areas just outside of town, mostly we use Lusaka as a jumping off point. Those arriving early may wish to arrange a visit to the national museum or to a nearby birding location.

Lower Zambezi National Park

Arguably Africa’s greatest wilderness, the Lower Zambezi was largely off limits to the public until 1983 when it was designated a national park. Still mostly an untouched miracle, it is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and rests just opposite, across the river from the famous Manas Pools of Zimbabwe. Our luxury tented camp here features an abundance of mammals and birds, and with just 5 tents (for 2 people each), we expect to have it ourselves. A larger common stretch-canvas canopy set beneath massive Natal Mahogany trees makes for an exceptional spot for our meals, reading, charging cameras and wildlife watching. There are high densities of elephants, along with large herds of buffalo and impala. These of course attract all the large predators, with lion, leopard and wild dogs resident in numbers. A night-time safari could potentially secure sightings of honey badger or even aardvark. As noted, camp is comfortable and so guests have the option of immersing themselves there, seeing what graces a watchful vigil, or venturing out nearby on guided walk, a drift by boat on the river or a jeep safari. Regardless, we will make the most of our time at this unparalleled wildlife destination.

Chisamba

A small little town off the beaten path, Chisamba is mostly only well known to birders as it is the best location to see the Chaplin’s Barbet (a.k.a. Zambian Barbet). This is really the only non-wilderness spot we visit, but it’s for a special bird. With a night here we’ll make a solid effort to see this unique species to Zambia, as it is one of just two endemics to the nation. (The other being the Black-cheeked Lovebird, we’ll try for later).

KAFUE NATIONAL PARK
(Days 5 - 11)

About the size of Massachusetts, the largest national park in Zambia, Kafue is also the 2nd largest in all of Africa. Buffered by 9 other game management areas, the park is truly a wilderness haven. Mostly covered in Miombo woodland, well over 500 species of birds have been logged, and with at least 21 species it has the highest diversity of antelope of anywhere in the world. We have about a week to explore three different sections of this magnificent park:

KAFUE - Musekese Camp

The Central Zambezian miombo woodlands is one of the largest ecoregions in Africa, and located smack in the middle of Kafue National Park, Mukese Camp will be our base for exploring the surrounding Miombo Forest. While there are a great variety of mammals we’ll encounter here too, we’ll focus on trying to find species such as African Finfoot, Half-collared Kingfisher, Pel’s Fishing-Owl, and Böhm's Bee-eaters. All the apex predators are present too, and we could encounter Leopard or Lion. Sable Antelope, Hartebeest, Zebra are present, while sometimes Puku can number in the 100s. Here again, we have an intimate camp, with 5 brand-new guest rooms with all the necessities. 

KAFUE - Busanga Plains

Up in the north of Kafue, we’ll focus on birds like Wattled Crane, and Fullerborns Longclaw. 

The wildlife could include regional specials such as Roan & Sable antelope, along with thousands of Red Lechwe, an antelope of the wetland habitats. The Busanga Plains hosts the largest herds of buffalo in the park, and the Southern Plains areas are good for seeing the diminutive Oribi and secretive Reedbuck. And because these game species are here, the predators are here too. A dominant lion pride known as the ‘Papyrus Pride’ is resident on the to the north, while the Moshi and Lufupa prides make use of the areas around our camp. Leopards are here too, using the tree-line of the plains, which also offers Cheetah sightings from time to time, and late season Wild Dog sightings.

KAFUE - Nanzhila Plains

On the south side of Kafue, situated on the edge of a dambo (a natural, seasonal wetland), and the best spot for the Black-cheeked Lovebird, Nanzhila Plains is home to world class birding with chances also for Wattled Crane, Racket-tailed Rollers and more. No less than 12 different antelopes frequent the area, and we stand excellent chances at Sable, Roan, Defassa Waterbuck, Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest, Kudu, Eland, Wildebeest, Common Reedbuck, Oribi, Impala and Duiker among others. Four out of the “Big Five”, Lion, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo are around as are Cheetah, Wild dog, Hyena, and warthog. And about once a week, this spot is visited by a family of Honey Badgers leaving a trail of chaos and delight in their wake. Sometimes too we have superb sightings of Serval, as well as nocturnal critters like Bushbabies, Civet, Genet and others.

Rigor, Pace & Pests: 

• Extended time exploring Lower Zambezi & Kafue National Parks.

• One long drive (Day 6) of about 7-8 hours.

• Most mornings feature dawn birding and so early rise times, but…

• On non-travel days guests have the option to relax and enjoy the surroundings of the lodge area. 

• On a few days, guests have the option to do ½ day of birding and ½ day of another activity (or inactivity).

• Nights are mostly at luxurious tented camps. All lodgings are very comfortable.

• Field time is a mix of time in safari jeeps, boats/canoes, or on foot.

• English is the official language of Zambia.