Zambia

Zambia is best known for sharing Victoria Falls with Zimbabwe. But what impresses me the most about Zambia is that so many of its visitors are returnees, experienced safari-goers, who may be on their third and even fourth visits. What is it that makes Zambia so special (besides the falls) that someone would choose it time and time again over some tough competition in Eastern and Southern Africa?

Excellent guiding: Zambia's wildlife guides must pass official guide training courses, which means they are particularly learned about the ecology and wildlife. The guiding standards are truly impressive. Driver/guides rarely use their radios to learn of important sightings, relying instead on their knowledge, training, and experience to locate wildlife. The history of Luangwa National Park centers on a few individuals who came to the valley beginning in the 1960s to train with the legendary Norman Carr who, in his job as ranger for the new South Luangwa National Park, saw the potential for photographic tourism and set up the first wilderness camps there. These first arrivals on the scene after Norman and his trainees run most of the valley's successful safari lodges and camps today. These men still escort safaris periodically, and if you happen to sign on, you are in for a treat. You have a bona fide Bush Master at the helm.

Walking: Zambia contends that it is the true birthplace of walking safaris, for which it thanks Norman Carr. Norman established a series of small bush camps within a day's walking distance of each other, which served as satellites to a main lodge. This remains how Luangwa manages its safaris today, and it has proven to be a highly successful method of running safaris, ensuring diversity to the Luangwa experience. Visitors begin at the "mother" lodges from which they make their way to the bush camps. The main lodges offer game drives in vehicles. The bush camps provide opportunities to walk, although many of them also offer vehicle support as well these days. Combined with the expertise of Zambia's guides, walking here must be among the best that Africa offers.

Night Safaris: One of the primary reasons that Zambia is such a good place for leopard spotting is because night game drives are a regular part of its safari activities. On a night drive you have the opportunity to see (besides leopards) wild dogs, serval cats, civets, genets, porcupines, pythons, owls, and lions, awake and active for a change. Because the night safari is a continuation of the game drive which departs late afternoon, you also get sundowners in the bush every night, a very addictive Zambian safari tradition and a sure way of never missing a sunset.

Tourist Numbers: The rule in Luangwa National Park that permits only four vehicles at a sighting speaks volumes about the way Zambia assures the quality of the wildlife experience for its visitors as well as the low impact on wildlife by tourism within park boundaries. Zambia's safari accommodation is by and large intimate camps which provide for only low numbers of visitors at any one time. The focus is currently on encouraging much greater numbers of visitors to Zambia so this might have to change, but right now, there is a world of difference between a sighting in the Serengeti and a sighting in Luangwa.

Hospitality in the safari industry: There is a level of attention paid to each guest's needs that reflects the tradition of safaris in Zambia - shorter seasons and a manageable number of visitors. (For an explanation of shorter seasons see Zambia: When to Go)

Leopards: Already mentioned in relation to night safaris, Zambia is an excellent place to see that most elusive and gorgeous nocturnal cat, the leopard.

Wild Dogs: With a population dwindling to less than 3,000 in the whole of southern Africa, wild dogs are frequently seen in Zambia. They have their healthiest numbers in Kafue National Park followed closely by Luangwa National Park. They can also be seen in Liuwa and Lower Zambezi National Parks.

Birds: So much of Africa is a birder's paradise but Zambia leads the continent in maintaining this reputation. Some of its rarer birds are Wattled cranes, Shoebill storks, Black-cheeked lovebirds, Chaplin's barbets, and Pel's Fishing owl. Top destinations for twitchers are Liuwa Plains, South Luangwa and Lochinvar National Parks and the Bangwe'ulu Wetlands.

Wildlife phenomenon: Come late October through December, the rainy season, enormous numbers of fruit bats arrive to roost in Kasanka National Park's evergreen swamp forest. At dusk the bats take to the air in their millions. Visitors view the bat-darkened sky from a tree-hide overlooking the swamp. Zambia also has its own mini-wildebeest migration beginning in October in remote Liuwa National Park when some 35,000 antelope return from Angola to birth on the Zambezi floodplain.

Off the beaten path: Accessible by road or chartered aircraft, are the Bangweulu Wetlands, nesting site of Shoebill storks and home to large herds of Black lechwe and Tsessebe antelope; the Mutinondo Wilderness, a private reserve of stellar bush on the lip of the Luangwa escarpment which you can see on foot or on horseback; and Shiwa Ng'andu, the manor house and farm built by Sir Stewart Gore-Browne in the 1920s and which today welcomes tourists as a game farm, historical site and unique accommodation. Victoria Falls may be Zambia's most famous waterfall but the country's geography, a series of plateaus separated by steep escarpments, results in a great many dramatic falls. Kalambo in the north is the second highest in Africa and roughly twice the height of Victoria Falls. Ngonye is an impressive falls west of Livingstone. Kundalila, on the way to Kasanka, Bangweulu and Mutinondo, is a favorite of Zambian residents.

Culture: The most famous of Zambia's cultural festivals is the Kuomboka of the Lozi people of Western Zambia, held typically in March and April. This is followed in importance by the Mutomboko of the Lunda people of Northern Zambia, held end of July; the Kulamba of the Chewa people of Eastern Zambia, held the end of August, (and which provides the rare opportunity to see the masked dancers of a secret society); and the Nc'wala of the Ngoni people, also of Eastern Zambia, held in February. There are a host of other smaller cultural events besides. Arguably, those festivals which take place during the dry season (July and August) are easier to incorporate into a wildlife program, since this is when the majority of people visit. The only problem is that their dates are rarely known until a few weeks in advance and are subject to change without much warning as well. Flexible schedules are therefore required.

Self-Drive Safari Option: While fly-in safaris predominate where roads are poor, washed away every wet season and in need of grading every year, Zambia does offer the option of a self-drive tour, thus allowing some of the off-the-beaten path destinations to be more easily included in a program. Kafue National Park in particular lends itself to self-exploration. You can pick up a self-contained Land Rover from suppliers in Livingstone, and work your way from the south to the north. There are excellent accommodations in the south of the park which also have camping sites attached if you want to rough it a bit. (Camping supplies are organized with the 4 x 4 rental.) Road trips allow you to set your own pace, enjoy your privacy, and experience the Zambian people along the way. They aren't for everybody, however, and they are definitely best undertaken in the dry season. You should carry a satellite or cell phone, and download maps to a GPS. Flying is definitely easier on the behind and less tiring, but what fun road warriors can have when they meet and discuss their rigs, route conditions, solitary sightings, and campsites.