Kafue National Park Zambia
an undeveloped wilderness, excellent game viewing, birdwatching
and fishing
Similar in size to Wales, Kafue NP offers the Africa addict a taste
of raw, untouched wilderness - and nowhere are the skies bigger or the
wildlife more abundant than the Busanga Plains in the far north. Teeming
with antelope, zebra and a healthy population of lions, Busanga has
even been compared to the Serengeti.
| Location
This is Zambia’s oldest and largest park.
Proclaimed in 1950 it is spread over 22 400 sq. kms
(the second largest national park in the world) and
about the size of Wales
Geography
Much of the park is covered by ‘Miombo’ Woodland
opening out into large grassy dambos.
Busanga Plains (north western section of the park) -
a significant wetland resource stretching in all
directions as far as the eye can.
These plains are fed by the Lunga, Lufupa and Kafue rivers.
Flooding reaches its peak from March to May.
Itezhi
Tezhi Dam
This vast inland sea is surrounded in parts by grassy
plains.
Unusual features are the knobbly termite mounds
scattered across the plains. There are teak forests,
large numbers of the striking ‘candelabra’ tree, and
many large black boulders |
cheetah |
Itezhi
Tezhi Dam |
Wildlife
Large prides of lion, solitary leopards and cheetahs are the
prime predators.
Smaller carnivores include the side-striped jackal, hyena, civet,
genet and various mongoose.
Antelope species is numerous including red lechwe, blue wildebeest,
Lichtenstein's hartebeest, waterbuck, reedbuck, oribi, puku, sitatunga,
roan, sable and impala.
Bushpig and warthog are inhabitants of the Kafue
plains as are buffalo.
The waters of the Kafue River are home to large
numbers of hippopotamus, crocodiles and water monitors |
Birdlife
Over 400 species of birds have been recorded throughout the
park among them the wattled crane, purple crested loerie, Pel’s
fishing owl, goliath heron,
cormorants, spoonbills as well as the fish eagle
Fishing
The Kafue and Lunga Rivers offer superb fishing opportunities
for bream, barbel and fresh water pike |
Accommodation
ranges from campsites, self catering chalets, luxury
safari tents and river lodges.
Visiting times
Game is best sighted in the dry season
from April to October, but the beauty of the park is best seen
after the rains in the first half of the year.
Many of the parks internal roads are inaccessible
between November and April.
Getting
There
The roads are not well graded and the Park is best visited by
air charter or robust four wheel drives.
There are light aircraft airstrips at Ngoma, Puku Pan, Chunga,
Hippo, Moshi and Lunga camps. |
Purple Crested turaco |
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