July 25-29: Kafue National Park

After leaving Lochinvar a day earlier than planned, my next stop was Kafue National Park, located in western Zambia and the largest park in the country. Kafue NP (8,649 sq. mi.), established in 1950, covers a massive area in western Zambia and is centered on the Kafue River, running north to south through the park. Most of the park is covered in miombo woodlands (which I introduced in a previous post from South Africa), which are open semi-deciduous forests of trees adapted to periodic wildfires, but there are scattered open grasslands throughout the park as well, mostly in the form of what they referred to in the local language as “dambo”. Much like elsewhere, these dambos are low-lying areas that over the course of the year collect too much water to support woody vegetation, so instead become grasslands that vary from wet to dry depending on the season, and may even form pools of water at times. Here’s a tilted shot (no, I wasn’t drinking and driving) of a dambo:

Overall, the miombo woodlands here support relatively dense vegetative cover, which makes wildlife viewing somewhat challenging. I also found interesting that, as I understand it and the empirical evidence supports this, the land managers here attempt to burn every acre every year. I can only assume that this is done to keep the woodland understory relative open for human movement (e.g., so they don’t step on hidden poisonous snakes) and to rejuvenate the grasses and forbs for the grazing animals. Can you imagine such a burn policy in the states? I don’t think so! It is hard enough for land managers in the states on public lands to get approval to burn a tiny, almost insignificant, percentage of the forest and woodlands each year, and the consequence is steadily increasing understory fuel loads and ever increasing occurrence of high severity wildfires. I think we could learn something from the Africans in this regard. Note, because of the frequent burning, these woodlands burn at low intensity and thus low severity, with almost nary a woody stem except the very smallest killed (for better or worse). Here are a few photos of the landscape before and after burning:

Like certain other Parks I have visited, both in Zambia and Zimbabwe, this Park has a long history of intensive wildlife poaching, both for ivory and for meat. Consequently, populations of the larger game animals such as elephant, rhino and most of the antelope species along with their attendant large predators (e.g., lions, leopards, etc.) have been dramatically reduced, or even extirpated in the case of the rhino. Fortunately, steps have been taken recently to restore wildlife populations through aggressive anti-poaching operations and the turning over of management of the Park to Parks Africa, the same organization, you may recall, that took over management of Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe. It is too early to see the results of the change in management, but hopefully in 20-50 years there will be a thriving wildlife community. The owner of KaingU Safari Lodge said that she has already seen changes in the numbers of some species and, importantly, in their behavior towards humans. However, I suspect they have a long way to go, as long-lived species such as elephants have a very long memory, and pass on that history to their offspring. So, I think it is going to take some time before this Park is going to support ideal wildlife viewing. I saw very little wildlife while in the Park and surrounds, other than birds, and thus certainly could not recommend it to anyone seeking a great African wildlife experience. I did see a new primate species, the Yellow Baboon (looks and behaves just like the Chacma Baboon to the south but with a fur coat that is generally more yellow – dah), and a new antelope species, the Puku (a mid-sized antelope associated with wetlands), a new subspecies of the Waterbuck called the Defassa Waterbuck, and a Warthog with the biggest tusks I have ever seen. See the photo gallery below for pictures.

My first campsite was actually outside the Park on the opposite side of the Kafue river at KaingU Safari Lodge, which is across the river from the southern section of the Park. In the video below I show a hilltop view of the Kafue River valley and discuss my campsite and the river, so I will not show pictures here:

KaingU Safari Lodge campsite and river ( minutes)

One of the most rewarding things I did while camping at KaingU Safari Lodge is take a guided inflatable canoe trip down a section of the Kafue River in front of the Lodge and my campsite. This was a beautiful section of the river flowing through volcanic rocks. The video below is an unnarrated audio-video of my 2-hour canoe trip condensed into 4 1/2 minutes. If you are so inclined, sit back and relax and imagine you are in the boat. Here we go:

Kafue River canoe trip (4 1/2 minutes)

I also took a delightful guided morning birding walk with another one of the Lodge guides and picked up another dozen or so new bird species. Here’s a picture of my very knowlegeable guide, who has been guiding people for 23 years in various Parks in Zambia.

For my last 2 nights in Kafue National Park I moved north to Mayukuyuku Bush Camp, also located on the Kafue River but in the northern section of the Park. Nothing too remarkable about this site other than it was also situated on scenic section of the river, so I spent my siestas sitting on the river bank under a shade tree enjoying the view and the animals, and spent some time conversing with fellow campers. Specifically, I met and spent quite a bit of time talking to a very nice younger German couple that have spent 1 month every year for the past 12 years backpacking around various places in sub-Saharan Africa. They travel on foot and use public transportation. Brave soles to be sure, and they have had nothing but positive experiences in their 12 years of journeying, with one exception in Gabon. I also met a party of Namibians who have rental cottages on the beach in Namibia for us to rent at wholesale rates whenever we go to Namibia. Here’s a shot of my campsite and sunrise:

Perhaps the biggest observation of note regarding this Park is the prevalence of tsetse flies. These are nasty biting flies about the size of a deer fly that seem to be attracted to motion and the color blue. Consequently, driving through the uplands attracts these flies by the dozens, and they harrass you constantly by flying into your face, eyes, ears, etc.. More importantly, if you let these guys settle on you for more than a few seconds, they bite with something akin to a poke with a red-hot needle. Needless-to-say, wildlife drives with open windows become a bit challenging and uncomfortable. You end up spending as much time battling the flies as you do watching for wildlife. Fortunately, they seem mostly attracted to motion, so if you stop moving they eventually go away – which doesn’t help too much on a wildlife “drive”. Also, they don’t seem attracted to the riparian environment along the river, so my campsite was relatively free from attack. It’s a good thing too, or I probably would have packed up camp and moved on. Another fortunate thing is that here in the Kafue they apparently don’t carry the parasite for the disease trypanosomiasis (a.k.a. “sleeping sickness”). The last reported case was something like 60 years ago. That’s a good thing or else no one would want to visit this place, including me. Oh ya, they also don’t like the cool weather, so there is a respite at night and early morning. Note, I tested out this theory on my morning guided walk, which was from 7-10 am and we didn’t encounter any flies until after 9.

I’m off back to Lusaka for a day or two and then on to the famous South and North Luangwa National Parks – let’s hope they are tsetse free!

Photo Gallery: