Zambia, from Savanna to
Wetlands
Begin with a safari in South Luangwa National Park, before witnessing
innovative conservation techniques in the Bangweulu swamp.GETTING THERE
Emirates (emirates.com) flies
from Bangkok, Hong Kong and
Singapore to Lusaka, the
Zambian capital, with a stop in
Dubai. From Lusaka’s Kenneth
Kaunda International Airport,
Proflight Zambia (proflight-
zambia.com) flies to South
Luangwa’s Mfuwe Airport in just
over an hour. From there, it’s a
short drive to South Luangwa
National Park. To Shoebill Island
Camp, in the Bangweulu
Wetlands, hour-long chartered
flights are available from Mfuwe
Airport. Transfer to and from the
camp is by canoe and takes 40
minutes.WHERE TO STAY
Shenton Safaris (shenton
safaris.com) offers Kaingo
Camp, which has six chalets on
the Luangwa River (chalets from
US$880 per person), andMwamba Camp, which has four
chalets on the Mwamba River
(chalets from US$830 per
person). Access to a range of
blinds makes this safari
company especially popular with
photographers.
In Bangweulu, Shoebill
Island Camp (shoebill island
camp.com; tents from US$650
per person) has four large,
walk-in safari tents with en suite
bathrooms and private decks.
There’s also a spacious
restaurant with a fireplace and
lovely views.TOUR OPERATOR
This trip was planned and led by
Rod Tether of Natural High
Safaris (natural high safaris.com;
seven nights from US$7,385 per
person, all-inclusive). The
Uganda-born naturalist has been
leading safaris since he was 17
years old. — H.C.world of profuse motion and color, the waters
constantly shining and pulsing.
This is not an easy place to live. We visited a
family encamped in huts on a small area of dry
ground. They had almost nothing. When I
asked about the highlights of their year, the
mother immediately said March, when the
fishing ban ends. The months when they
cannot fish are grindingly hard. But with all
the evidence pointing to the fact that, without a
ban, the stocks would collapse entirely, African
Parks has taken a tough line: the greatest good
for the greatest number, in the name of long-
term sustainability.
As we headed back to the camp, four wattled
cranes flew over, towing the evening toward
sunset. Women and children stepped home
along the dikes. I found it moving just to be
there, as if we had found the shifting green
heart of the continent. When night fell, the
stars were shockingly bright, the Milky Way a
vast arch in clouds of light above us. Lechwe
surged through the water as Stuart had
predicted, and toward dawn the voices of
fishermen gave way to cockerels crowing.
After breakfast, we set out to find the
shoebill. Standing almost two meters tall, with
ungainly long legs and a comically enormous
bill, these birds look like fantasy creatures
from a children’s poem. The search would
require an hour of paddling and a 2½-hour
walk, Jackson informed us. Through reed
tunnels and channels we punted, along broken
dikes we jumped, through streams and pools
we waded, up to our t highs in swa mp.
“Watch out for leeches,” Rod said.
“Any crocodiles?”
“Not really.”
The sense of life in abundance was
thrilling; the vast scale of the sky and the water
were humbling. Here were currents, channels
and limpid ponds, an entire universe gleaming
like a new day.
“I ca me here as a baby,” Jackson sa id. “My
father was a fisherman. He sent me and four
brothers to school. When the last boy finished,
the big man died. His work was done.”
Jackson led us on. Fifteen minutes later he
stood up suddenly, wobbling in the canoe.
“Binoculars!”
I passed them.
“Yes!” he cried. “Shoebill!”
And there was the tall hunched figure, the
bird with the dinosaur face. We were
exhilarated, as if we had encountered an alien
regent in an unearthly kingdom.
The shoebill cocked its huge crested head
and regarded us briefly, then stepped into the
wind and climbed slowly into the air.
TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019 105