Zambia is a landlocked country, which means that most of its naturally protected areas are landforms with a smattering of rivers and lakes. It has a land area of 752,618 square kilometers (186 million acres) with a population of 17.6 million people. Speaking of population, Zambia, like most African countries, has a large wildlife population.
According to records, the nation has over 8,000 species of animals in its territory. A lot of them are found in its 20 national parks. Most of the parks are undeveloped and are not gated. Tourists can expect to see elephants, giraffes, or even lions just walking around the street. Zambia provides visitors a wildlife experience like no other as guides bring them closer to the animals' people expect to see from afar. This tourism activity is known as bushwalk.
Zambia is still largely unknown among tourists, but it has a lot to offer just like other African countries considered tourism hotspots. For one, the nation is home to the world’s largest waterfall: Victoria Falls, which stands at 108 meters. The country is also home to the largest man-made body of water in Africa called the Lake Kariba—but people often call it Zambia’s French Riviera.
But the real Zambian experience will have to be with the one with nature. Tourists should drop by these national parks to commune with nature and hopefully get closer to some animals:
1. Blue Lagoon National Park
This is just a small park but still worth visiting, especially with what this small package can offer tourists. It is characterized by vast plains in the Central Province. It is also unique in the sense that the park transforms according to what season it is. During the dry season, tourists will experience dry grassland with perhaps a peppering of some wildflowers. During the wet season, parts of the flatlands will be filled with water that attracts migratory birds. The area then becomes a birding haven. The park is also largely untouched, making it one of the most pristine places in Africa.
Like most of the Zambian parks, this place also teems with animals despite its smallness. There are herds of Kafue lechwe found in the park. This is a species of antelope that favors the wetlands of Africa. It is considered a vulnerable species. There is also sitatunga in the swamps while buffaloes and reedbucks prefer the dry parts where they could graze. Zebras are also residents of Blue Lagoon. The park is also home to large river pythons, which prey on the birds and the lechwe.
2. Isangano National Park
Located in the Northern Province, the park experienced deterioration since it was established in 1972. Despite the mandate, authorities failed to protect the wildlife from this park. It is uncommon for national parks in Zambia to be unmaintained and undeveloped due to a lack of government budget. But that has also become part of its beauty because people get to experience true nature. However, in the case of Isangano, the area was being destroyed by the people who tried to settle in the neighboring regions. Destroying the tree and plant population also means destroying animal habitats, which caused the massive decline of the game in the park. Authorities, though, resolved to turn things around in 2007.
Human settlers were removed from the park that year, in a bid to revitalize the park, which could be referred to as grassy plains with swampy forests. This elevated plateau has an altitude of 1,100 meters. The decision to banish the illegal homesteaders also drove away poachers, hunters, and illegal loggers. Wildlife in the park was also restocked.
Because of the presence of swamps, the park has become a popular resting area for water birds. The other resident animals are lechwe, reedbucks, oribi, and sitatunga.
3. Lavushi Manda National Park
Despite being established as early as 1972, this is still an undiscovered gem in Zambia. Before that, the area was a game reserve. The plant life in the park is also abundant and it is part of the Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands. There are also evergreen forests and some wet grasslands. In terms of topography, the area is a plateau in the Mpika District. The park is named after the 47-kilometer Lavushi Manda mountain range. The highest peak of the range is 1,811 meters. The mountain range is certainly a great venue for hiking and mountain-climbing.
While there are no large gaps among elevated habitats, the change in altitude also means there are different ecosystems supported by the park. Different ecosystems mean varying vegetation but 80% of the park is considered deciduous open forest.
Around 50 large mammalian species have been recorded in the park. Among them are the following threatened species: African elephants, hippos, leopards, lions, puku, and straw-colored fruit bats. They are considered threatened species because they are primary targets among poachers. Other animals commonly sighted in the park are baboons, common duikers, reedbucks, sables, and warthogs.
The park has also been recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. There have been close to 350 bird species documented in the park. Some of them are considered globally threatened species, but the following occur in great numbers in the park: bateleur, crowned and martial eagles, and southern ground hornbill. Other birds found in the park are the Anchieta’s sunbird, Anchieta’s Sunbird, blue quail, Bohm’s bee-eater, Bohm’s flycatcher, collared flycatcher, finfoot, locust finch, Purple-throated cuckoo shrike, streaky-breasted flufftail, and Verreaux’s eagle.
The park also has some campsites for visitors who wish to sleep under the stars. The dramatic landscapes are also great subjects for photography and artwork.
4. Liuwa Plain National Park
This place in the Western Province used to be a hunting ground for the chieftain or king of the Lozi people. It was then designated as a protected area in the 1880s and elevated to a national park in 1972. By this time, the Zambian government took over the management of the area from the Lozi.
The park’s name is redundant as liuwa means plain in the Lozi language. It also refers to the topography of the park: plains carpeted with grass. The grasslands also support a large herd of blue wildebeest, a large species of antelope. According to reports, there are tens of thousands of wildebeests in the park. The Zambian annual migration is the second-largest in Africa. The predators hosted by the park are cheetahs, lions, and spotted hyenas. The park also used to be the home of celebrity Lady Liuwa, the lioness featured in a National Geographic documentary titled “The Last Lioness.” Unfortunately, Lady Liuwa died in 2017. The documentary was aptly called as she was the last lion in the park before the reintroduction of new ones to establish a pride.
The park is also home to some 300 species of birds. Other mammals in the park are buffaloes, common elands, common tsessebe, oribi, red lechwe, reedbuck, roan antelopes, sitatunga, and zebras.
5. Lukusuzi National Park
The park is a plateau with rugged valleys and rocky ridges. It casts a beautiful landscape carpeted with grass and peppered with miombo trees. There are also mopane trees in the lower elevation. It is home to the African wild dog, which is an extant member of the Lycaon. It has been classified as endangered but a good number of them could be found in Lukusuzi. According to the 2016 documentation, there are only 6,600 of these wild dogs in the entire African continent. But of the number, only 1,400 can reproduce. This makes the park a significant habitat for the African wild dog so it won’t become extinct.
6. Lusenga Plain National Park
This is another park that didn’t get enough government attention, hence, ill-maintained. It used to be a hunting ground, which indicates an abundance of game animals. It was converted into a national park in 1972 to protect the wildlife as well as the Lumangwe Falls, which is Zambia’s second-highest waterfall. The park also hosts Kundabwika Falls, which is not just known for its refreshing water but also the presence of rock paintings among its walls.
Among the animals that tourists may encounter in the park are Grant’s zebras, impalas, and puku.
7. Mweru Wantipa National Park
There aren’t a lot of animals here but just in case tourists are in the Northern Province, it is still a good enough park to visit. The wildlife in the park used to be lively but the government just didn’t have enough funds to take care of this park. Among the animals that used to roam the park were the black rhinoceros, elephants, and lions. The black rhinoceros had since been extinct but there is still hope that there are some elephants and lions left.
The park has a unique vegetation known as the Itigi-Sumbu thicket, a bush comprising hundreds of plant species that are densely linked together. It is almost hard to penetrate this bush.
8. Nsumbu National Park
This park in the Northern Province used to be only reached by air when it was established in the 1960s. Things have changed since then. Zambia may be a landlocked country but the nation still hosts some great bodies of water and this park is an example of that. There are four bays in Nsumbu: Kala, Kasaba, Nkamba, and Sumbu. It also hosts the Nundo Head Peninsula.
The park has some great landscapes and great activities, four tourists, as well. One of the more popular activities in the park is sports fishing. Lake Tanganyika hosts fish species that are popular for angling: goliath tigerfish, golden perch, lake salmon, Nile perch, vundu catfish, and yellow belly. The lakeshore features sandy beaches and rocky cliffs where tourists can perch on and enjoy the view of the lake and the rest of the park. The park also has some unique rock formations.
The lake is also a favorite among water birds like the African skimmer, duck, flamingo, fish eagle, heron, lesser black-backed gull, palm-nut vulture, Pel’s fishing owl, spoonbill, stork, and whiskered and white-winged black terns. Crocodiles also lurk in the park’s waters and so do hippos.
Terrestrial animals include buffaloes, bushbucks, elands, hartebeests, impala, reedbucks, roan and sable antelopes, servals, side-striped jackals, spotted hyenas, warthogs, waterbucks, and zebras. There are also rare sightings of blue duikers and sitatunga. Occasionally, tourists get a glimpse of elephants, leopards, and lions.
9. Sioma Ngwezi National Park
This is one of the least visited parks in Zambia because of the lack of good road networks. It is a vast plain that sits between the Zambezi and Cuando Rivers. The park has some sandy areas because it was once part of the Kalahari Desert, the large semi-arid and sandy savannah in Southern Africa. The park hosts some Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands and Zambian teak trees.
Of course, the park doesn’t lack in wildlife. It is also a significant pathway in the migratory route of the elephants and wildebeests traveling between Botswana and Namibia. Lucky tourists may experience the parade of elephants and confusion of wildebeests. Resident animals of the park are the African bush elephants, Grant’s zebras, impalas, kudu, puku, and roan and sable antelopes. The endangered Cape wild dogs and South African cheetahs also roam around the park, which is also a Lion Conservation Unit, although, there weren’t any documented lions in the area.
10. West Lunga National Park
A remote forest in the North-Western Province, this park sits between two rivers: Kabompo River and West Lunga River, from which it got its name. This park is unique in the sense that it is the only national park of Cryptosepalum dry forest, which is characterized by evergreen forest thriving on sandy soils lacking in surface water. Part of the park features miombo woodlands.
This park is so remote authorities suggest that visitors have to be self-sufficient as there are no facilities in the area and rangers are not often available. It will be an adventure of a lifetime though and the park still hosts a good number of animals. Among them are buffaloes, bush pigs, duikers, elands, elephants, hippopotamuses, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, impalas, Nile crocodiles, puku, roan and sable antelopes, vervet monkeys, and yellow baboons.
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