Ultimate Adventures Zambia Migrations Expedition

Each year, Zambia plays host to two of the best-kept secrets in the natural world. That these wildlife spectacles are only ever witnessed by the avid adventurer is due to the remoteness of the areas in which they occur.

Liuwa Plain National Park is situated in the Upper Zambezi flood plains of Western Zambia. The park covers an area of 3 600 square kilometres of vast grasslands and wooded islands, and the plain from which the park takes its name is 70km long and 30km wide. The park plays a vital role in the Zambezi’s catchment, and is flooded from late December to June each year.

Liuwa also forms part of a remarkable annual wildebeest-migration route. Herds cover 200km from an area to the northwest of the park in June, to concentrate in the southern region of the park by November. In addition to significant wildebeest and Burchell’s zebra family groups, Liuwa is home to tsessebe, oribi, Southern reedbuck, lion, spotted hyena and cheetah. Rarer species, including wild dog and leopard, have occasionally been seen.

Up to ten million “straw-coloured fruit bats” converge upon Kasanka National Park as the fruits of a local tree ripen. These bats roost in a specific woodland, and literally cover the trunks of the trees like thick icing. Then, at sunset, they all take off and fly out to forage. The sky is thick with bats. You can view all this from a 30-metre-high hide which is sited in a tree-top next to the woodland. And during the day, you will see many sitatungas in the swamp below.

These migrations happen in other parts of Africa, but they tend to occur in urban areas; with the growth of cities, bat numbers seem to be on the decline. To see millions of bats dispersing at dusk against the setting sun is one of the wildlife wonders of Africa, and one that definitely shouldn’t be missed.

Please note that this tour is limited to a maximum of EIGHT vehicles, and is suitable for off-road trailers.