Kasanka!

While the lack of posts over the last several days may have been a bit anxious for the families back home, the lack of connectivity while at Kasanka was a welcome respite for all of us. We are all safe, relatively unsunburned and still having a terrific time.

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So yes, the last five days we have been traveling to and enjoying the environs north of Serenje, up the Great North Road from Lusaka. The drive was happily uneventful, and we made the 400km+ journey in about 8 hours – not bad. Sleeping on the bus has become something of an artform.

The long drives during our travels can get a bit cramped, but amazingly everyone still reports enjoying the Zambus. In large part this is because there is so much to see of the country when traveling by road. To give you an idea of some of the interesting stuff we see, this video was taken from part of a travel within Lusaka, just before we left for Kasanka.

Kasanka is something of an unusual park in that although being designated a National Park – and having all the protections therein – it is entirely funded and run through the work of a private non-profit trust, Kasanka Trust.

Although there was a bit of a mixup with our reservation, the staff at Kasanka quickly adjusted and made our stay terrific. We spent two days camping in the remote “pontoon” site, where we got to do a bit of local exploration on our own. But we also took two guided walks while at pontoon – one in the morning to Fibwe hide, the other around sunset along the Kasanka River.

Fibwe Hide is a landmark at Kasanka, as it is a giant treefort that is about 40 feet up in a giant red mahogany tree, requiring a fun climb up a custom ladder system.

Everyone made the trip up (only three people allowed at the top at any one time) and got great views of the marshlands of Kasanka.

For the walk that took us to Fibwe, as well as the evening walk, we just had a scout with us, without a naturalist “guide.” These scouts are great at spotting game, they often have good tracking and natural history knowledge, and they are adept with protection from big game should the need ever arise. Walking through the African savanna was inspiring - authentic and raw.

There was a bit more data collection by students while at Kasanka, but on one day we made the 50km jaunt (with our bus) to the site whereSir David Livingstone died in 1873. On the way to that remote site, we stopped to visit the local chief. He accepted our gifts, greeted us and allowed the students to ask questions about his role as regional chief. He was magnanimous and friendly, and everyone enjoyed the visit.

This is the site where Livingstone died in 1873. Once he died, his heart (and other innards) were buried here under a chupundu tree, while his salted body was taken back to England for burial in Westminster Abbey.

  

Then back into Kasanka, where we moved our camp from Pontoon site to the main Lake Wasa site. They don’t usually allow camping at Lake Wasa, but because of a mixup with their bookings, they put us there, which was phenomenal. Below you can see a picture of the fire-ring at Lake Wasa, where we cooked most of our meals, and below that a picture of our little Zamtent city.

We again took guided walks around the lake, and out into the dambos, this time with scouts and guides. We learned a great deal about the subtle differences between signs from different animals – like how to tell male genets from female genets simply from their footprints. (The tracks below are actually from mongoose.)

  

And we also got to see more obvious signs of animals – like when we surprised this female hippo from her grazing site and she charged away from us into the lake.

Along with the hippo we saw lots of other great animals and plants that are more typical of the miombo woodlands – including blue monkeys (rare...no photos!) and...

Vervet monkeys.

Woodland kingfisher.

Army ants coming back from a raid.

Miombo blue-eared starlings.

Puku, Puku, Puku!

Along with the blue monkeys, Kasanka is well-known for being one of the most reliable places to see the secretive sitatunga – we were not disappointed. Here is a buck, cow and their feisty offspring out for a dewey dawn breakfast.

Capping off our visit, we had a fantastic braai (barbeque) prepared for us by the Kasanka staff over the open fire.

Our meal consisted of boervors, chicken, potato salad, lettuce salad, cole slaw, and bread baked over the fire on a stick!

We all got stuffed and had a fantastic time relaxing with the Kasanka staff around the fire under the stunning southern sky - Saturn, Southern Cross and the milky way.