Zambia at Christmas

Friday 19 December 2008 to Saturday 3 January 2009

with Rod Cassidy and a Sunbird leader.

Cost: £2850 plus about £1250 for flights
Single room supplement: £150

Click here for explanation of price breakdown

Maximum group size: 6 with 1 leader; 12 with 2 leaders.

Bird List

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Sandwiched between the well-visited regions of Southern and Eastern Africa, Zambia is often overlooked by visiting birdwatchers and tour companies.  And yet this very position, combined with distinct avian influences from Central Africa, create some fantastic birdwatching opportunities in a country blessed with a good infrastructure and with the reputation of being one of the safest in Africa.  Indeed there are those who regard Zambia as offering the best birding on the continent.

Much of the country is cloaked in Miombo, Brachystygia-dominated woodland, which, although not well known for its mammals or other wildlife, is very rich in birds with many restricted to this particular habitat.  Elsewhere we have ‘Mushitu’, riparian forest, and ‘Dambos’, flooded grasslands, that are characteristic habitats of this region and also rich in birds.  Across this landscape snakes the mighty River Zambezi, which perhaps makes its biggest impact when, crashing over towering basalt cliffs, it forms the world-famous Victoria Falls, a tumultuous curtain of water and spray over a mile wide. 

In the well-wooded valley of the Zambezi we’ll devote time to looking for one of Africa’s special birds, Angola Pitta, a bird we have a very real chance of seeing, while elsewhere we’ll look for Chaplin’s Barbet - the country’s only endemic, Miombo specialists, and a wealth of species not easily seen in other parts of Africa.

Day 1: The tour begins with a flight from London to Lusaka.

Day 2:  Following our arrival in Lusaka, we’ll begin our safari by driving north to the town of Ndola.  As the Zambian countryside opens up before us, we’ll encounter our first common birds such as African Golden Oriole, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, and Black-eared (or Mennel’s) Seedeater.  Night near Ndola.

Day 3:  Our morning will be spent exploring the rich Miombo woodland near our lodge where we can expect encounters with such species as Mashona Hyliota, Reichenows Seed-eater, and perhaps Boehm’s Bee-eater.  In the afternoon we’ll take a leisurely drive west though the Copperbelt town of Chingola with plenty of birding stops along the way before eventually reaching Lumwana where we spend three nights.

Days 4-5:  Many of the trees in this region here are draped with ‘old man’s beard’ or Usnea, and this is the favoured habitat of the strange Bar-winged Weaver, a species which is quite different in plumage from any other weaver and feeds along mossy branches like a nuthatch.  We should also see Souza’s Shrike, a true shrike that lives under the canopy of Miombo forests as well as a number of different miombo specials like Black-collared Eremomela, Boehm’s Flycatcher and Anchietas Sunbird.  Nights in Lumwana.

Days 6-7:  After a final morning birding around Lumwana, we head back east toward Ndola and then south to our next lodge on the banks of the Kafue River for a two-night stay.  Kafue is one of the top IBA’s (Important Bird Areas) in all of Zambia and during our two days we’ll stay on the banks of the Kafue River and visit the ‘Imanda Forest’, home to the extremely localized Margaret’s Batis as well as other difficult species like Black-backed Barbet, Bocage's Akalat and Laura’s Warbler.  More common species here include Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Little and Cabanis's Greenbulls, African Thrush, Grey Apalis, African Crested-Flycatcher, Green-headed Sunbird, Dark-backed Weaver, Red-throated Twinspot, Black-and-White Mannikin and Black-tailed Waxbill.

There is also excellent birding close to our lodge with many localized Miombo woodland specialities to be found here such as Racket-tailed Roller, Miombo Pied and Anchietas Barbets, Miombo Rock-Thrush, Red-capped Crombec, Southern and Yellow-bellied Hyliotas, Miombo Bearded Scrub-Robin, Cinnamon-breasted and Miombo Tits, Souza’s Shrike, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Weaver, and Cabanis's Bunting.  It’s also a very good area for Spotted Creeper, though as always with its high-pitched quiet call and its cryptic colouration it can be had to find.   Nights at Kafue.

Day 8:  After a final morning in the Kafue area we’ll drive southeast to another area of Miombo woodland.  Miombo is a wonderfully diverse habitat and this region is especially good for Anchieta’s Barbet, Rufous-bellied and White-winged Black Tits and the stunning Violet-backed Sunbirds.  Later we drive back to Lusaka for one night.

Days 11-12:  Departing Choma we head for the town of Livingstone, where we spend two nights just a short distance from the famous Victoria Falls.  In the afternoon we’ll visit the falls, one of Africa’s fantastic natural wonders.  There are no superlatives that do justice to this place – you just have to see it for yourself.  If we can tear ourselves away from the spectacle of the falls, there will be some birds to find as the tumbling cliffs and lush woodland play host to Verreaux’s and Crowned Eagles, Black Stork, African Black Swift, Rock Martin, Mocking Chat, Collared Palm-Thrush, and Striped Pipit. 

The banks of the Zambezi, further upstream are home to several species often associated with the Okavango delta and we’ll depart early in the morning to look for Coppery-tailed and White-browed coucals, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Rufous-bellied Heron, Southern Brown Throated Weaver, Greater Swamp Warbler, Hartlaubs Babbler, Bradfield’s Hornbill, and Chirping and Luapula Cisticolas.  After returning to the hotel for lunch there will be time to have a rest in the hotel grounds, or indulge in some local birding, before we take to the water for evening sundowners.  This will be a wonderfully relaxing way to end the day as we cruise the placid waters of the Zambezi above the mighty Victoria Falls, cold drink in hand, scanning the river for White-backed Night Heron, African Finfoot, Rock Pratincole, and African Skimmer.  Nights in Livingstone.

Day 13:  Leaving Livingstone, we have a long drive in to the Zambezi valley where we find another distinctive habitat - woodland dominated by open-canopied Mopane trees crossed by occasional streams lined with distinctive riparian vegetation.  This woodland, much favoured by Elephants, is a favourite of birds as well, and we hope to find Meves’s Starling, White-browed Sparrow Weaver, and with luck Lillian’s Lovebirds during our visit.  Our hotel is in the town of Siavonga on the shores of Lake Kariba, where African Fish Eagles and White-breasted Cormorants are a constant sight, and Mozambique Nightjars buzz around the hotel in the evening.  Night in Siavonga.

Day 14:  Angola Pitta is perhaps one of Africa’s most sought after species, and certainly one of the more difficult to find.  However today we visit perhaps one of the easiest places in the world to see this enigmatic bird, which is only really vocal for the first two hours of daylight, after which it becomes even more elusive.  We’ll therefore depart before dawn to be on-site just as the sun rises, and hopefully our efforts and patience will be rewarded with a sighting of this intriguing African endemic.  Later we’ll concentrate on some of the other great birds to be found in this woodland including Barred and African Emerald Cuckoos, African Broadbill, Livingstone’s Flycatcher, and Eastern Bearded Scrub-Robin.  Night in Siavonga.

Day 15:  If we missed Angola Pitta the day before, we have another chance today to search for it and the other special birds of the region before departing for our return journey to Lusaka.  Night in Lusaka.

Day 16:  We transfer to the airport for our morning flight back to London where the tour ends later the same day. 

E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.

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Last updated June 2008