Kasanka is blessed with a wide variety of habitats, each hosting its own community of bird species, many of which are rare or uncommon.
(meta data) TITLE: Kasanka National Park - Zambia Tourism (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2017-02-03 # Kasanka National Park This peaceful sanctuary, situated on the south western edge of the Lake Bangweulu basin, is one of Zambia's smallest national parks. It's 450 km2 however, are so well endowed with rivers, lakes, wetlands, forests, lagoons, meadows and dambos that it supports a uniquely wide range of animals and abundant birds and fish. Do not expect to see large herds of animals round every corner, but it is surely one of the most picturesque parks in Zambia with superb birdlife. About ten years ago Kasanka was in danger of becoming yet another defunct national park due to rampant poaching. David Lloyd, a British expatriate, who had lived in Zambia for many years, visited the Park in 1985 and heard the crack of gunshots. He concluded that if there was still poaching there must still be animals there and set out to save the Park from total depletion. He teamed up with a local farmer, sought funding and along with much of their own resources applied for official permission to rehabilitate the Park. They built tourist camps, roads and bridges and set up the Kasanka Trust to raise funds for this community based project. Slowly it began to earn a little money from tourists to help cover costs. Three years later the National Parks and Wildlife Services Department were sufficiently impressed to sign a 10 year agreement with the Trust allowing full management of the Park in conjunction with National Parks & Wildlife Services and to develop it for tourism in partnership with the local community. Today, although there is still none of the heart-stopping walking safaris amongst elephant herds, or any lions brushing past your open vehicle as in the larger parks, there are some of the rarest birds and animals in the country, found in the beautiful miombo woodlands, swamp forest, grasslands, floodplains and riverine bushveld, to be enjoyed on leisurely walks and drives. There are ample opportunities for fishing tigerfish, bream and barbel in the beautiful Luwombwa River. Boats are available for hire but you should bring your own tackle. Recovering from depletion are hippo, sable antelope, and Liechtenstein's hartebeest. The puku, once reduced to a few hundred, today exceed 1500. There are fairly big herds of the swamp-dwelling sitatunga, reedbuck, waterbuck, Sharpe's grysbok and the rare blue monkey. Elephants also appear from time to time, and their numbers are expected to recover. Together with Kasanka's noted birdlife, the animals can be seen on guided walks through the grassy plains, mushitu forests, large tracts of miombo woodland, and alongside riverine forest and papyrus swamps. Over 330 bird species have been recorded, including such rarities as Pel's fishing owl, the Pygmy goose, Ross's loerie, the osprey and the wattled crane. If you're lucky you'll catch a glimpse of the rare shoebill stork. ### More Information ###### -When to visit Kasanka ia open all year round. Birding is especially good in the wet season from November to March when migrants arrive from the north. Game viewing is best in the dry months from May to October. ###### -Getting there Take the Great North Road from Lusaka, turn right just after Kapiri Mposhi and left after Serenje on the road to Samfya. Turn left at the 54km mark into the Park at the Malaushi gate. ###### -Wildlife Not to be missed is the unique platform hide, 18m high in a giant mululu tree with a panoramic view over the Kapabi Swamp. The rare and elusive sitatunga aquatic antelope feeds in the swamps below in the early mornings or late afternoons. A startling site from the hide in November and December is the evening flight of several million fruit bats leaving their roosts in search of food, darkening the sky for a few moments. The Chisamba Wamponde pan attracts large herds of puku, spur winged goose and saddle-bill storks, and hosts many hippos and waterbuck. Duiker are often seen in the woodlands fringing the pan. Lake Ndolwa is a beautiful and secluded spot where the shy shoebill stork has been seen in the papyrus reeds flanking the lake. Chikufwe Plain is particularly rewarding in the early hours of the morning during the dry season. The plain is the favourite haunt of the sable and also attracts large numbers of hartebeest, reedbuck and occasionally a few zebra and buffalo. This is an excellent birdwatching site too, especially for raptors such as the black-breasted snake eagle. ### Kasanka News #### The World's Largest Mammal Migration! 14 Sep The Great Wildebeest Migration? The biggest animal migration on earth? Nope. While many believe that the great Wilde ... Read more > #### Protecting Kasanka's fruit bats 03 Feb Every year, approximately 10 million fruit bats make their way from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Zambia' ... Read more > ### Useful Facts Area: 420km²Founded in: 1972Province: Central ZambiaCoordinates: -12.567298,30.200043 ### Kasanka National Park Map Comments are closed. #### Related links #### Quick links #### Subscribe to our latest wildife sightings channel Zambia Tourism ### Sign up to our newsletter NameEmail* ### Login Email Password Remember Me Lost your password? ### Register Email Password ### Advance Filters ### Facts Big 5 Reserve Cell Phone Signal Child Friendly Child Friendly (Minimum age 7) Child Friendly (Minimum age 8) Malaria Area Spa Swimming pool Test Waterhole Wheelchair friendly Wi-Fi ### Facilities 24-Hour Reception Services 24-Hour Security Service Activity Center Activity Manager Air Conditioning Airport Shuttle Airport Transfers Assorted Hot Beverages Bar Bicycles Boma Braai/BBQ Facilities Bush Dinner Venue Butler Service Cell Phone Signal Childcare/Babysitting Services Clinic Coffee Making Machine Coffee Shop Conference Facilities Conferencing Curio Shop Dedicated Ranger and Vehicle Dining Area Firepit Fireplace Foreign Exchange Games Room Garden Generator Golf Course Gym Hammock Hiking Trails Housekeeping In-Room Massages Indoor Pool Infinity Pool Inter Camp Transfers Internet Cafe Laundry (Hand-wash) Laundry Facilities Laundry Facilities (Hand-wash) Leisure Fun Park Library Lounge Luggage Storage Medical Service on Call Mini Bar Mosquito Nets Museum Outdoor Pool Outdoor Shower Parking Pizza Oven Play Room Playground Plunge Pool Porters Restaurant River view Rock Climbing Wall Room Service Safari Packages Safe Satellite TV Sauna Solar Power Spa and Wellness Centre Spa Treatments Tea and Coffee Making Facilities Telephone Tennis Court Tour Planning Transfers Travel Desk TV Area Valet Service Vehicles Viewing/Photo Hides Volleyball Waterhole Weddings Wi- Fi Wi-Fi Wildlife Hide Wine cellar ### Activities 4x4 Trails Abseiling Additional Activities (on request) Animal Rehab Tour Animal Tracking Aquarium Archery Art Safari Astronomy Battlefield Tours Bird Walks Birding Safaris Birdwatching Boat Safaris Boat Trips Boat Trips (Seasonal) Boma Dinners Bush Breakfasts Bush Walks Camp-out Camping Tours Canoeing Canopy Tours Childrens Activities Cultural Village Tours Cycling Dining Out Drumming Educational & Recreational Tours Elephant Back Safaris Encounters with Lions Endangered Species Centre Fishing Full Day Excursions Game Drives Game Drives (Day & Night) Golf Guided Tours Guided Walks (on request) Helicopter Flights Hides Game Viewing Hiking Horseback Riding Hot-Air Ballooning Island Picnic Jet Boating Kayaking Kloofing Kruger Kruger National Park Tours Livingstone Island Visit Livingstone Tours Lusaka Trip Microlight Flight Mini Golf Morning Safaris Mountain Biking Night Drives Night Safaris Paintball Photographic Workshops Photography Quad Biking Reptile Farm Rhino Tracking River Cruises Rock Art Tours Scuba Diving Segway Self Drives Shopping Shuttle Service Sightseeing Sleep Outs Snorkelling Spa Treatments Star Gazing Sundowners Sunset Cruises Swimming Tennis test Tour of the Falls Township Tours Underground Hide Village Trips Walking Safari Walking Safari (on request) Watersports White Water Rafting Wilderness Beach Wildlife Safaris Wine Tasting This website uses cookies to optimise your online user experience. 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Kasanka National Park
Fauna.:Birds.
Kasanka holds undoubtedly some of the finest birding in Africa’ according to Dr Ian Sinclair, one of Africa’s leading ornithologists. With over 330 species recorded in this relatively small area without altitudinal variation, one will find it difficult to argue with this statement.