Zambia: 18-day Mwinilunga, Kafue, and Southern Province Adventure
This is an itinerary for serious world birders wanting to see South-central African endemics,
including typically “Congolese” and “Angolan” specials that can also be seen safely in Zambia,
along with Zambia’s two endemics.
This wonderful 18-day birding adventure will take you to remote and spectacular areas of Zambia.
Eight out of the top ten special birds from western Zambia are located in the north-west area near
Mwinilunga. These include Black-collard Bulbul, Angola Lark, Bamboo Warbler, Forbes’s
Plover, Grimwood’s Longclaw, Black-and-rufous Swallow, Laura’s Woodland Warbler,
and Margaret’s Batis. Then we continue on to Choma and Livingstone in the Southern Province of
Zambia, to find the ninth west-Zambian special, the endemic Chaplin’s Barbet, and finally the tenth,
the endemic Black-cheeked Lovebird. The north-west list also includes other specials such
as Angola Swallow, Red-throated Cliff Swallow, White-spotted Flufftail seasonal), Bannerman’s
Sunbird, Bates’s Sunbird, Anchieta’s Sunbird, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Bar-winged
Weaver, Bocage’s Weaver, Black-tailed Cisticola, Black-necked Eremomela, Ross’s Turaco,
Schalow’s Turaco, Anchieta’s Barbet, and Black-backed Barbet. Finally, the Kafue River area
near Mpongwe is the home of Pel’s Fishing Owl, all this just to tickle a few taste buds.
Please note that the detailed itinerary below cannot be guaranteed as it is only a rough guide and can
be changed (usually slightly) due to factors such as availability of accommodation, updated
information on the state of accommodation, roads or birding sites, and the discretion of the guides
and other factors.
Itinerary (18 days/17 nights)
Day 1. International flight arrival at Ndola Airport
Kindly note: Direct flights into Ndola from Johannesburg are on Kenya Airways and South African
Airways.
After collecting your luggage, we depart from Ndola Airport to Chingola en route to Mwinilunga.
This is a two-hour drive through the copperbelt mining region of Zambia. Our lovely little guest house
is centrally situated in the mining town of Chingola. After settling in, there is an opportunity to bird a
local Miombo patch, close by, for an introduction into “birding Miombo species”.
Overnight: Hibiscus Guest House, Chingola
Day 2. Transfer to Cassin’s Camp
We have an early start today for our eight-hour journey of 530 kilometers to Nkwaji, a wildlife ranch
nestled in the north-west of Zambia near Mwinilunga, very close to the Angola and Congo borders.
This area forms part of the Guineo-Congo Forest biome. Road stops along the way on our long
journey include “bridge birding” in search of Red-throated Cliff Swallow, Black Saw-wing,
Bamboo Warbler (difficult), and Brown-headed Apalis, and we keep an eye out for Sharp-tailed
Starling. In the uppermost north-western corner of Zambia, Mwinilunga and its surroundings have
some extensive Miombo areas, but they are also heavily settled. However, birding here offers an
exciting array of specials. We will stay at Cassin’s Camp. Nestled on the corner of the banks of the
West Lunga River, this lovely exclusive tented camp has wonderful hot showers and flush toilets. The
excellent cuisine is prepared by chefs under the ambiance of the African night sky. This is truly a
“back to nature” experience to be enjoyed The camp offers riverine mushitu, Miombo, dambo (vlei),
and open plain birding. Walking is possible, with all habitats easily accessible. However, combined
birding/ game drives on an open Safari vehicle to hot spots are the norm.
After arriving at the camp we have the opportunity, time permitting, to explore, in the Luakera River
Protected Forest Area, two of Zambia’s special habitats: mature Miombo woodland and the “mushitu”
or evergreen riverine forest outcrops, which surround streams along drainage areas and the adjacent
flat open grassland dambos. Here “specials” abound, and some of them that we may encounter today
include Spotted Creeper, White-browed Scrub Robin, Grey-backed Camaroptera, African
Dusky Flycatcher, Mosque Swallow, Grey-headed Bushshrike, Black-necked Eremomela,
Miombo Double-collared Sunbird, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Groundscraper Thrush,
Red-capped Crombec, Pallid Honeyguide, European Bee-eater, Red-necked Falcon, Greyheaded Parrot (the local race suahelicus of Brown-necked Parrot, not recognized as a full species
by most authorities), Meyer’s Parrot, African Barred Owlet, Black Cuckooshrike, Whistling
Cisticola, Green-capped Eremomela, Salvadori’s Eremomela, Bar-winged Weaver, Long-tailed
Cisticola, Short-tailed Pipit, Red-chested Cuckoo, Thick-billed Cuckoo, Black Cuckoo, African
Emerald Cuckoo, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Black-collared Bulbul, Angola Lark, Grimwood’s Longclaw,
Bocage’s Weaver, Black-and-rufous Swallow, Laura’s Woodland Warbler, Gorgeous (Perrin’s)
Bush-Shrike, Bannerman’s Sunbird, Anchieta’s Sunbird, Bates’s Sunbird, Grey-winged RobinChat, Cassin’s Flycatcher (resident in camp), Black-tailed (Dambo)Cisticola, Ross’s Turaco, and
Anchieta’s Barbet.
Overnight: Cassin’s Camp, Nkwaji
Days 3 – 6. Cassin’s Camp
During our days in this wonderful location we will be very busy. Our activities will include, among
others, birding Nkwaji wildlife ranch in search of its specials. Resident in camp are African Finfoot,
African Black Duck, Shining-blue Kingfisher, and the general birdlist includes Palm-nut Vulture,
Afep Pigeon, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Splendid Starling, Violet-backed Starling, Bluebreasted Kingfisher, Bates’s Sunbird, Coppery Sunbird, Olive Sunbird, Many-colored
Bushshrike, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Sousa’s Shrike (possible), Red-capped Robin-Chat,
Rufous-bellied Tit, White-winged Black Tit, Miombo Tit, Grey Tit-Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher,
Ashy Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Southern Black Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise
Flycatcher, African Paradise Flycatcher, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, White-tailed Blue
Flycatcher, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Grey Apalis, Buff-throated Apalis, White-chinned
Prinia, Short-winged Cisticola, Neddicky, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Southern Hyliota, Yellowbellied Eremomela, Black-necked Eremomela, Black-faced Canary, Black-eared Seedeater,
Reichard’s Seedeater, Red-capped Lark, Dark-backed Weaver, Golden-breasted Bunting,
Cabanis’s Bunting, Common Waxbill, Fawn-breasted Waxbill, Grey Waxbill, African Firefinch,
and Orange-winged Pytilia, to name just a few. No doubt you will also see amazing sable
antelope, eland, defassa waterbuck, an occasional roan antelope, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, kudu,
puku, impala, common reedbuck, buffalo and common duiker on your drives while birding.
We will also make a day trip to the Chitunta Plain and the source of the mighty Zambezi River. The
Chitunta Plain, an IBA (Important Bird Area), is a treeless, water-logged grass plain, part of the
Chitunta/Sakeji watershed. It is home to African Cuckoo Hawk, Denham’s Bustard, Bluebreasted Bee-eater, Hartlaub’s Babbler, Black-tailed Cisticola, Rosy-throated Longclaw,
Stout Cisticola, Levaillant’s Cisticola, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Locust Finch, Black-chinned
Quailfinch, Blue Quail, Common (Kurrichane) Buttonquail, Hottentot Buttonquail, Little
Stint, Common Sandpiper, Great Snipe, Lesser Jacana, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Angola
Swallow, Swamp Nightjar, Sooty Chat, and Red-throated Wryneck (possible). Even Wattled
Crane has been recorded here occasionally. At the source of the Zambezi we find exciting mushitu
surrounding this small spring, which erupts in the middle of an evergreen forest. Moist conditions with
lots of ferns and undergrowth, teaming not only with birds but also with butterflies and dragonflies,
will keep us mesmerized. At the source of the Zambezi the birdlist includes Marsh Owl, African
Grass Owl, Fülleborn’s Longclaw, Corncrake, African Crake, Little Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed
Bee-eater, Flappet Lark, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Bates’s Sunbird,
Orange-tufted Sunbird, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Little Grebe, Woolly-necked Stork, Lanner
Falcon, African Wattled Lapwing, Tambourine Dove, Spotted Thrush-Babbler (rare), Fan-tailed
Grassbird, Moustached Grass Warbler, Evergreen Forest Warbler, Dark-capped Yellow
Warbler, Buff-throated Apalis, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Banded Martin, Red-breasted
Swallow, Common House Martin, Woodland Pipit, African Thrush, Northern Grey-headed
Sparrow, Fawn-breasted Waxbill, Red-backed Mannikin, Black-throated Canary, Green
Malkoha, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Anchieta’s Tchagra, Honeyguide Greenbul, Little Greenbul,
Cabanis’s Greenbul, White-spotted Flufftail (wet season only), Narina Trogon, African Pygmy
Kingfisher, African Broadbill, Black-bellied Seedcracker, Red-headed Quelea, and Marsh
Widowbird,.
On another day trip we will visit the Nchila Wildlife Conservation Area and Hillwood Farm, due
north and north-east of Mwinilunga This fascinating area, which is further into the Guineo-Congo
Forest biome, is home to a prolific variety of birds, including some Central African specials which are
not found anywhere else in Zambia due to the particular habitat. Open dambos and mushitu are
characteristic of the area, with some good Miombo, where annual rainfall exceeds 1250 milliliters.
Among many others, the birdlist here includes White-faced Whistling Duck, Harlequin Quail,
Great White Pelican, Dwarf Bittern, Secretarybird, Martial Eagle, Long-crested Eagle, Gabar
Goshawk, Shikra, Ovambo Sparrowhawk, Black-bellied Bustard. Striped Crake, Grey Crowned
Crane, Forbes’s Plover, Temminck’s and Bronze-winged Coursers, Great Spotted Cuckoo,
African Palm Swift, Woodland Kingfisher, Racket-tailed Roller, Common Scimitarbill,
Southern Ground Hornbill, Bearded Woodpecker, Chinspot Batis, Northern Fiscal, Miombo
Wren-Warbler, Tinkling Cisticola, Tree Pipit, Red-headed Quelea, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu,
and Bar-breasted Firefinch.
Time permitting, we will also travel to some rapids formed by the young Zambezi to look for Whitebellied Bustard, which is only found in this area in Zambia, arriving in late August or September if
the rains are good.
Overnight: Cassin’s Camp, Nkwaji
Day 7. Birding the Cryptosepalum Forest
Today’s three-hour journey means a very early departure (0400hrs) with a packed breakfast and lunch.
We travel 100km south of Mwinilunga to a unique, dry, spiny, deciduous forest with a thick,
impenetrable under-story. Because of this birding is restricted to dirt roads and tracks. We aim to be
on site at 0700hrs. This is a very interesting ecotone – the mavunda or Cryptosepalum forest on the
West Lunga River is an extremely thick, short and spiky dry evergreen forest, which is characterized
by the tree Cryptosepalum maraviense with its own thicket understory. This is the home of a few very
special birds, such as Margaret’s Batis, Crested Guineafowl (subspecies kathleenae), Purplethroated Cuckooshrike, and Least Honeyguide. This is also the place where the only specimen so
far known of the White-chested Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus makawai) was found in 1964, which is now
believed by some to be an aberrant Yellow-Rumped Tinkerbird, but birders keep up the search. We
return by the same route to Mwinilunga town, where we spend the night at a quaint little guesthouse
on the banks of the West Lunga River. It offers clean, comfortable, air-conditioned, en-suite
accommodation and good local “fare” – the fish and chips are a traditional speciality and definitely
something to tickle the taste buds. The lodge does not have internet facilities or a bar, but allows
corkage.
Overnight: Mwinilunga
Days 8 – 9. Nsobe Game Farm
Early today we will embark on an eight-hour drive to Ndola. Situated south of Ndola, Nsobe Game
Farm, where we will stay for two nights, offers exciting Miombo specials in stands of mature Miombo
woodland and also a number of water birds This area gives us the opportunity to fill in the gaps in our
Miombo bird list. Nsobe traces its origins to the Cape to Cairo railway. In 1908 the steam engine track
was laid through what would become Nsobe Game Farm and Miengwe Farm. Cottage 200 (the ruins
of which are on the farm) was built, and a man called George Rankin was based there with the task of
keeping the trains supplied with water and fuel. This privately owned woodland game ranch boasts of
some lovely little dams and fish ponds, which attract birds such as Pel’s Fishing Owl along
with waders, ibises, and various kingfishers. Wildlife has been re-introduced to this game farm,
making it a very special location, and blue duiker can be frequently located. The accommodation
offers clean and comfortable chalets.
The bird list here boasts 330 species, including some exciting specials such as Marabou Stork,
Hooded Vulture, African Wood Owl, Crowned Eagle, Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle, Western Osprey,
Dickinson’s Kestrel, Coqui Francolin, Temminck’s Courser, African Darter, Long-tailed (Reed)
Cormorant, White-breasted Cormorant, Coppery-tailed Coucal, White-browed Coucal, Black
Coucal, Hadada Ibis, Knob-billed Duck, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, African Green Pigeon,
Schalow’s Turaco, Baillon’s Crake, Red-chested Flufftail, Purple Swamphen, Allen’s Gallinule,
Lesser Moorhen, Common Moorhen, Greater Painted-snipe, Three-banded Plover, Common
Greenshank, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper,
Pectoral Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Whiskered Tern, White-winged Tern, Pale-billed
Hornbill, Giant Kingfisher, Miombo Scrub Robin, Cabanis’s Bunting, Miombo Rock Thrush,
Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Weaver, Grey-olive Greenbul, Red-throated Twinspot, Squaretailed Drongo, Arnot’s Chat, Little Rush Warbler, Lesser Swamp Warbler, Chirping Cisticola,
Pin-tailed Whydah, and Brown Firefinch.
Overnight: Nsobe Game Camp
Days 10 – 11. Kafue Lodge
North of Lusaka and close to Mpongwe, Kafue Lodge is another birder’s paradise, located on a 2000
plus hectare game ranch, with wonderful bird and game viewing tracks meandering along dambos and
through Miombo woodland. All chalets are en-suite. This divine lodge caters for a maximum of
sixteen guests and is situated on the Kafue River. Telephone and Internet is not available. Here the
Kafue River flows past Lake Kashiba, in the Machiya-Fungulwe Game Management Area, on its way
south towards the Kafue National Park. This lake is an interesting sink hole, and the mushitu forest of
the Imanda IBA is located only a few kilometers away. This area is good for Miombo birding as well
as birding alongside riverine evergreen forest (mushitu), giving you the opportunity to find a good
selection of both water birds, Miombo specials, and forest birds.
During our two days of birding here, we might encounter African Scops Owl, Wahlberg’s Eagle,
White-backed Vulture, Bateleur, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Black-breasted Snake Eagle,
African Harrier-Hawk, African Marsh Harrier, African Goshawk, Little Sparrowhawk, Lizard
Buzzard, Black-shouldered Kite, Bat Hawk, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Saddle-billed Stork,
Rufus-bellied Heron, Yellow-billed Stork, Black-crowned Night Heron, Striated (Green-backed)
Heron, Grey Heron, Hamerkop, Spur-winged Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Black Crake, African
Jacana, Blacksmith Lapwing, Malachite Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher,
African Stonechat, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Kurrichane Thrush, Amethyst Sunbird, Scarletchested Sunbird, White-bellied Sunbird, Purple-banded Sunbird, Shelley’ Sunbird, Yellowrumped Tinkerbird, Black-collared Barbet, Black-backed Barbet, Scaly-throated Honeyguide,
Lesser Honeyguide, Pallid Honeyguide, Greater Honeyguide, White-crested Helmetshrike,
Retz’s Helmetshrike, Black-headed Oriole, African Golden Oriole, Böhm’s Bee-eater, Bushveld
Pipit, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Weaver, Miombo Tit, Rufus-bellied Tit, Miombo Blue-eared
Starling, Bocage’s Akalat, White-browed Robin-Chat, Helmeted Guineafowl, Emerald-spotted
Wood Dove, Lemon Dove, Namaqua Dove, Red-eyed Dove, Cape Turtle Dove, African Cuckoo,
Green Wood Hoopoe, Crowned Hornbill, Trumpeter Hornbill, Red-faced Mousebird, Speckled
Mousebird, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker, Green-backed Woodpecker,
Bennett’s Woodpecker, Olive Woodpecker, Cape Wagtail, African Pied Wagtail, Plain-backed
Pipit, Buffy Pipit, Luapula Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Long-billed Crombec, Böhm’s
Flycatcher, Pale Flycatcher, African Yellow White-eye, Southern Fiscal, Black-fronted
Bushshrike, Black-backed Puffback, Tropical Boubou, Brubru, Marsh Tchagra, Fork-tailed
Drongo, White -breasted Cuckooshrike, Yellow-throated Petronia, Red-headed Weaver, Golden
Weaver, Village Weaver, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Weaver, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Redcollared Widowbird, Black-winged Red (Black-winged) Bishop, Red-billed Firefinch, Bronze
Mannikin, Magpie Mannikin, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Brimstone Canary, and Yellow-fronted
Canary. There are currently also over ten species of antelope on this game ranch, including sable,
eland; and kudu, as well as plains zebra.
Overnight: Kafue Lodge
Day 12. Transfer to Protea Safari Lodge, Chisamba
After a leisurely start we travel south to Chisamba, 50km north of Lusaka, to the Protea Safari Lodge
for a stopover en route to Zambia’s Southern Province. This lovely lodge makes a wonderful birding
stopover. On a wildlife reserve of approximately 2500 acres, the lodge is set within beautiful gardens.
It offers quality accommodation and a relaxing atmosphere.
Overnight: Protea Safari Lodge, Chisamba
Days 13 – 15. Nkanga River Conservation Area
We have another early start today to travel for approximately eight hours to Masuku Lodge in the
Nkanga River Conservation Area in southern Zambia. Masuku Lodge, providing quaint en suite
cottages, is set in beautiful, unspoiled bush, and overlooks a lake It is surrounded by Miombo, dambo,
and thicket. This wide range of habitats supports a high diversity of bird and animal life. The Nkanga
River Conservation Area, another one of Zambia’s prolific IBAs, is an excellent place to see one of
Zambia's two endemic birds, Chaplin's Barbet. Cattle ranching is the principle agricultural activity
within the conservation area and provides an interesting birding variation in one of Zambia’s oldest
commercial farming districts.
The bird list here includes six species of francolin and spurfowl, Streaky-breasted Flufftail, Miombo
Pied Barbet, Zambezi Indigobird, Shelley’s Sunbird, Purple Heron, Diederik Cuckoo, Senegal
Coucal, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Bearded Scrub Robin, Jameson's Firefinch, Green-winged
Pytilia, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah. Grey Penduline Tit,
Black-eared Seedeater, Rufous-naped Lark, Croaking Cisticola, Red-billed Quelea, Squacco
Heron, White-backed Duck, African Pygmy Goose (very rare here now), Red-footed Falcon,
Water Thick-knee, Common Cuckoo, Southern Red Bishop, and Dusky Indigobird. You will also
see plains zebra, kudu, sable antelope, and bushbuck amongst many other animals that live in the
thicket and Miombo. If you are really lucky, you might see the shy aardvark or even a leopard.
Overnight: Masuku Lodge, Nkanga River Conservation Area
Days 16 – 17. Livingstone and the Machile IBA
We depart after breakfast to Livingstone. We visit the beautiful Victoria Falls en route, followed by a
stunning opportunity to participate in a “birding sunset cruise” on the Upper Zambezi River. We will
stay at Waterberry Zambezi Lodge, a lovely upmarket lodge situated on the banks of the Upper
Zambezi, with good birding habitat and short walks, overlooking a game park on the opposite bank. A
day trip will bring us to the Machile area (anther IBA) to see the endemic Black-cheeked Lovebird in
its extremely localized area of distribution. This means an early departure with packed breakfast and
lunch for a full day’s outing to a remote area of mopane forest, which provides an excellent
opportunity to also pick up a number of dry land birds species.
Overnight: Waterberry Zambezi Lodge, Livingstone
Day 18. Departure
This marks the end of our tour with a possible opportunity to bird the gorges prior to your departure
from Livingstone Airport (with British Airways or South African Airways via Johannesburg), if times
and flights permit (most flights leave at lunch time). Here we would search for Verreaux’s
Eagle, Augur Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Taita Falcon (unlikely but possible), and
swifts and martins.
Duration: 18 days
Group size: The price assumes a group of 4 – 6 in an air-conditioned 7-seater 4x4 Toyota Regius.
Date: 18 August – 4 September 2014
Start: Ndola
End: Livingstone
Price: US$6850 per person sharing, single supplement US$355 (These are 2013 prices;
2014 prices are expected to be 5 – 10% higher.)
Price includes:
Full board accommodation
All activities as specified
Local drinks and alcohol
Entrance and park fees
Transport and fuel
Price excludes:
International flights
Insurance
Gratuities or items of a personal nature
Imported Alcohol