How to get to Bangweulu swamps Zambia
How to get to Bangweulu swamps Zambia – Zambia Safaris and tours
How to get to Bangweulu swamps – About bangweulu swamp 100 kilometres north of kasanka national park are the vast Bangweulu Wetlands – Africa’s greatest swamp, which is basically divided into 3 main habitats.
There is open water to the North West, huge swamps in the middle and seasonally flooded grass plains on the southern and eastern fringes. The grass plains support a huge variety of aquatic birdlife, including a good population of shoebill storks; regarded as a “mega” tick by many birding enthusiasts. The local name for the swamps means “where the water meets the sky” and during the rainy season the swamps swell to three times their size in dry season.
The Bangwelu Swamps feed the Congo River and were a great disillusion to the sick Dr David Livingstone who travelled to the area in search of the source of the Nile only to find the swamps led to the great Congo River instead! His grave is in this area although our own guide disagrees with the precise spot – see Livingstone’s Grave.
In response to drought, the unusual and unique lungfish found in this area and thought to have survived for 300 million years, developed the ability to live for months and sometimes years, without water. At the first sign of water, the fish revives and continues with its life as a fish. Of great interest as one of the evolutionary missing links between land and water, this species is the subject of a number of scientific research projects.
How to get to bangweulu swamp
Bangweulu Wetlands is located 700km/343mi north of Lusaka.
Bangweulu isn’t included on many tourist itineraries and getting here isn’t very straightforward – the easiest way is by chartered plane. There are two airstrips in the area.
It is possible to drive to the park, and some specialized operators can set up a mobile trip for you as well. If you are driving yourself, you need to be fully self-sufficient with a high-clearance 4×4. In the Wet season, you’ll have to hire a boat for the last stretch to the Shoebill Island Camp.
Zambia’s main airport is Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN), located 14km/9mi from the capital, Lusaka – it is through this airport that most international visitors will arrive in the country.
searching for the shoebill stork in the swamps
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