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BAREFOOT SAFARIS & Adventure Tours |
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Discover the Africa of your dreams on a Barefoot Safaris Adventure |
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Zambia: |
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Website designed and maintained by Nathan Dixey Last updated 31/03/2008 |
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The Luangwa valley (North & South Luangwa National Parks) is one of Africa’s prime wildlife sanctuaries, with concentrations and varieties of game and bird life that have made it world famous. This is the landscape of the ‘real Africa’, with herds of antelope roaming the plains, predators stalking through the shadows, and primordial flora in every vale. The first Europeans to arrive in Zambia were Portuguese explorers who reached the interior from the east coast. However, the most famous visitor was David Livingstone, whose exploration heralded the arrival of Europeans and changed the nature of the region forever. The establishment of missions to promote the spread of Christianity and the abolition of slavery soon followed. We tread in the footsteps of those early pioneers through a land of spectacular scenery, unparalleled hospitality and unique wildlife. Luangwa National Park contains one of the largest concentrations of elephant, as well as supporting a wealth of other species and habitat. This journey, rich in contrast and adventure, is full of unforgettable experiences |
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Buffalo Camp:North Luangwa Photograph Courtesy of Martin Cox |
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Suggested Trip Dossiers |
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For further information please contact: enquiries@barefoot-safaris.com Tel: +265 1 707 346
Posted 04/02/2008 |
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22 Days Land Only (927) (LP)
Print Version (Coming Soon) Includes additional information |
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Exploring and doing game viewing in a National Park in Africa with no existing roads or even tracks? We did it in Sioma Ngwezi. We camped like explorers with no infrastructure and were privileged to see Wild Dogs. From Chobe we went for lunch to Savuti and on the return journey awaiting the prospect of sundowners were charged by a bull elephant. He kept us at bay for about an hour, playing hide and seek and charging us every time we try to pass him. Good photo opportunity but not for me who was reversing at flat speed in thick sand, looking backwards to remain in the sand track, with the “He is gaining ….. he is gaining …. HE IS GAINING!!” … still ringing in my ears. (Kenneth Smith December 2005) |
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We made use of a Land Rover instead of porters, exploring a region with no modern infrastructure, saw one of the biggest migrations of Blue Wildebeest in Liuwa Plains, was charged by the biggest lions that I have seen in my life; what a beautiful specimen; but also saw the damage that is being done by the Aid brigade … |
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Barefoot Safaris is a Member of the Malawi Tourism Association |
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Zambia a landlocked country in the heart of Southern Africa surrounded by eight neighbours, with its capital city, Lusaka, located in the southeast of the country, has been inhabited for thousands of years by hunter gatherers and migrating tribes. After sporadic visits by European explorers starting in the 18th century, the area was, towards the end of the nineteenth century, gradually claimed and occupied by the British as the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia. The modern state of Zambia, deriving its name from the mighty Zambezi River, was born on the 24th October 1964, after the protectorate gained independence from Britain. |
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The area which is now modern Zambia was originally inhabited by Khoisan hunter-gatherers until around AD 200, when technologically-advanced migrating tribes began to displace or absorb them. The earliest account of a European visiting the area was Francisco de Lacerda in the late 18th century, followed by other explorers in the 19th century. The most prominent of these was David Livingstone, who had a vision of ending the slave trade through the "3 C's" (Christianity, Commerce and Civilisation). He was the first European to see the magnificent waterfalls on the Zambezi River in 1855, naming them Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria. Locally the falls are known "Mosi-oa-Tunya" or "the smoke that thunders" (in the Lozi or Kololo dialect). The town of Livingstone, near the falls is named after him. Highly publicised accounts of his journeys motivated a wave of explorers, missionaries and traders after his death in 1873. Zambia has a few well developed tarmac roads but once you leave the arterials, you are ‘off the beaten track’, indeed most of Zambia is off the beaten track. This is Zambia’s appeal; wilderness and space. From the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika to the northern shores of Lake Kariba, from the vast Barotse floodplains to the rich Luangwa Valley, from Lake Bangweulu and the swamps to the abundant Busanga Plains and Liuwa Plains, from Victoria Falls to Kalambo Falls, from the Ku’omboka to the Umutomboka, this is Zambia and this is the real Africa. Zambia beckons to the intrepid, the adventurous; to those who want to step off the conveyor belt of mass tourism. If risk is perceived, then the risk is justified by the repertoire of destinations and the quality options the country can offer: the astonishing wildlife of Luangwa Valley, Kafue, and Lower Zambezi, the graceful lechwe antelope filling the vast plains of Busanga and Bangweulu in their tens of thousands, the annual white-water frenzy of Batoka Gorge, the ‘flight of angels’ over the ‘smoke that thunders’ the adrenalin-choked bungee jump off Victoria Falls Bridge, the limitless expanses of Lake Kariba and Tanganyika, fishing, diving, houseboating, canoeing. Victoria, Kalambo, Kundalila, Ngonye - Zambia is a land of waterfalls. A land of long lazy sunsets, relentless wilderness, ancestral ceremony and smiling faces. |
