Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
All daily buses and trains between Livingstone and Lusaka stop at Choma. The bus to
either Lusaka or Livingstone is ZMW50 or ZMW65 and there are many departures every
day.
Nkanga River Conservation Area
This rudimentary conservation area (admission ZMW30) covers a few local farms and is a
tourism venture aimed squarely at birdwatchers but welcoming everyone. It protects many
different varieties of antelope, too, including eland, sable, wildebeest and kudu. It's an ex-
cellent area for birdwatching with an excess of 400 species recorded, including Chaplin's
barbet, Zambia's only endemic species.
The turn-off to Nkanga River is about 3km north of Choma, and then it's about 20km
on a decent gravel road to
Masuku Lodge
( 0977 760756;
www.masukulodgezambia.com
;
s/d incl breakfast ZMW447/500)
, a birdwatcher's para-
dise with six spacious
rondavels
in beautiful shaded grounds. You'll probably be greeted
by a horde of friendly, motley pooches on arrival.
Lochinvar National Park & Around
This small, 410 sq km
park
(admission US$10, vehicle US$15; 6am-6pm)
, northwest
of Monze, consists of grassland, low wooded hills and the seasonally flooded Chunga La-
goon - all part of a huge World Heritage Wetland Site called the Kafue Flats. You may see
buffaloes, wildebeests, zebras, kudus and some of the 30,000 Kafue lechwes residing in
the park. Bushbucks, oribis, hippos, jackals, reedbucks and common waterbucks are also
here. Lochinvar is also a haven for birdlife, with more than 400 species recorded. Its mud-
banks and shallows are a treat for wading birds. An excellent selection of wetland birds
(including wattled cranes) occur near the ranger post along the edge of Chunga Lagoon.
For history and geology fans,
Gwisho Hot Springs
is the site of a Stone Age settle-
ment, today surrounded by palms and lush vegetation with steaming water far too hot to
swim in. Nearby Sebanzi Hill was the site of an Iron Age settlement inhabited last cen-
tury. Keep an eye out for an enormous baobab tree with a hollow trunk big enough for a
