Kafue National Park covers a massive area in western Zambia. It is the largest national park in Zambia, covering an area of about 22,400 km² (similar in size to Wales or Massachusetts). It is the second largest park in Africa and is home to over 55 different species of mammals.
It’s known for its abundant wildlife and the Kafue River, running north to south through the park. In the north, the fertile Busanga Plains are home to lions, zebras, abundant birdlife and the sycamore fig trees of Busanga Swamps. In the more remote south, elephants and antelopes roam the Nanzhila Plains, and hippos swim in the waters of Lake Itezhi-Tezhi. It is also the largest of Zambia’s conservation areas.
It offers its visitors the unusual safari experience: excellent big game viewing with barely another vehicle in sight. Activities in the park include game drives, guided walking safaris and night drives in search of leopards.
In the summer of 2019, we decided to venture and explore the southern and central part of this massive Kafue National Park. One cool morning in the company of our two dearest friends from Czech, we departed from Itezhi Tezhi town and entered the southern part of the park by entering through Musa gate. Kafue National Park is a popular park because of its diversity; grasslands, forests and the floodplains. The Busanga Plains are a vast floodplain, fed by the Lufupa River. When the floodwaters recede, tiny shoots of grass appear, attracting huge herds of wildebeest, zebra and antelope. The park accounts for approximately 33% of Zambia’s national park system and is a wilderness area which remains mostly underdeveloped.
Upon entering the park, we drove along the spinal dusty road that runs parallel to Lake Itezhi Tezhi. We saw plenty antelopes trekking to the shores of Lake Itezhi Tezhi of the Kafue River for an early morning drink. The thick forests along the Spinal road is a good hiding place for Buffaloes and Elephants. So we exercised extreme care, driving at a snail speed to avoid bumping into unseen wild animals. After the stretch of the Spinal road that is near Lake Itezhi Tezhi, the road moves away from the lake and meanders deeper into the thick forest. The road becomes smooth and stretches straight ahead offering a spectacular view of true nature and wilderness. With very few animals to see, we all feel into silence, from time to time looking around to spot any wild animals. Without much success, we all started dozing leaving the driver alone to concentrate on driving.
Dozing and leaving the driver alone was the greatest mistake we ever made. The driver seeing that we had a long way to cover 172 kms of sheer wilderness to reach Chunga Game Management Area, he pushed harder on the gas pedal for more speed. The next time when I opened my eyes, I saw tress fast flushing past us as the vehicle was really moving fast. Looking ahead, I saw the road was very good and smooth save for the many unsignposted water passing drainage. Each time the driver saw one such drainage, he literally jumped on the brakes. This forced all of us to open our eyes. But strange enough no one said anything about the high speed the driver was moving at. Soon, we all fell back in sleep.
Unknown to the driver, ahead was a pool of water right in the middle of the road. Some warthogs were mud bathing in this pool of water. In the process, they had dug a deep hole that covered the entire breadth of the road. What made matters worse is that the pool of water was covered by a tree shade. In a split of a second, the vehicle bumped hard inside the pool of water, sending the warthogs scampering in all directions.
The driver almost lost control of the speeding 4 x 4 as it careered off the muddy pool onto the shoulders of the narrow road. The swerving of the vehicle violently woke all us from our deep sleep. Being the tallest in the vehicle, I hit my head against the roof of the vehicle. I heard the colleague of mine shouting the s… word! Fortunately, the young driver managed to bring back the vehicle back on the road. There was a moment of silence in the vehicle until the driver said he was sorry. My heart was pounding and racing hard after we stabilized. I was speechless for a moment. But I remember advising the driver to be extremely careful and told him that it is better to be late than never! Warthogs almost spoiled our wildlife safari trip inside the Kafue National Park. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time in the central part of the Kafue National Park for the rest of the day. We parted company with our Czech friends and their driver at Hook Bridge. We hitch hiked back to Itezhi Tezhi, our base for all conducting all tours into the greater Kafue National Park.
