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Lochinvar Park - Zambia

Lochinvar, although not abundant in the larger mammals, is a park of exceptional beauty and outstanding birding opportunities with 428 recorded species in it's 428 square kilometers.

The Kafue Flats floodplain, in the northern section, floods from the Kafue River, and here you’ll find thousands upon thousands of the endemic Kafue lechwe.

More than 30 000 of them make the flats their home and move seasonally according to the flood level.

Accommodation

Lechwe Plains

The exotic and beautiful Lechwe Plains Tented Camp is an African fantasy under canvas Lechwe Plains Tented camp, built onto teak decking, shelters under a mature grove of acacia trees on the edge of the wide Chunga Lagoon in Lochnivar national park

Location

Lochnivar park Lochinvar is 428 sq. kms in size occupying the wide floodplain of the Kafue River between Itezhi tezhi dam in the west and Kafue Gorge in the east.

Lochinvar's 3 distinct vegetation zones of floodplain (the Kafue Flats) grasslands and the woodlands of the southern area. Here bushbuck, kudu, baboon, bushpig and vervet monkey can be found.

Other interesting areas are :

Gwisho Hot Springs - a geological fault with large concentrations of sodium, chlorine, calcium and sulphates in the water.

Sebanzi Hill - site of an iron age village inhabited for most of the last century. The Baobab Tree with its hollow trunk large enough for several people to sleep in. Reputed to have special powers to protect passing travellers from wild animals.

Drum Rocks : which produce a resonant sound when tapped. Also park of folk lore when passers by had to stop and greet the rocks before proceeding.

Wildlife

The park has few large mammals and visitors are encouraged to walk in the park.

Unique to the Kafue flats, is the Kafue lechwe and other antelope to be found are blue wildebeest, kudu, oribi and buffalo.

Birds for Africa

But it is the birdlife of Lochinvar which is outstanding. Wattled crane, marabou stork, greater and lesser flamingo, pink backed and white pelicans, African skimmer, Caspian tern, southern pochard. pygmy goose, Cape and European shovellers, avocets.
Rarities such as Pectoral Sandpiper and Franklin's Gull have also been sighted.

To name just a few of the over 50 species of raptors are osprey - black sparrowhawk - secretary bird and peregrine falcon.

Waders use Lochinvar as a resting point on their migrations and as an over wintering habitat.

Over the last few years, flocks of Red-winged Pratincoles in their thousands, as well as large numbers of Palearctic waders have been seen.

Flocks of up to 2000 Black-tailed Godwits have been documented in the last few years, as well as tens of thousands of Ruff, and thousands of Marsh and Curlew Sandpipers, Little Stints and Greenshank.

Herons are especially present, with large numbers of the commoner species resident, and Slaty Egrets and Madagascar Squacco Heron are recorded annually.