One of Zambia’s least-known wilderness areas and a real highlight of a visit to this part of the country is the privately managed Kasanka National Park. At just 390 sq km it’s pretty small compared to most African parks, it doesn’t have a huge range of facilities and it sees very few visitors – there are no queues of jeeps at leopard sightings, only great tracts of miombo woodland, evergreen thicket, open grassland and rivers fringed with emerald forest.
Kasanka is perhaps most famous for its swampland though, and this is the terrain to see the park’s shy and retiring star, the sitatunga, a semi-aquatic antelope distinguished by its long splayed hooves and oily coat. Kasanka is arguably the only national park in the world to offer guaranteed sightings of the sitatunga. Other common antelope species include bushbuck, duiker, reedbuck and puku. Between July and October you’ll most likely see sable antelopes and hartebeests, and may also be treated to a glimpse of roan antelopes. Hippos and crocodiles inhabit the lakes and rivers here and there’s a small population of elephants, though these aren’t as commonly seen. Night time brings out jackals, civets and porcupines, and during the months of November and December, the park is home to more than eight million migratory fruit bats – the biggest mammal gathering anywhere in the world – which can blanket the sky for several minutes at dusk. Bird spotters will also love Kasanka. There are 463 species here, including the wattled crane, Ross’s turaco, Bohm's bee-eater and Pel's fishing owl.
Kasanka is a privately managed national park, run by the Kasanka Trust. Revenue is reinvested in the park, and the trust is also involved in conservation and local community projects.
