Bowers Museum - Iconic Zambia: Flying Foxes and Homecoming Elephants

Welcome to Zambia.

On arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport Lusaka, you will be met by a representative of Tours Africa who will assist you with your luggage and transfer to the Latitude Hotel for your overnight stay. Drive time from the airport is approximately 30 minutes.

A welcome cocktail reception will take place in the evening where you will meet Nick Aslin who will provide you with an orientation of your itinerary and be able to answer any questions you may have.

Point of interest - Meet Nick Aslin

Nick Aslin arrived in Zambia in 1992 to live in the South Luangwa National Park and to work with Norman Carr. After a couple of years under Norman’s wing, Nick was asked to run Norman Carr Safaris. The company is Zambia’s oldest and most established safari company, and Nick was extremely enthusiastic to take up this opportunity. Months turned into years, and Nick and his wife moved out of the bush to Lusaka, and by 2009, realized that he was eager for change.

Having been involved in all aspects of Zambian tourism for many years, Nick was keenly aware of the lack of an independent company that specialized in moving people throughout all areas of the country, and it was this awareness that led to the birth of the company Zambian Ground Handlers, which has been growing from strength to strength ever since.

Nick's time guiding in the bush gave him a firm understanding of the different habitats throughout Zambia, how they existed side by side and how animal densities and behavior are affected. This understanding and knowledge is put to good use on a daily basis when designing safaris for international visitors to the country.

Nick has travelled the world with the aim of increasing awareness Zambia which has contributed to the growth of the tourism industry and the increase of visitor numbers. As Nick says " it is always a slow process but Zambia is a country of innumerable possibilities and it is with a great sense of pleasure that I see its potential becoming realized"

Overnight: Latitude Hotel

After breakfast you will be collected at the Latitude hotel @ 09:30 am and transferred to Lusaka Airport for your connecting flight to Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport Livingstone.

Flight departs Lusaka @ 11:00 am. and arrives Livingstone @ 12:10 pm..

Livingstone is the home to the magnificent Victoria Falls known by the local people as Mosi-oa-tunya – “smoke which thunders”. The Victoria Falls, discovered by David Livingstone in 1885 and named after his Queen, are the result of the mighty Zambezi River tumbling 300 feet over a basalt fault line a mile wide. They are one of the greatest natural wonders of the world and a must for any first time visitor to Zambia.

You will be met at Livingstone airport by our representative who will transfer you to The River Club. Drive time from the airport to The River Club is approximately 25 minutes.

After check-in, lunch is available before spending some time to relax and enjoy the location and surrounds.

In the early evening enjoy a sunset cruise and experience the magnificent sunset. See hippos and crocs and just enjoy the amazing sounds of the African bush.

Return to the lodge with time to freshen up before the evening meal.

You will have the opportunity to meet Peter Jones - Owner of The River Club Lodge - who will be doing an orientation of your itinerary and enlighten you with the story of Dr David Livingstone - sharing some interesting information and history of the area.( Note: If Peter Jones is not available then he will arrange to have another experienced person available).

Profile - Peter Jones

Peter was born in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and grew up between here and neighbouring Southern Rhodesia where he went to preparatory school. After attending his father’s old college in Kent, England he entered The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served as a commissioned officer from 1981 until 1990. Postings and operations included The Falklands War, Cyprus, Uganda, West Berlin prior to the Wall coming down and finally Northern Ireland until 1990. Having left the Army he returned to Africa and set up three rafting companies on the Zambezi chalking up over a thousand trips on the river as a guide.

Having raised finance to build a camp of his conception and design, he oversaw the construction of The River Club, a luxurious lodge which took five months to complete. He has been running it ever since.

Outside of lodge life Peter has been involved in may other interests, which includes but is not limited to raising money for the building of a police post, construction of a village health post, rejuvenation of a water supply system which delivers fifty thousand litres of water to four thousand residents, raising sponsorship to put fifty children from the area to high schools in Livingstone, three teachers through university courses, building and stocking of the basic school library, construction of a kindergarten classroom, provision of houses for the headman and head lady of two sections of the area, numerous works at the school including repainting and installing ceilings in the classrooms and building of deep pit latrines. More recently he has raised money to sustain a feeding programme at the school for over 500 children and introduced internet for the classes there.

Peter enjoys uncovering the wide ranging history of Livingstone and the country in general and has acted as a private guide for Princess Anne, The Princess Royal and The Duke of Gloucester during their visits to The Victoria Falls. He has been giving talks on various subjects to do with the history of the area and the people involved since 2014 and in 2017 became the Chairman of the Zambian Tourism Agency.

There are a number of extra activities offered by the River Club Lodge. We encourage you to book in advance to ensure that the times of the selected activities fit in with your itinerary, and also to avoid disappointment of non availability due to other bookings.

Optional activities include:

• Helicopter flights over the Victoria Falls
• Microlight flights of the Victoria Falls
• Walking Safari/ Rhino Walk in the Mosi-0-Tunya National Park

Overnight: The River Club Lodge

Enjoy breakfast at the lodge before you are collected by your guide @ 08:00 am for your tour of the Victoria Falls.

Optional Activity: For those wanting some excitement, a micro-light flight can be done early in the morning before setting off on your tour of Victoria Falls.  Depart the lodge @ 06:15am for the micro-light flights @ 07:00am. After the flight you will be collected from the airstrip to join the rest of the group on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls between 08:30am and 08:40am for the tour.

The tour of the Victoria Falls will begin in Zambia, and then after the drive over the famous bridge that spans the gorge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, you continue the tour of the falls in Zimbabwe. Here you will also have the opportunity to experience a guided walk in the Rain Forest.

After the tour, spend some time shopping for curios and momentos at the Elephant Walk Shopping and Curios centre, with some free time to explore the town of Victoria Falls.  Lunch will be at a selected venue of your choice and for your own account.

At a time advised by your guide, you will be collected at a designated collection point in the vacinity of the Elephant Walk Shopping and Curios centre, and transferred back to the River Club

Some time to relax and to enjoy sundowners on the sunset cruise.

Overnight: The River Club Lodge

After a leisurely breakfast, you will be collected from the lodge at approximately 10:00 am, and taken to the David Livingstone Safari Lodge & Spa, where a boat will be waiting to whisk you further up-stream and to the Elephant Café.

The boat departs the lodge at approximately 10:30 am.

Optional activity: Before your visit to the Elephant Cafe, enjoy a helicopter adventure flight to explore more of the ever-so-captivating Victoria Falls. Depart the lodge @ 08:15am for check-in at the heli-pad @ 09:15am and take off on the flight @ 09:30am. Flying low over the African bush,  and circling over the Victoria Falls, gives you a birds eye view of the falls from both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides. Fly over the Zambezi River, overlooking  Devil’s pool, a natural infinity pool edge created by the rocks of the falls, and of course the spectacular gorges and river rapids. After the flight, you will be collect from the heli-pad and transferred to the David Livingstone Safari Lodge & Spa to meet the rest of the group before setting off on the boat to the Elephant Cafe.

On arrival at the Elephant Cafe you will be given the opportunity to interact with the elephants that live at this café. For a number of years these elephants were used on Elephant Safaris,  but this no longer takes place and the elephants are essentially retired. This is a wonderful opportunity to be up close and personal with these magnificent animals of the African bush.

At 13:30pm you will depart the Elephant Cafe for return transfer to the River Club.

Optional Activity: 14:00pm Game/Rhino walk (approximately 3 hrs)

End the day with a sundowner cruise on the mighty Zambezi and continue to be amazed at the glorious African sunsets.

Overnight: The River Club Lodge

08:30 am:  You will be collected at the lodge for a visit the local community Simoonga Village, a small and traditional Zambian village, just 15 kilometers west of Livingstone City.

09:30 am: Return to the lodge for breakfast.

At 11:00 am you will be  transferred to Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport airport and assisted with check-in for your scheduled flight to Lusaka.

Flight PO706 departs @ 12:35 pm and expected time of arrival in Lusaka @ 13:45 pm.

On arrival at Lusaka airport, you transfer to your charter flight from Lusaka to Kasanka Airstrip, departing Lusaka at approximately 14:15pm.

Arrival at Kasanka Airstrip @ approximately 15:50 pm.

Upon arrival at the Kasanka Airstrip, you will be met by a driver guide from Wasa Lodge and transferred to the Wasa Lodge which is approximately a five minute drive from the airstrip.

Wasa Lodge is charming, rustic but very comfortable and the place to view the bats.

Kasanka National Park covers an area of about 390 km2. Wasa Lodge is set on the shores of Lake Wasa.

At this time each year, the Park is visited by up to 15 million straw-coloured fruit bats which constitutes the largest mammalian migration on the planet. The bats roost during the day in a small patch of Mishatu Forest. This afternoon you will be driven to this area and to one or other of the hides that have been established on the outskirts of this patch of forest and you will witness the roost starting to come alive as evening approaches. The bats slowly start to fly off in all directions for a night of foraging for fruit, the numbers on the move steadily increase until the sky is blackened not so much by the setting sun but by the sheer numbers of bats flying overhead.

Overnight: Wasa Lodge

You will be woken early in the morning and taken back to the same area to witness the return of all the bats at first light. There is plenty of jostling for position in the tress as space is very limited so it is a long time before everything settles back down for a day of sleep for the bats.

Bat sightings are at sunrise and sunset. You will leave Wasa Lodge at 4am to get to the hides at 5am in the morning and return to the lodge by  7am.  In the evening you will leave Wasa Lodge at 4pm to get to the hides at 5pm and will be back at  the lodge by 7pm.

 There are special bat viewing platforms which do require the climbing of ladders to these viewpoints. You will need to be well mobile to climb the ladders but not exceptionally fit. 

 After the morning bat viewing you will be taken to explore other areas of the Park, the birdlife in the Park is prolific and you are most likely to see Sitatunga, a rare and secretive antelope that frequents the marshy areas of Kasanka.

Kasanka National Park is one of the most picturesque parks in Zambia and is open all year round. It contains a rich diversity of animal, bird and plant life including several rare species including sitatunga, wattled crane, Ross’s Lourie and Blue Monkeys.

Return to the small patch of the Mishatu Forest to witness the incredible spectacle of the bats flying off in all directions to forage for fruit.

Return to the lodge for a delicious evening meal.

Overnight: Wasa Lodge

After breakfast, you will transferred to the Kasanka airstrip for your charter flight to Mfuwe Airport.

Flight time is approximately 50 minutes,  and on arrival at the airport, you will be transferred by road to the Mfuwe Lodge.  Drive time is approximately 45 minutes.

South Luangwa National Park has been dubbed as one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world as the concentration of game around the Luangwa River and its ox-bow lagoons is among the most intense in Africa, the National Park covers an area of 3,500 square miles. Mfuwe Lodge commands the most central of locations overlooking ox-bow lagoons on both sides of camp. It’s location is one of its best features as the populations of game in the immediate vicinity of this camp and indeed inside the camp itself are as good as anywhere in the Park. This is the lodge where the elephants walk through the reception area to reach the mango trees on the other side.

Enjoy lunch at the camp and some time to relax.

Point of interest - Meet two of the guides: (It must be noted that efforts will be made for these guides to lead the group, availability of these guides cannot not guaranteed).

Fannuel Banda

Fannuel Banda was raised in Mfuwe by his grandparents. His passion for wildlife developed early in life and he was encouraged to pursue his interest by none other than Phil Berry, amongst others. Fannuel gained experience in the safari industry by working for several other safari companies in the area – he even appeared on the BBC programme "No Going Back" when working as a foreman for a lodge that was being built. Fannuel started working as a transfer driver, but soon passed his guide's exam and the following year qualified as a walking guide. Currently he mainly guides at Kapamba and Zungulila, but you may well find him at any of our camps. He lives with his wife and two young sons in Mfuwe.

Manda Chisanga

Manda Chisanga spent his formative years following his construction-worker grandfather as he travelled round Zambia. This fuelled Manda's interest in his own country and, after a brief spell working in a bank and as a veterinary assistant, he became a safari guide. Manda mainly guides at Bilimungwe Bushcamp and has spent most of his guiding career in the southern area of South Luangwa National Park. Although he currently lives with his wife in Mfuwe, he has lived in all Zambian provinces and his compassionate nature means he is not afraid to address sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS and is as comfortable discussing world politics as he is sharing amusing anecdotes about his time as a guide. His knowledge, respect and compassion earned him Wanderlust magazine's inaugural Paul Morrison Guide Award in 2006; Manda used the bursary money he received from the award to set up the Mfuwe Solar Cooker Project.

In the late afternoon set off on your game drive with sundowners in the bush before heading back to the lodge in time to freshen up before the evening meal.

Overnight: Mfuwe Lodge

Each year from early to mid-November, when the fruits of the Wild Mango Trees ripen, there is a family of Elephants that remember the juiciness and flavour of the fruits of a certain group of trees. In order to access these trees the elephants walk up a set of steps and right through the lodge reception. The regularity and reliability of this parade has meant that this particular family of Elephants has become known the world over. Documentary film-makers and regular guests alike are enthralled by their antics.

Experience one of Zambia’s unique wildlife walks in the care of a professional safari guide. These walks were pioneered in Zambia allowing only six safari goers to accompany each guide. On a safari walk, all of one’s five senses come alive! As they say at Mfuwe, “From a vehicle you see Africa. On foot you feel, hear and smell Africa.” You could add touch and taste as your guide draws your attention to everything around you, including the trees and vegetation, as well as the wildlife, both big and small.

Time permitting, you may also be interested in visiting the headquarters of Conservation South Luangwa, a privately funded organization that works hand in hand with the Park authorities to conserve and protect the habitats of the Luangwa valley and the wildlife in the area.

Enjoy your early morning and late afternoon game drives, and experience the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of the African bush. Return to the lodge to freshen up before the evening meal. Game viewing activity start time for the morning game drive is 05:30/6:00am and afternoons is 3:30/4:00pm.

Overnight: Mfuwe Lodge

After breakfast, start the day with a visit to Tribal Textiles. This is a  local Mfuwe company that has earned an international reputation for creating African textiles.

You will be collected from the lodge @ 09:00 hrs and the visit to Tribal Textiles will be approximately 3.5 hrs. The company employs a number of local community members in the area and a visit to the workshop is always very interesting. You will have the opportunity to create your own piece of African material art which will then be converted into a bag and delivered to you before you depart from Mfuwe.

Depart Tribal Textiles @ approximately 12.30  hrs  to enjoy lunch at a local restaurant Doricas. Experience the local cuisine and enjoy a back of house tour of the restaurant.

Depart the restaurant at approximately 15:00 hrs and your guides will take you to visit the local community villages where you will see the local schools and clinics that have been built and supported through tourism funds. Learn about "a meal a day" programme which feeds 2,500 children from donations and support from Mfuwe Lodge, as well as the programme to educate 700 children. You will be interested to know that there are now 70 boreholes in the community areas thanks to fund-raising efforts and donations. Mfuwe Lodge donates $ 400 000 a year to the community

Meet with some of the local people and experience a glimpse of their daily lives.

Return to the lodge at approximately 17:00 hrs for some time to relax before your evening meal.

Overnight: Mfuwe Lodge

Experience another wonderful day in the South Luangwa National Park.

In the evening, enjoy a farewell get together to celebrate your wonderful experiences in Zambia.

Overnight: Mfuwe Lodge

After breakfast, enjoy another wonderful day at the lodge.

Depart the lodge @ 14:00 hrs  (lodge management to confirm departure time) for transfer to Mfuwe Airport.

Depart Mfuwe Airport @ 15:40 hrs.  

Arrive Lusaka @ 17:20 hrs.

Our representative will assist with your check-in and connection with your international flight home.

Bid a fond farewell to the bats of Kisanka, Wonky Tusk and her family, the African Pitta bird and of course the majestic Victoria Falls.