Lochinvar National Park: Zambia

Lochinvar is now a photographer's paradise with big skies and glinting waterways, which you can navigate in mekoros (dug-out canoes).

It is a park of extreme beauty and incredible bird life, with over 400 recorded bird species. There are also a wide variety of antelopes including around 30,000 Kafue lechwe - which only occur on the Kafue floodplains. You may also glimpse the shy aquatic Sitatunga, whose hoofs have become uniquely adapted to its watery environment. Big game is restricted to Buffalo and Hippopotamus and predators include Hyena and Leopard.

There are two National Monument sites within Lochinvar: Gwisho Hot Springs where animals come to lick the salt deposits from the sulphurous spring water, and Sebanzi Hill which is the site of an iron-age village with dramatic views over the surrounding flats and thick bush.

Lochinvar is a peaceful park far from any madding crowds, where you share your safari with the local people, who also play a role in this eco-system and support themselves by fishing from a mokoro.

Lodges of Lochinvar:

Climate:

Cool Dry Season:
May to September is pleasant with daytime temperatures in the region of 24°C (75°F), but it gets cold at night.

Hot Dry Season:
By October and November the weather has warmed up to a about 35°C (95°F) with low humidity.

Hot Wet Season:
Rain usually arrives in December and usually falls in afternoon and night-time showers until April. Temperatures are around 28°C (82°F), which can make it uncomfortably humid.