Living In Luangwa

Zambia’s South Luangwa national park is well known in safari circles for its stunning scenery and abundance of big game. Herds of elephants drink and bathe along the riverbanks, giraffes feed from acacias in the riparian strip and lions pursue vast, dusty buffalo herds through the thickets.

- Edward Selfe

With the additional promise of outstanding leopard sightings, it’s little wonder that the megafauna have dominated the headlines.

Zambia’s south luangwa national park

The Luangwa Valley’s birdlife more than matches up to the mammal headliners – abundant in both number and diversity and offering year-round interest. But the area is often overlooked by serious birders, perhaps due to the absence of endemic species, and the mammals continue to hog the limelight. Indeed, when I moved to Zambia, my eyes were firmly fixed on the prospect of close encounters with the big mammals that had filled my dreams as a child. What I discovered was not only the ‘safari’ experience that I had hoped for, but also a large and intact ecosystem where all the niches are filled and the web of interdependency is clear to observe. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the rich diversity of Luangwa’s avian world. Birding had always been part of my life growing up in rural England, but the abundance and availability of birds in the tropics was something new and exciting for me.

I have been very fortunate to live year-round in ‘the Valley’ for the past 12 years. During this time I have seen the seasons come and go and I’ve come to understand the impact and importance of the Luangwa River for the health of the ecosystem. It is one of Africa’s longest free-flowing waterways and this un-dammed state allows for massive changes in the water level across the seasons. While the 10-metre vertical change in level poses some problems for those of us living on the river’s banks, the annual flood is crucial to the area’s wildlife, especially its birds.