Zambia’s Lunga River
An early morning glide on the clean, clear water; a light mist rising and a brace of otters slicing the glassy surface; Black-backed barbets on a high twig catching the first rays of sun: this was my welcome back to the Lunga River. Fifteen years earlier I had boated the river where it joins the Kafue: a rugged spot that it reaches via a looping course through the game-rich eastern flank of northern Kafue National Park. As we moseyed up the Kafue to the confluence a placid hippo bull sank at the last moment and walked right under us, the waves spangling its back with light. After turning up the Lunga, its dense, tall fringes of greenery rose high on either side, broken by tumbles of granite from a ridge of hills we could glimpse through the leaves. Rudely roused, a Pel's Fishing Owl broke cover and caught the morning sun: a bright ginger splash against the green. We covered only a few kilometers, but this Zambian waterway has captivated me, and remained tantalizingly out of reach, ever since.
The Lunga rises near Zambia's northern border in the Copperbelt and runs south, entering Kafue National Park at its northeastern tip. In the northwest its sister river, the Lufupa, spreads out over the flats to water the incredibly rich Busanga Plains system. The Lunga maintains its lush green banks, winding down the eastern edge of the park to its junction with the Kafue River just below the pontoon at Lubungu.
In July 2023 and January '24 I finally got to put in a good chunk of time on the Lunga - 20 days in all - on a bird survey some 160 kilometres (as the fish swims) upstream of the confluence, at a Game Ranch called Lolelunga. Perched on a rather aberrant squiggle in the river's course, Lolelunga is only some 20km north of the Kafue National Park. The birding had a number of surprises in store, in this under-explored part of the country, with several species turning up far south of their previously known distribution - mainly forest birds like Cabanis's and Little Greenbuls and Pallid Honeyguide. Alongside the expected encounters with Pel's Fishing Owl, African Finfoot, Black-fronted Bush-shrike and Half-collared Kingfisher – all good Zambian river specials - the brilliant raptor-watching left a lasting impression: the forested banks provide breeding and hunting grounds for Western Banded Snake-eagle, African Crowned and Long-crested Eagles, Black Sparrowhawk, African Harrier-hawk, Cuckoo-hawk and of course, African Fish Eagles.
A pleasant surprise on my January trip was African Hobby, always a treat in Zambia, seen on several occasions. Both spotted-necked and Cape clawless otters are frequently seen – and sometimes heard - although those unaccustomed to their strange, whistled calls might never know it. Another auditory surprise for the unwary comes by way of the tree hyrax. They occur all along the river and lead mostly unobtrusive lives, invisible in the thickest foliage. In the breeding season, however, they kick up such a screaming and clucking in the dead of night, as can hardly be imagined: if you wake up some time before dawn pouring with sweat and beset by tortured dreams, you’ve probably just heard a tree hyrax (but get tested for malaria, too. Just in case). There is a high density of blue monkeys and, at certain times of year, several herds of elephants move in from the National Park.
