Zambia
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:11 pm
Just thought I would share some of my experiences from a trip to Zambia with the University earlier this year. Back in April, we took around 24 students to Zambia to visit two National Parks over 12 days as part of an ‘African Zoology’ field trip. While we spent most of the time directing students through some research tasks and shadowing them during their projects, there was a good amount of time to explore. Below, I’ve included a few record shots of the 75+ species of butterfly that we came across during the trip..
After a long flight and a bumpy, 12-hour minibus journey, we arrived at Kasanka National Park, where we would spend the next 8 days. Some of you may be familiar with Kasanka as being home to millions of African Straw-coloured Fruit Bats, which arrive towards the end of the year, undertaking the world’s largest mammal migration. Kasanka is regarded as quite a small National Park, particularly in comparison with others E.g Kruger and Kafue - the latter of which we would spend our final few days before heading back to the UK. Kasanka is dominated by Miombo woodlands, with smaller pockets of wetlands, Mushitu forests and other damp wooded habitats dotted throughout. During the first day or so, we spent some time getting to know our surroundings by taking some guided walks through the nearby Miombo woodlands, stopping to look at anything that moved. We were only able to walk 10-20 metres at a time, before something new would catch the eye, and stop us in our tracks.
There’s something about the feeling of being somewhere completely different, in a habitat that I’ve never experienced before, where everything I come across is unknown and new to me, which sparks an indescribable joy inside.
More to come shortly..
After a long flight and a bumpy, 12-hour minibus journey, we arrived at Kasanka National Park, where we would spend the next 8 days. Some of you may be familiar with Kasanka as being home to millions of African Straw-coloured Fruit Bats, which arrive towards the end of the year, undertaking the world’s largest mammal migration. Kasanka is regarded as quite a small National Park, particularly in comparison with others E.g Kruger and Kafue - the latter of which we would spend our final few days before heading back to the UK. Kasanka is dominated by Miombo woodlands, with smaller pockets of wetlands, Mushitu forests and other damp wooded habitats dotted throughout. During the first day or so, we spent some time getting to know our surroundings by taking some guided walks through the nearby Miombo woodlands, stopping to look at anything that moved. We were only able to walk 10-20 metres at a time, before something new would catch the eye, and stop us in our tracks.
There’s something about the feeling of being somewhere completely different, in a habitat that I’ve never experienced before, where everything I come across is unknown and new to me, which sparks an indescribable joy inside.
More to come shortly..