|
|
|
BI 495: Field Studies of Zambia
|
We will begin
taking applications again for this course in Fall of
2008. Please consider visiting
The Blog
made by the class from 2007 for personal stories and updates!!! |
|
|
Mid-May to Mid-June '09
Overview
The course requires eight (8) weeks of pre-travel meetings
during the winter semester. We then head to London for 3-4 days
and then nearly three (3) weeks in Zambia. While in Zambia we will be traveling from Lusaka (the capitol) on spur
excursions to three main areas in Zambia: Livinstone, Kasanka
and South Luangwa. Minimizing time in Lusaka, we will largely
visit the capitol to restock on supplies on a regular basis.
|
General Itinerary
|
| |
|
| March-May |
Meet once a week for 8 weeks to discuss and present
material related to proposed research projects. Cover
readings related to the culture, history, ethnography,
ecology, politics and languages of Zambia |
| |
|
| Early May |
Participate in an overnight camping experience near
Marquette in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This serves to
help introduce all the students to one another and also
as a place to double check all gear and equipment before
heading to Africa! |
| |
|
| Mid May (3-4 Days) |
Leave
Marquette arrive
London (All
will have in their possession a London Visitors card,
which allows for unlimited travel on London’s
Underground and Bus system for three (3) days.) |
| |
|
| |
Tentative
Tours: British
Natural
History Museum,
Royal Geographic Society, Gravesites of
Stanley
and Burton,
Westminster Abby, and the Tomb of
Sir David Livingston. |
| |
|
| After London... |
Leave London
for Lusaka, Zambia! |
| |
|
| (2-3 days) |
Drive to
Livingston, Camp
@ Fawlty Towers |
| |
|
| (4-5 days) |
Kasanka
National Park (Kasanka
Trust Ltd) |
| |
|
| (5-6 days) |
South Luwangwa (Flatdogs Camp) |
| |
|
| Mid June |
Fly from Lusaka to London,
London to Detroit, Detroit to Marquette...home again! |
|
| |
 Victoria
Falls (Livingstone) &
Mosi Oa Tunya National Park
Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the
1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ - ‘the Smoke that Thunders’ and in
more modern terms as ‘the greatest known curtain of falling
water’, Victoria Falls are a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring
beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, bordering Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as 546 million
cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge (at the
height of the flood season) over a width of nearly two
kilometers into a deep gorge over 100 meters below. The wide
basalt cliff, over which the falls thunder, transforms the
Zambezi from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting
through a series of dramatic gorges.
 Mosi Oa
Tunya National Park is situated along the upper Zambezi
stretching from and including the Falls for about 12kms up
river. It is only 66 square kilometers but provides a home for
numerous antelope species, zebra, giraffe and the recently
acquired white rhinos, one of whom gave birth in the park in
1994. These are the only rhinos to be seen in Zambia as its
previously large population has been completely eliminated
through poaching. One can take a pleasant drive around the park
in a couple of hours and almost all the species there should be
seen at close range. Since there are no predators, they are very
relaxed and afford some excellent photo opportunities.
Mukuni Village is an authentic tribal village where thousands of
people live and work. In July of each year the Leya people
partake in the colorful Lwiindi Ceremony. The local people
believe the spirits of their ancestors still dwell in the gorges
of the Falls and during the Lwiindi, they offer sacrifices to
them for rain.
We will be camping in Livingstone at the
Fawtly Towers, taking day trips out to the Falls and other
areas of ecological and cultural interest.
|
| Kasanka National Park
This peaceful sanctuary, situated on the south western edge of
the Lake Bangweulu basin, is one of Zambia’s smallest national
parks. It's 450 km2 however, are so well endowed with
rivers, lakes and wetlands, forests, lagoons, meadows and dambos
that it supports a uniquely wide range of animals and abundant
birds and fish. Do not expect to see large herds of animals
round every corner, but it is surely one of the most picturesque
parks in Zambia with superb birdlife.
About ten years ago Kasanka was in danger of becoming yet
another defunct national park due to rampant poaching. David
Lloyd, a British expatriate, who had lived in Zambia for many
years visited the park in 1985 and heard the crack of gunshots.
He concluded that if there was still poaching there must still
be animals there and set out to save the park from total
depletion. He teamed up with a local farmer, sought funding and
along with much of their own resources applied for official
permission to rehabilitate the park. They built tourist camps,
roads and bridges and set up the
Kasanka Trust
to raise funds for this community based project.
 Slowly
it began to earn a little money from tourists to help cover
costs. Three years later the National Parks and Wildlife
Services Department were sufficiently impressed to sign a 10
year agreement with the Trust allowing full management of the
park in conjunction with National Parks & Wildlife Services and
to develop it for tourism in partnership with the local
community.
Today, although there is still none of the heart-stopping
walking safaris amongst elephant herds or any lions brushing
past your open vehicle as in the larger parks, there are some of
the rarest birds and animals in the country found in the
beautiful miombo woodlands, swamp forest, grasslands,
floodplains and riverine bushveld, to be enjoyed in leisurely
walks and drives. There are ample opportunities for fishing
tigerfish, bream and barbel in the beautiful Luwombwa river.
Boats are available for hire but you should bring your own
tackle.
 Recovering
from depletion are hippo, sable antelope, and
Liechtenstein’s hartebeest. The Puku,
once reduced to a few hundred, today exceed 1500. There are
fairly big herds of the swamp dwelling sitatunga,
reedbuck, waterbuck, Sharpe’s grysbok and the
rare blue monkey. Elephants
also appear from time to time, and their numbers are expected to
recover. Together with Kasanka’s noted birdlife, the animals can
be seen on guided walks through the grassy plains, mushitu
forests, large tracts of miombo woodland, riverine fringing
forest and papyrus swamps.
Over 330 bird species have been recorded including such
rarities as Pel’s fishing owl, the Pygmy goose, Ross’s loerie,
osprey and the wattled crane. If you’re lucky you’ll catch a
glimpse of the rare Shoebill stork. |
| |
|
South Luangwa
National Park
Experts have dubbed South Luangwa as one of the
greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world, and
not without reason. The concentration of game around the Luangwa
river and it’s ox bow lagoons is among the most intense in
Africa.
The Luangwa River is one of the most intact
major river systems in Africa and is the life blood of the
park's 9050km2. The Park hosts a wide variety of
wildlife birds and vegetation. The now famous ‘walking safari’
originated in this park and is still one of the finest ways to
experience this pristine wilderness first hand. The changing
seasons add to the Park’s richness ranging from dry, bare
bushveld in the winter to a lush green wonderland in the summer
months. There are 60 different animal species and over 400
different bird species. The only notable exception is the rhino,
sadly poached to extinction.
 We
will be staying at the
Flatdogs
Camp, just outside the park. We will have ample opportunity
to see all that the valley has to offer of its wildlife, birds
and varying vegetation and habitats. The area around the camp
and just over the bridge inside the park is bursting with
hippos, crowned cranes, grazing antelope herds
of elephants and scurrying baboons. Buffalo
are abundant and spread throughout the valley.
The hippopotamus is one animal you won’t
miss. From camp at Flatdogs, you can hear them chorusing at
night under the Southern Cross, and throughout the day you watch
them in territorial disputes and moving among the crocodiles in
the Luangwa River. There is estimated to be at least 50 hippos
per kilometre of the Luangwa River.
 Zebra
can be seen running in small herds of about a dozen. The
difference between Zambia’s zebras and those in the south and
east of Africa are in the stripes. Here they are evenly spaced
as opposed to broad light stripes with a faint shadow stripe
in-between.
Thornicroft’s Giraffe, unique to Luangwa
Valley should be easily spotted, and as far as other ungulates
go, the park has 14 different antelope
species, most of which are easily seen on game and night drives.
Bushbuck, duiker, eland, impala,
Puku, and perhaps the most beautiful is the Kudu,
with its majestic spiral horns and delicate face. Reedbuck,
roan, sable, hartebeest, grysbok, klipspringer and oribi are
all in Luangwa but not prolific in the central tourist area of the
Park. They tend to stay deeper in the remote parts towards the Muchinga escarpment.
Of the primates, baboons
and vervet monkeys are prolific. More scarce is
Maloney’s monkey. Present, but unlikely to be seen except on
night drives is the night ape, and the nocturnal
bushbaby.
Hyenas are fairly common throughout the
valley and their plaintive, eerie cry, so characteristic of the
African bush can be heard on most nights.
South Luangwa has a good population of
leopard but they are not that easy to spot and tend to
retreat when they hear vehicles. Many of the Lodge’s game
trackers are skilled in finding leopards on night drives
however, and often visitors are rewarded with a full view of a
kill.
Lions are as plentiful in the Luangwa as
anywhere else in Africa, but when a kill is made away from the
central tourist area, the pride may stay away for several days
and may not be seen by visitors on a short stay. Very often they
roam in prides of up to thirty.
Of the other carnivores present
but not often seen is the caracal, wild dog, serval and
side striped jackal.
Birdwatching
is superb in the Valley. With about 400 of Zambia’s 732 species of
birds appearing in the Valley, including 39 birds of prey
and 47 migrant species, there is plenty for the birdwatcher
to spot, whatever the season. Near the end of the dry season,
when the river and oxbow lagoons begin to recede, hundreds
of large waterbirds can be seen wading through the shallows.
The red faced yellow billed storks move along with
their beaks open underwater, disturbing the muddy liquid
with their feet until the fish flop into their mouths. Of the most beautiful are the elegant
crowned cranes, with their golden tufts congregating in
large flocks at the salt pans.
 A
special sight is the hundreds of brightly coloured
carmine bee-eaters nesting in the steep sandy banks of
the river.The ever-present sounds of the birds in the
Valley takes some getting used to. An early caller is the
ground hornbill, looking like a well-dressed turkey, but
emitting the sound of a deep base drum.
While in Luangwa and elsewhere, you will no
doubt become familiar with the varying
vegetation in Zambia. Among the more common trees in the
seen around the national parks
are the mopane, leadwood, winterthorn, some beautiful
specimens of baobab, large ebony forests, the tall vegetable
ivory palm, marula and the magnificent tamarind tree.
|
|
