The 05 road through South Luangwa National Park allowed us to make the drive to Kasanka National Park in one day. Going the long way around would have made for a two day journey. We arrived at the gates of Kasanka about ten hours after we left Wildlife Camp, which included a couple of stops along the way. After paying our park fees, we headed to our campsite inside the park, arriving about an hour before sunset. We had just enough time to set up the tents and enjoy the sitatunga antelope grazing in the wetland 30 yards from our camp. Sitatunga are a very shy and rare antelope, so we were very lucky to have them so close and seemingly undisturbed by our presence.
sitatunga antelope - their feet are adapted for living
in the wetlands (think great blue heron feet) and flee
into the water rather than running from their predators
in the wetlands (think great blue heron feet) and flee
into the water rather than running from their predators
Kasanka NP is fairly small and is home to a good variety of animals and birds, but you seemingly have to work much harder here to see them. Based on our day and a half in the park, the animals seemed to be out and about in the early morning and late afternoon much more so than in the other parks we had visited. That includes the claim to fame of the park - the straw-colored fruit bats. During a 6-8 week period from October to December, up to 10 million bats - making it the largest mammal migration on the planet - descend on the park to feed on the wild loquats and other fruit in the area. The most amazing part is that all the bats roost in a very small area of forest, concentrating them all into an incredibly dense aggregation.
The only time to see the bats is at dawn and dusk when they are either returning to or leaving their roosting trees. We decided to do both, thinking they would be somewhat different experiences and the cost was next to nothing. Our first trip was the dawn patrol. The 05 road had taken us up out of the Luangwa Valley so we were now at about 1300 meters, which meant cooler temperatures. For the first time on our entire trip, we had to use a cover for sleeping. We didn't get to enjoy our cool sleep for long because we were up at 3:30 am to meet our guide at 4 am. We all blearily put on multiple layers and climbed into the back of the open guide truck for the 20 minute ride to the hide. There are a number of hides around the edge of the forest, which allow you to get closer to tree top level for a good view of the bats coming and going. Getting to our morning hide involved a 15 or so minute walk across the marsh. We were thoughtfully provided with sturdy, though ill-fitting, rubber boots so we would not get our own shoes wet and muddy. The boots were fine for walking but were a bit less ideal for climbing the fifteen foot ladder made of tree limbs. Our guide reassured us that he had a first aid kit should any of us fall off the ladder. I should mention that the first aid kit was back at the truck, which was now fifteen minutes away. Fortunately, all of us made it up and down the hide with no issues because I am pretty sure whatever first aid supplies they had on hand were not going to be super useful if one of us fell.
Not the sturdiest of structures for holding five people...
wild loquats that the bats feed on while in Kasanka
We arrived at the hide in complete darkness, but light soon started to creep in on the horizon. As our eyes adjusted to the dim light, we started to make out small dots in the sky flying in from all around us. The bats were returning! As sunrise got closer, the number of bats returning to the forest increased exponentially. They just kept coming and coming and coming...a seemingly endless stream coming over the horizon. Because there are so many bats in a small area, they cannot just fly into the trees and land. There is a lot of circling that happens as they all coordinate where they are going to roost. Imagine air traffic control for ten million planes all trying to land at a single airport at the same time! Eventually the bats started to settle down into the trees. They do not like to be flying around after the sun comes up because that is the time their avian predators start flying. As we were marveling at what we had just seen, a group of bats all of a sudden burst back up into the sky. Our guide told us this happens from time to time if there is something in the tree that spooks them (like a snake) or if they break a branch on the tree. After all the bats were settled, we headed back across the marsh and to our campsite.
a few (million) bats
turn the sound on for the full experience
Because of our early start, we were back at camp by 7:30 am. We cooked hot breakfast since we were not rushing out to do a game drive (our usual safari breakfast included hard boiled eggs and rusks in the truck), and we all got quite chilled during our excursion. Our drive around the park, which started mid-morning, became a mostly botanical safari rather than an animal one. We headed to a couple of places that were supposed to have good bird life to no avail. We instead saw the largest tree in Zambia, got a closer look at some small termite mounds that had recently been upended, and found some rare wild ginger plants.
Pete warming up post-bat watching
wild ginger flower
inside of a termite mound
Zambia's tallest tree
Our guide returned in the late afternoon to take us to a different hide - this one made of metal and much taller - to watch the bats leave the forest. We had quite a bit of time to watch birds from the hide while we were waiting for the sun to set and learned some common bird calls from our guide. Just like the morning, the bats don't want to take off in the light because they are more susceptible to predators. Like clockwork, they started to get more vocal just before the sun went down and then lifted off en masse a few minutes after sunset and flew away from the forest. A couple of groups did lift off and settle back down before flying away, giving us an opportunity to try to find them roosting in the trees. It is amazing that 10 million bats can just "disappear." Once we knew where they had landed, we could start to make them out, but they mostly looked like brown leaves and blended in with the trees quite well. We made our way down the hide after dark and returned to camp quite pleased with our long but exciting day.
our much taller and sturdier afternoon hide
all of the brown splotches on the vertical limbs are bats
bats taking off close to sunset
off they go!
I couldn't help but think about my family throughout our bat watching experience. While the others had not experienced anything like it, I have had the great fortune of watching similarly dense aggregations of geese fly off and on a wildlife refuge in northern Minnesota where I used to hunt with my dad, brother, and grandfather. I have such fond memories of our cold mornings spent in the hunting blind drinking hot chocolate, whittling sticks, playing with the dogs, and telling stories (and occasionally shooting at some passing birds). It was neat to have a similar experience after so many years.
The final installment of our trip is up next, featuring Kafue National Park and a narrow escape from the Busanga Plains.
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