All activities / Wildlife Safaris / Kasanka National Park
Wildlife Safaris in Kasanka National Park
A small, community-managed national park in northern Zambia that each year hosts the arrival of more than ten million straw-coloured fruit bats, the largest mammal migration on earth by number, along with sitatunga antelope in its papyrus swamps.
Why here
Kasanka is one of the few parks in the world named for a single wildlife spectacle. From late October to December, more than ten million straw-coloured fruit bats pour into a patch of swamp forest barely the size of a few football fields, the largest mammal migration on the planet by sheer number. At dusk the sky fills as the colony lifts off to feed, and at dawn they stream back in a river of wings watched from raised platforms among the trees, with raptors picking off stragglers. Beyond the bats, this small park protects rare sitatunga antelope that wade the papyrus swamps, best seen from the Fibwe hide, along with puku, elephant and good birding on the Kasanka and Luwombwa rivers. It is a specialist trip built around the migration rather than a big-five safari, and utterly distinctive.
Best months
The bat migration runs roughly from late October to mid-December, with the colony usually at its peak through November, and numbers build and thin at either end. This falls at the start of the rains, so expect hot, humid days and afternoon storms, and some roads turning to mud. Dawn and dusk are the key windows, when the bats leave and return to the roost. The sitatunga and general game are viewable year-round, but most visitors time a trip to the bats.
Getting there & around
Kasanka sits in northern Zambia near the Bangweulu wetlands, reached by a long road drive of around six to eight hours from Lusaka via Serenje, or by charter flight to the park airstrip. The bat-season roads can be wet and slow, so allow time and consider a fly-in during the peak. Accommodation is Wasa and Luwombwa lodges plus a seasonal tented camp, all run by the Kasanka Trust, so book park activities and viewing-platform visits through them well ahead for the November peak.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Kasanka Trust
OutfitterKasanka Trust manages Kasanka National Park in northern Zambia in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, one of the first privately managed national parks in Africa. Each year from October to December the park hosts the arrival of more than ten million straw-coloured fruit bats, the largest mammal migration on earth by number, roosting in a small patch of swamp forest. The Trust runs Wasa and Luwombwa lodges and a seasonal tented camp inside the park.