Zambia

“Shani” (hello in Bemba), kids! I’m Leila, a lady leopard from Zambia.

Last year, I met Zeb Zebra and Oki Oxpecker, while they were on safari in Zambia. They asked me to show them around the country, and now Zeb has suggested that I write about my favourite areas for you! I love talking about Zambia, so I’m happy to do this. I hope you enjoy reading my blog.

Unlike a lot of other countries where you can go on safari, Zambia offers you a really wild holiday! There are far fewer visitors and the camps where you can stay are very remote, so the experience is all about the wildlife. Zambia is the perfect place for adventurous families! You can even visit Victoria Falls, perhaps before or after your time on safari. Victoria Falls is the world’s largest waterfall!

Zeb and Oki certainly enjoyed the wild feel of the country, once Zeb had stopped worrying that I was going to eat him! (I explained that I don’t like the taste of zebra, and then we got on really well.)

We started our trip in South Luangwa National Park. The South Luangwa really is beautiful. It has grasslands, woodlands, and a lovely river, called the River Luangwa. The river is full during the months of the wet season, but during the dry season we leopards and other wildlife have to try hard to find water. You might see a lot of us around a single pool, if you come to the park at this time.

The wildlife here includes four of the group of animals known as the “Big Five”. These are lion, rhino, leopard, elephant, and buffalo. The only one missing is rhino! There are lots of other animals, such as hyena, jackal, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, and wild dog. Zeb was thrilled when we came across three wild dogs in the South Luangwa – he hadn’t seen wild dogs before!

The birdlife of the South Luangwa is excellent, and it’s pretty special in my next favourite area too! This is the Lower Zambezi National Park. There’s a picture of me, Zeb, and Oki in the park at the top of this page. We’ve just arrived here, and we’re relaxing on the banks of the River Zambezi, which is the most famous feature of the park.

Two big birds called cranes are flying over the river. These are wattled cranes! The wattle is the fleshy bit hanging from their neck. In the river, there are hippos, buffalos, and elephants. We stayed here for a long time, just watching all the wildlife! You can go on game drives in this park too, and at some camps children aged 12 years and over can take part in walking and canoeing. If you are younger, you can enjoy games and cookery!

Next, Zeb, Oki, and I went to Kafue National Park, which is west of the Lower Zambezi. Kafue is one of the largest national parks in Africa! It has vast stretches of woodlands, including gorgeous evergreen forests. These stand on the banks of its river, which is called the River Kafue. There is a lot of savanna too – savanna is grasses amidst a few trees, where all the plant-eaters like to graze.

Kafue is another of Zambia’s wild places, great fun to explore. Zeb and Oki loved it, and Oki was so excited when we saw these little lovebirds!

For the last part of our trip, we went to Victoria Falls. This is the biggest waterfall in the world! For a long time, we simply stood and stared at the water as it came crashing down the steep cliffs and splashing on the river below. Fantastic!

In fact, the spray that rises off the river gives Victoria Falls its name in the language of the local Tonga people. They call the waterfall “Mosi-oa-Tunya”, which means “The Smoke That Thunders”. A Scottish explorer called David Livingstone named it Victoria Falls in honour of Victoria the British queen.

There are so many things you can do here! The Victoria Falls area includes Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, which has a section of rainforest. There aren’t any leopards in this park, but there are lots of lion, as well as elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, antelopes, hippos, crocodiles, and plenty of birds. You can even ride an elephant!

At Victoria Falls itself, you can enjoy tours of the waterfall, trips over Victoria Falls Bridge on a tram, helicopter flights, river cruises, and sliding over the river in a harness! Once you are older, you can try more activities. Here’s Zeb doing a bungee jump!

Zeb did his jump on the final day of our trip. It was a great end to our holiday!

I HOPE YOU’VE ENJOYED MY BLOG ABOUT ZAMBIA! IF YOU’D LIKE TO SEE WHO ZEB AND OKI MET NEXT, JUST FOLLOW THEM TO ZIMBABWE. YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ME AND OTHER LEOPARDS TOO!