Liuwa Plains National Park

LIUWA PLAIN

National Park [ WRITER / PHOTO: Leslie Nevison ]

It is classic ‘Out of Africa’ cinematography passing by our windows; the movie scenes which bring people to Africa in search of them, some of whom never leave. But this isn’t a case of art imitating life. A small herd of zebra avoids our approaching vehicles, which groan in low gear on deflated tyres through the sand, and trots in unhurried unison through waving grasses. Early rain has turned the zebras’ world green overnight, as if by a wizard’s touch. Rain IS magic at the end of Africa’s long dry season. Dampened sand is also a much easier surface to drive on – your wheels don’t dig in as much.

This is my fourth visit to Liuwa Plain National Park in Western Zambia. My first visit was with Robin Pope Safaris during the pre-Facebook (FB) era. There were so many things which made that visit special other than the fact none of us yet cared about social media. Robin Pope himself was our guide. We stayed at Matamanene Camp, which was still frequented by Lady Liuwa, the last remaining lion of the Barotse Plain after trophy hunters decimated every one of her companions. It was the month of April. I remember incredible indigo and purple sunsets; a profusion of wildflowers; trees full of nesting cattle egrets and great white egrets; large hyena populations in the absence of competitive predators; and herds of red lechwe. I met Lady Liuwa where she rested in a shady tree line. Sadly, she never brushed by my Matamanene tent, alerting me to her presence, which I understood was her custom with the South African cameraman Herbert Brauer who assisted in documenting Lady’s solitary life for the National Geographic film, The Last Lioness. I saw the Zambezi River in flood when we flew over it to land in Kalabo town. In the pre-FB era, flying to Liuwa was the only feasible option to get there. I saw Lady a few more times on subsequent Liuwa visits when I stayed at community campsites and Time + Tide’s King Lewanika Lodge, the first and still the only permanent luxury accommodation in Liuwa and named after the 19th century King of Barotseland who kept Liuwa as his private hunting reserve, later turning over its custody to his people. By 2009,

ZAMBIA | LIUWA PLAIN NATIONAL PARK Lady was no longer alone. African Parks, which took over the management of Liuwa in 2004, was successful in relocating lions after a period of trial and error. Lady died of natural causes in 2017, leaving behind a thriving pride of her kind, although she herself never had offspring. I have a framed photo of Lady which I cherish. It was captured by one of Robin Pope’s team during that pre-FB visit. The photographer opened her Matamanene tent and discovered that the Lady had come to visit.

After driving a section of the Great West Road between Kaoma and Mongu towns, you could be forgiven for thinking that flying remains the best way to get to Liuwa. But if you fly then you miss the engineering marvel of the 34-kilometre-long Barotse Causeway which consists of 26 bridges spanning the Zambezi River and the Barotse floodplain. Under construction since 2002, the causeway finally opened in 2016 at a reported eye-watering final cost of some 287 million USD. Expensive yes, but the causeway is a game changer for the people of Western Zambia. Linking Mongu and Kalabo towns, travel time by road between the two is reduced to less than one hour. It used to take four to six hours by boat. It opens trade routes with Angola and improves access to Liuwa Plain National Park without detracting too much from its magnificent isolation. The causeway is one of the more scenic drives in Zambia. There are lay-bys every few kilometres where you can pull over and enjoy the floodplain below with its Lozi fishing communities and fishermen in mukolos, the local Lozi people’s word for their dugout canoes.

My fourth visit to Liuwa is in early December. The last two months of the calendar year are good months to come to Liuwa because the rainy season sets a 30,000-member blue wildebeest and 4,000-strong plains zebra migration in motion, the second largest on the African continent in a cycle which includes Angola and Zambia. After the onset of the heavy rains at the beginning of the year, the Zambezi River eventually floods and Liuwa becomes inaccessible. The next high season is in April and May, after the waters retreat. This is the best time for dedicated birders.

We travel in a convoy of two vehicles, which is a good idea when you are driving on sand and can help if one of the vehicles gets stuck. (A word of caution: it seems that Liuwa’s lions like to rest in the areas of deepest sand!) We stay for the first time at Sibika Camp, a self-catering accommodation which African Parks opened in 2020 and a two-hour drive from Kalabo in the southern part of the park. African Parks has a winning idea with Sibika. It consists of four privately spaced and shaded chalets, each with twin beds with mosquito nets, ensuite loos and solar-powered hot water showers. Each chalet comes with an outdoor kitchen with gas cooker and refrigerator (also solar powered) and nicely equipped cupboards. There are camp chairs and a table on each chalet’s private deck and a central outdoor meeting area between the four chalets where a group travelling together can meet for sundowners. Wine glasses and even a cafetière are provided!

We collect a scout at the African Parks office on the way to Sibika who remains with us for the duration of our stay. He is very keen to show us Liuwa’s growing lion population, the Lady’s legacy. But we are determined to simply enjoy the plains and what nature chooses to share with us. And all the while, we have Liuwa’s magnificent space and big skies to ourselves.