In its ongoing celebration of its 35th anniversary, Wilderness Safaris’ next Travel with a Purpose itinerary, Frontier Ecotourism Presence, set to take place from October 22-27,will explore Zambia’s million-hectare Busanga Plains.
With a maximum of six guests, this journey will not only afford guests the opportunity to observe the darting and collaring of a lion, and participate in a road count survey of large mammals in Busanga Plains, it will allow them to make a meaningful contribution to the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP).
“Despite operating at a loss in the Kafue for many years, Wilderness Safaris has remained deeply committed to driving authentic and sustainable ecotourism in this wilderness area. Thanks to our year-round presence, logistical and financial support to local anti-poaching activities, wildlife populations have grown massively over the years. The Kafue National Park is now a vital stronghold for Africa’s large carnivores. We are looking forward to inviting conservation-minded guests to join us on this purposeful, behind-the-scenes exploration of the diverse Busanga Plains,” said Chris Roche, Wilderness Safaris Chief Marketing Officer, and one of the hosts of this itinerary.
The six-day journey will be led by a variety of local experts, including Ben Goodheart, Dr. Kambwiri Banda and Lameck Sakala from the Zambian Carnivore Project, as well as Wilderness Safaris Zambezi Environmental Manager, Arnold Tshipa.
The itinerary will also include morning and afternoon game drives, evening expert talks on conservation initiatives in the region, and hot-air balloon safaris.
“The most important factor about this trip, is that all funds raised from the journey will be channelled directly to the ZCP; Wilderness will not receive any payment or mark-up from it,” said Roche.
“This is just one of our 12 purposeful journeys that we have designed to mark our 35th year of changing lives. Even when we started in Botswana in 1982 with just one Land Rover, there has always been one overriding purpose to our ecotourism activities: to conserve and restore Africa’s wilderness and wildlife. This is why, when contemplating how to celebrate our 35th birthday, we considered the places we’d choose to be, when we’d choose to be there and with whom we would travel; crafting 12 purposeful journeys that will not only offer an extraordinary ecotourism experience, but will give back to conservation and community empowerment at the same time,” added Roche.
The ZCP is a non-profit Zambian-registered trust dedicated to conserving large carnivores and the ecosystems they reside in. The programme works across three distinct ecosystems in Zambia, one of which is the Greater Kafue Ecosystem – one of Africa’s most wildlife-rich places, where the ZCP has undertaken long-term carnivore research projects.
Busanga Bush Camp.
Guests will stay at Busanga Bush Camp for the itinerary, which is as follows:
- October 22: Fly into Busanga Plains, then enjoy an afternoon game drive.
- October 23: Morning and afternoon game drives, with an evening presentation by ZCP on the darting/collaring process.
- October 24: Collar replacement.
- October 25: Early-morning hot-air balloon excursion and road count, with an evening talk on conservation actions in the area.
- October 26: Early-morning hot-air balloon excursion and road count, with an evening discussion by Wilderness Safaris Ecologist, Arnold Tshipa.
- October 27: Morning game drive, and then off to the airstrip for a flight out.
