The Bats of Kasanka: Part Two - Forest Inn

Part One - Kariba


Day two of our trip (Saturday 19 October, 2013) consisted of a 470km drive from Kariba across the border into Zambia and through the capital city, Lusaka, ending up at Forest Inn, on the Great Northern Road to Tanzania, where we spent the night. This was an all day affair!

The border crossing was tedious and mostly hassle free, but we had to wait an hour at the last desk for the only road toll officer on duty to get back from the shops!

Straight away you notice a difference between driving in Zimbabwe and in Zambia - the latter has bags of charcoal, firewood, baskets and even orchids for sale on the road verges, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. These 'vendors' were at regular intervals all the way to Lusaka and beyond, and as a result all of the bushland remaining near the road was under serious pressure from charcoaling.
Not a great welcome to the country! I just hope Zimbabwe doesn't follow down the same path too quickly.

There were major roadworks on the main route to Lusaka, so all traffic was forced to use the dirt tracks winding alongside the tarmac under repairs. This added an extra hour to the drive.
Lusaka itself was dirty, dusty, hot and full of people and traffic. The city central was a traffic nightmare, and we had to find a way around.

The road north of Lusaka heads towards the Copperbelt on the border of the DRC, and was therefore very busy with large trucks and other vehicles. This was not a very enjoyable drive. There was still very little bushland to be seen in amongst the multitude of villages and communal lands.

And then we turned east at Kapiri Mposhi onto the Great Northern Road, and suddenly at was lovely! Most of the traffic was gone, and the bush was in better condition, as we were no longer on the main Copperbelt road.

We arrived at Forest Inn, which is a set of self catering chalets and camping sites in the middle of nowhere, in the late afternoon.

It is set in a stand of Miombo Woodland, so I spent a few hours in the afternoon and the next morning birdwatching. We had now entered the Central Zambezian Miombo Woodland ecoregion (Zimbabwe is in the Southern Miombo Woodlands), so there were a few non-Southern African 'special' birds to be seen.

Miombo Woodlands bordering Forest Inn

(Non-SA 'specials' are in bold). Lizard Buzzard was the only raptor seen. I heard Fiery-necked Nightjar during the night, and saw Spotted Eagle-owl in the morning. The camp had African Pygmy-kingfisher, Crowned Hornbill, African Broadbill, White-browed Robin-chat, Miombo Scrub-robin, Willow Warbler, Ashy Flycatcher, African Paradise-flycatcher, Red-backed Mannikin, Golden-breasted Bunting and Cabanis's Bunting. After much searching the woodlands, I found a few great birds, including Grey-headed Kingfisher, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Rufous-bellied Tit, Miombo Scrub-robin, Trilling Cisticola, Black-necked Eremomela, Stierling's Wren-warbler, Retz's Helmet-shrike, Violet-backed Starling, Amethyst Sunbird and Red-headed Weaver.

African Broadbill carrying nesting materials in the early morning (hence the awful lighting)

African Pygmy-kingfisher

Ashy Flycatcher

Black-necked Eremomela - the best find at Forest Inn

...and a pair of the same species.

Cabanis's Bunting

Golden-breasted Bunting

Kurrichane Thrush

Miombo Scrub-robin

Rufous-bellied Tit

Rufous-bellied Tit

Spotted Eagle-owl

Stierling's Wren-warbler

Trilling Cisticola

On Sunday morning we drove the remaining distance to Kasanka National Park, which you'll read about in the next post!

To be continued...
Part three - Kasanka, the Mammals
Part four - Kasanka, the Birds
Part five - Mana Pools