An unusual tourist attraction

No, I've not gone batty.  However, this past weekend, I traveled to Kasanka National Park in northern Zambia with a small group of VSOs to experience an annual rite of spring: the migration of thousands of straw-coloured fruit bats.  The bats stop for a few weeks in November-December on their way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The bats are quite large, with average wingspans of about 1 metre.

It was quite an arresting sight to see the bats take to the air, first to "warm up", and then to go out en masse to find food overnight.  I learned from the bat walk (essentially a walking safari about bats) that these creatures feast on mangoes, water berries and a variety of other fruits.  Unfortunately, the guide we paid for did not show up at the appointed time, so we were taken on the walk by our armed scout.  Since he didn't provide a lot of detail about the bats, we later managed to get a discount on the walk.  This certainly agreed with our volunteer budgets.

The trees are heavily laden with waking bats, who initially take to the skies around 17:00 for "warm up" exercises.

Warm-ups in full swing.

The search for food begins in earnest around 18:15.

We were treated to a lovely sunset on the first night at the park.  Click on the photo to magnify.

 I'm going to experiment a little and post a video of the bats.  I hope it works for you!

The campsite at Kasanka was one of the best I've ever used.  We had our own private toilet and shower facilities, plus a cute little hut to hide in in case it rained.  Fortunately, we remained virtually unscathed by the rains.  The skies certainly looked ominous at times, and we witnessed some very impressive lightning during our stay.

 

The hot bucket showers (yes, hot showers, courtesy of park staff!) were a real treat.

Our comfy campsite was a great place to lounge around during the day.  I forgot how much I like camping (caveat: when it's dry).

Good friends: Dan, Helen and Estelle