Lochinvar National Park

Lochinvar sits on the southern side of the Kafue Flats and was a cattle ranch before it became a park, which is why an old farmhouse still stands in it. The flats hold Kafue lechwe in large numbers and the bird list runs past four hundred species, which is why the area is a Ramsar site. Gwisho hot springs bubble up near the escarpment beside an excavated Stone Age settlement, and there are rock paintings at Sebanzi Hill above.

Background

The park was designated in 1972 and covers 428 square kilometres, with the Kafue River along its northern edge and wooded hills in the south. Within it lie a large part of the southern Kafue Flats and drier woodland dotted with termite mounds. Ranchers killed off the larger predators, and besides lechwe the park holds blue wildebeest, kudu and oribi. The southern woodland of Faidherbia albida and Combretum escapes the floods and shelters bushbuck, bushpig, baboon and vervet monkey. The farmhouse lodge shut long ago, and in 2026 there was nowhere to stay in or near the park, though camping with one's own equipment is allowed. A loch in Galloway, Scotland, gave the old ranch its name.

Source: Wikipedia, "Lochinvar National Park"

What you'll find

• The lechwe herds - the endemic antelope across the southern flats.
• The Gwisho hot springs - warm water rising beside an excavated Stone Age site.
• Sebanzi Hill - the iron age settlement mound and rock paintings above the plain.
• The bird list - over four hundred species recorded on the Ramsar wetland.

When to go

June to October is dry and the tracks are open. Floods from January close much of the park. Early morning suits both birds and game.

Things to know

Tracks flood and four-wheel drive is genuinely needed. Facilities are basic camping and the old farmhouse. Cattle grazing inside the park is a long-running conflict and affects what you see.

Nearby

Blue Lagoon is north across the flats, and Choma is south.

Key facts