Rare Opportunity to Witness The Kuomboka Festival, Zambia

This normally annual event has not taken place for the last three years as a result of poor rainfall, but this year’s event is scheduled to take place on 8th April – just after the opening of the nearby King Lewanika Lodge.

About The Kuomboka Festival – When the Zambezi River floods the plains, it creates a deep shallow river. The Losi people move to higher ground during this period and the Kuomboka is seen as a ceremonial event to mark it. Traditionally the Losi King of the Barotse tribe, the Barotse Royal Household and his Queen are ferried on two huge black-and-white stripped canoes and paddled by 50 oarsmen from their low place to their high palace during the festival.

It is an extraordinary experience, packed full of amazing sights and sounds including the beating Royal Maoma drums and boatmen singing ancient folktales. It is unusual for the date to be announced in advance which makes this year’s festival even more compelling.

About King Lewanika Lodge:

Opening 1^st April 2017, King Lewanika Lodge is a brand new luxury lodge in Zambia’s remote Liuwa Plain National Park. Set on the upper Munde stream, a site chosen for its sweeping vistas and complete wildlife immersion, the lodge will comprise six exclusive villas including a two bedroomed family villa, with the capacity to accommodate 15 guests. Named after the Barotse King who proclaimed Liuwa Plain as a protected area in the 1880s, and designed by acclaimed architects, Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, the new lodge is set to boast a sleek elegance and exclusivity like few others in Zambia.

Located on the upper Zambezi flood plain in western Zambia, Liuwa Plain National Park is bounded by the Luambimba and Luanginga rivers. This vast, remote and untamed expanse of grassy plain has a huge wildlife population, including the famous Liuwa lions, the second biggest wildebeest migration in Africa, and burgeoning populations of cheetah, hyena and wild dog. It is home to five of the fastest, largest and rarest African antelope: roan, eland, oribi, tsessebe and red lechwe, as well as over 330 bird species.

Activities available will include day and night game drives, guided walks, conservation game drives with the Zambia Carnivore Programme research team, and boating/canoeing when water levels permit. King Lewanika Lodge will be open April to mid-July and October to end-December (with plans to open in Feb/March in the future).

Five nights available thought Aardvark Safaris from $5,605 (£4,477) per person, based on two adults sharing. Cost includes 4nights full board accommodation at King Lewanika Lodge, one night B&B at Latitudes in Lusaka, internal transfers and flights, standard bar drinks and house wines, park fees and safari activities.

For booking or further information, contact Aardvark Safaris
www.aardvarksafaris.co.uk / 01980 849160

Photo credit: Time + Tide / Uncaged Africa