Set date safaris to Chad in 2020/21

Explore Zakouma – off grid and seriously worthwhile!

Zakouma in Chad has been on our radar for a good number of years. An April recce trip this year exceeded all expectations!

• The variety of wildlife is astonishing. Utterly loaded with regular big game and predators plus some truly rare species.
• For birders, few places in Africa offer this kind of volume and diversity.
• Zakouma challenges most photographic skills and kit. This is truly wide screen Africa where within the same sitting you’ll zoom in only to find layers upon layers of depth and additional subjects.
• This is one of Africa’s true conservation success stories too. Where African Parks have been singularly responsible for saving Africa’s largest single  elephant mega-herd.
• Whilst the geo-political map around Chad doesn’t paint well and neither the FCO nor State Department are happy about travel here you’re safely ensconced with properly protected wilderness areas!
• It’s a place where conservation comes before chic interiors. A proper safari.

So if travel “beyond the frontier” holds any appeal then you should look at seriously at Zakouma. It’s not for everyone, but it might be for you.

Group travel isn’t our preferred safari format either. When exploring off grid destinations however; a first class guide is critical; a few like minded companions help keep costs sensible too. So we have 4 small group set date trips in April 2020 and 2021. Each is led by an expert naturalist guide.

Set date safaris into Zakouma led by expert naturalist guide, Chris Worden

Safe and stable once again, Zakouma is a park which is definitely on the rise. For much of the year the park is flooded and therefore not accessible. The absolute best time to explore is at the peak of the dry season. Just when the numbers of animals and birds around the few remaining water holes are simply incredible. So, April 2020 and 2021 are in the diary.

With only 6 per group, Chris’s depth of knowledge will enhance and guarantee this as an extraordinary wildlife experience.

For the next few years we expect that Zakouma won’t feature on the mainstream safari circuit. So you’d be one of the pioneers to explore Zakouma before demand pushes it out of reach.

It promises to be the safari experience of a lifetime – a savanna park with huge concentrations of wildlife, yet hardly any visitors!

Diary dates and more info for Zakouma in April 2020 and April 2021

18 April 2020; 25 April 2020; 17 April 2021; 24 April 2021

• Full itinerary details with images, maps and pricing for our set date departures to Zakouma, Chad. 
• Discover the unique nature of Chad and it’s wildlife in Amanda DeSimone’s blog about her recent visit – “Zany Zakouma”
• Why you should visit Zakouma, with some really good reasons why you shouldn’t!
• Extreme seasons and a day on safari in Zakouma by Amanda DeSimone
• Our 2014 notes on Zakouma National Park “ticking all the boxes” – with early conservation successes by African Parks
• A “last call” note to a small circle of friends early in 2018
• Scoring success with a conservation turn around by the African Parks organisation
• Why and when to travel to Chad with more details on the Zakouma Ecosystem plus the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve

“A visit to Zakouma is like stepping back in time to safaris 40 or more years ago. When animals outnumbered visitors and you were more concerned about the quality of the wildlife than the thread count of the sheets. ” John Berry, Zambezi MD.

Other Central African explorations

During the last two decades, Gabon drew serious appeal for adventurers and then floundered. Just as the Congo became a very workable outpost for exploring Africa’s equatorial forests.  So whilst still “beyond the frontier” the Sangha region of Central African Republic has within the last year come within relatively easy striking distance from Odzala in Congo.

We do a safe and simple combination of two seriously remarkable safaris by starting in Brazzaville for Odzala then flying north to Kabo and then spending the better part of a day boating up the Sangha River before settling in the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve. Options thereafter are superb for keen naturalists, photographers and active participants who’re rewarded by a very rare experience in the Congo Basin.  (Suitable for seasoned African travellers for whom strict preparations and low expectations are the norm. This trip also requires a strong budget.)

• The “standard” Odzala trip is a set date departure starting and ending in Brazzaville. The normal format is 3 nights at Ngaga Camp from which the main gorilla trekking takes place. Followed by 2 nights at Mboko Camp which is close to the Lekoli River system for kayaking and extensive walking within and around bais and mosaic savanna forests. The trip usually ends with 2 nights in a deep forest setting on the edge of Lango Bai.

• The “conventional trip” format for getting into Dzanga-Sangha Reserve and the Ndoki Reserve is from Bangui in CAR. Includes gorilla trekking in Dzanga-Ndoki but more importantly we have access to Dzanga Bai for one of the most extraordinary elephant experiences you’ll find anywhere in Africa.

Speak to us about exploring Dzanga Sangha from Congo

Just on the fringes elsewhere in East and Southern Africa

Here are just a few of our favourites:

• Take a look at our small group trip to the quieter areas of Zimbabwe including amazing Gonarezhou – Ancient History, Wilderness and Wildlife of Zimbabwe – another great trip for those wanting something different.
• Track rhino and wild dog on foot in the remote North Luangwa – Remote Mwaleshi – a walking safari par excellence. This combines well with the equally remote Bangweulu Swamps – famed for their prehistoric Shoebill.
• So we think it’s time to forget the crowds of the Mara and Serengeti and experience the second biggest Wildebeest Migration on earth,  yet with no other vehicles in sight in Liuwa Plains.
• Tanzania offers so much more than the busy northern circuit. Escape from the crowds to Tanzania’s Wild West on a Katavi and Mahale Safari. Like Zakouma, Katavi is absolutely incredible towards the end of the dry season, and the chimpanzee viewing on Lake Tanganyika is an unforgettable and magical experience.
• Lovers of desert scenery and photography should definitely fly into the starkly beautiful and inaccessible north west Namibia. Here you can track desert-adapted elephant, oryx and giraffe on our Skeleton Coast Safari.

For more information on these and other ‘secret’ hot spots please email info@zambezi.com or call our UK headoffice on +44 (0) 1752 878858 today.

Contact our Africa specialists