Livingstone to Machile IBA (1 Viewer)

Has anyone been there? We need a guide with a car who can take us there for a day trip and hopefully knows where to find Black-cheeked Lovebirds.

Hi

Have you tried the Birdwatch Zambia website email ? They may be able to advise on in country bird guides. There is a local guide set up in the area once you get there now by the looks of it. A phone number is provided on the website so maybe a ground agent can sort it if you can't find a bird guide.

http://www.birdwatchzambia.org/content/ibaguides.shtml

The area is remote and you should take supplies including enough water. I believe there are some phone masts now but I wouldn't rely on that. Timing is also key as the whole area floods during the rainy season and is impassable by car. Rains usually arrive in early Dec.

In the dry season the Lovebirds drink morning and evening at water sources - eg pools in the dry river beds

Good luck,

Thanks for the link. They do have one guide listed but he doesn't have an email contact. Our trip is in early May so the beginning of the dry season. There aren't a lot of sightings reported on eBird, just a couple near Mosi-oa-Tunya NP and one in Machile. We would be staying in Livingstone and want to make a day trip so I am guessing we need a guide who lives in Livingstone and has a 4x4 who would coordinate with the guide who lives in Machile. I found one report that describes something similar but he went through a very high-end lodge (over $500 USD night) and we can't afford that kind of place. We'll be staying somewhere in town with a budget of max $100 a night. I was hoping someone had been there and knew of Livingstone based guides. I can email Birdwatch Zambia in the meantime. I'm a bit wary of safari companies who cater to the high-end market, was looking more for backpacker budget at least for the 4x4 hire and then pay the guide his usual fee separately without a tour company bumping up the cost to accommodate their cut.

It's a bit of a worry there are so few sightings reported. The other lovebirds - Lilian's Lovebirds seem to be easy enough in South Luangwa.

I would ignore the sightings in Livingstone area, they are not likely to be wild. In the Machile area they were frequent when I was there, with good numbers around the Mutelo village where the local guide is from by looks of it. This was in 1999 tho .

They are also present in Nanzila area of Kafue NP.


Cheers