‘Where the water meets the sky’ is a fascinating community-owned conservation area that is truly off the beaten track. The meaning of ‘Bangweulu’ underscores how 17 rivers feed the Great Bangweulu Basin that seems to the reach to the horizon and the blue sky beyond. An incredible area in Zambia’s little-visited Northern Province, it is a maze of channels, islands, lagoons and wetlands that support an impressive level of biodiversity.

On land, endemic black lechwe and tssesebe (the fastest antelope in the world) are stalked by the fastest predator. Cheetah were successfully reintroduced after more then a hundred years as appreciation for and care of the Bangweulu Wetlands soared. And while the game is good, the birds are truly the stars of the show. Around 10 percent of the world’s wattled cranes live here and it is an epicentre for shoebills (whose range is the waterways of central-east Africa). Shoebills are large, silent and literally statuesque: while hunting for fish or even small crocodiles, they can not move for hours. They are highly solitary and only three nests will be built in a square kilometre. They use their large wingspans to fly at good speeds but are non-migratory, preferring water with low oxygen levels (like bogs and marshes) where fish have to come to the surface more often to breath. If a shoebill safari is on your bucket list, then Bangweulu is the place to be.

One of the few places that offers a true walking safari – between camps – rather than just a simple nature walk. I love Zambia because it is still very authentic: up on the Busanga Plains in Kafue, you’ll have a true picture of Africa at its most pristine and untouched.