Zambia is situated at the northern end of what is known as Southern Africa and is a landlocked state home to the legendary Victoria Falls at Livingstone. The country proudly holds the title of "The Real Africa" as it still has vast tracts of pristine wilderness which lend themselves beautifully for those true game enthusiasts and perfect for horse riding holidays. Although Zambia lacks the spectacular mountains of many of its neighboring African countries, it boasts more intact miombo woodland than any other. It is also home to many beautiful large lakes and waterways, as well as stunning and vast floodplains. The Zambezi River and several of its tributaries are larger than any other river to the south, and here you will find there are more spectacular and grand waterfalls than in the rest of the subcontinent - including five major waterfall destinations on the Kalungwishi river system alone!
Horseback Riding in Zambia
Shiwa Nganda Deluxe Horse Safari is a spectacular horse riding safari on the outskirts of Zambia’s Kafue National Park. This horseback vacation promises to introduce you to the wilds and wonder of Zambia! You will be accommodated at Shiwa House located in the heart of Northern Zambia and which overlooks Shiwa Ngandu, the “Lake of the Royal Crocodiles”. The entire Shiwa Estate includes a 25,000 acres game reserve with 22 mammal species, of which the there are large herds of Zebra, Blue Wildebeest and numerous herds of antelope. Leopard, Caracal, and Serval Cats are amongst the predators and on occasion a pack of Wild Dog is known to come through.
Victoria Falls
It is thought that a great earth movement in an earlier geological period diverted the once south-easterly flowing upper Zambezi River to a more easterly direction and initiated the development of a waterfall in an area occupied by a massive bed of basalt. Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ - ‘the Smoke that Thunders’ the Victoria Falls are a truly awe-inspiring sight of stunning beauty and spectacular grandeur, found on the Zambezi River, bordering both Zambia and Zimbabwe. Columns of water spray can be seen from miles away. It is believed that 546 million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge at the height of the flood season. For nearly two kilometers, the great water pours into a deep gorge over 100 meters below. The wide cliff from which the rushing water thunders, transforms the Zambezi River from a placid river to a dramatic and wild torrent, cutting through a series of fantastic gorges.
The Miombo Woodlands
The miombo woodlands are generally considered to be a deciduous forest, but they truthfully are neither strictly evergreen nor deciduous dependent on the year. The name "miombo" is the plural for "muombo", the Bemba name for Brachystegia longifolia, a tree which dominates much of the Zambesian plateau. Miombo is regarded as woodland, despite of its closed canopy (with crowns touching) because the light can still filter through the canopy and stimulate growth of grasses and herbs on the floor. This type of woodland tend to regenerate itself with intermittent fires from the heat, which burns the floor away for new growth. Miombo woodland is defined as any woodland which is dominated by the species of three related generas of tree in the family Leguminosae: Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Isoberlinia.The features which these trees have in common are the characteristic mushroom-shaped crown and their unique seed sowing, which can see the tree violently disperse seeds up to a distance of 25 metres!
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