Zambia – Lower Zambezi National Park with Penny Robartes

Wow, has it been a year! A fantastic year of leading repeat and new guests to some of the worlds most inspiring wildlife destinations. From the jungles of Rwanda as my guests and I trained our cameras and hearts towards the the magnificent Mountain Gorilla - one of the most holistic wildlife experiences I have ever had, to the dry lands of Botswana for incredible Leopard photography, my guests and I have been all over, and our experiences together and visuals created are testament to my mantra; “Nature always rewards.”

Now it’s September, and I have finally been able to hide away from loved-ones and friends while I’m home for the next month and a half, to sit and write a blog on another magical photo tour in Africa. Destination: Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park with a solo repeat guest whom first (and last - thanks COVID) travelled with me in 2019.

For a lover of Nature, its wildlife and being immersed in natural areas, there are many places worldwide that we want to explore. However, there are certain places that reach out to us, grab our hearts and say,”now’s the time, let’s go!” This is what happened to my guest when she saw my instagram reel that I realised in Sept 2019 of my first experience of the Lower Zambezi and the camps of my choice. Having not heard from this guest for a few months, it was a lovely surprise when she said “Penny, I need to go here.”

So we did, one year later. And my oh my, was it so rewarding on so many levels for my guest, and therefore, for me too.

The forests in the Lower Zambezi is a place where one believes that magic dwells around every tree, in the canopies, in the light, and it’s true. It’s an utterly arresting visual and place. It’s so breathtaking, that I find it nearly impossible to not stare without blinking, for your ears to tune into the sounds of the birds and animals or the lack thereof, to imagine seeing a Leoapard stealthily walking under the forest whose trees are old and beautiful, to then seeing just that.

The pull of this destination is not just the wildlife, although, that is a top reason too. Lion, Leopard, Elephant - with many Elephant bulls standing on their hind legs to reach the high branches of the Winterthorn trees - grunting, chuckling hippo in the beautiful Zambezi River, Defassa Waterbuck standing as sentinels to the forest. Impala and baboon collect together and co-feed on the winterthorn. African wild dog are a common sight here, but as they were denning in the Miombo forests close to the mountain ridge, they were not coming to the escarpment nor winterthorn forests to hunt.

My guests aim was to master her camera. We’d only travelled together once before with this camera and she hadn’t touched it in years. Now, she wanted to understand it, master it, and take her photography to the next level and take home images that show this mastery. Every day, I taught, she learnt. We practiced, we created. We had a variety of sightings and activities to train our visions and cameras on, and learn what works and why others don’t. Why some scenes call out to us more than others, even if the sighting may be more exciting than the first.

Our tour came to an end after 8-days of exploring the Winterthorn forests and its animals together with our brilliant local guide. We laughed hard, we sat in companionable silence. We got low on the ground, we took a boat ride which initially was a fear of my guest’s - which was another thing she conquered.

She will be back. The Winterthorn forests give you no other option. It’s magic dances with your heart, romances with your senses. The wildlife and possibility of sightings and photographic opportunities thereof are endless and enticing and raw.

Now, the question is - will you join me in 2026 or 2027 as I take you on a journey of photographic, growth, connection and inspiration?