Chad Safaris – 2023/24

Zakouma National Park

Thoughts about Zakouma National Park from Michael Lorentz:

I am often asked by guests on safari as to my favorite destinations in Africa – a hard question to answer, since there are so many extraordinary wild places to visit. However in the last few years one place has crept up the list, and now holds top spot – Zakouma National Park in Chad.

My wife first told me of Zakouma in 2007 having seen an article in National Geographic written by Mike Fay, with spectacular images by ‘Nick’ Nichols. It looked amazing but seemingly unattainable due to ongoing conflict in Chad and what seemed like an unstoppable wave of poaching. It looked like a place that ‘was’ and had no hope of being on any African traveler’s realistic agenda. Then came African Parks who took over the park in 2010 and have subsequently done an extraordinary job of stemming the tide of poaching, and carving out a real future for this iconic and truly special corner of Africa. I have the highest regard for African Parks and consider them as arguably the most effective conservation organization operating on the continent today. Across Africa, conservation is War and the good news is that here, in Zakouma, at least, the war is being won. Long may that continue.

In March 2015, I visited Zakouma for a third time, experiencing the newly opened Camp Nomade. Once again I was blown away and, like everything in Zakouma, it far exceeded my expectations. The mobile safari experience is perfect in its simplicity and elegance, with a camp moving between remote pans and the Salamat River.

Zakouma is a place of real abundance, and it is perhaps this that makes it so remarkable. Flocks of 5000 plus black crowned crane, swarms of 10 million red-billed quelea, waterfowl too numerous to count and plenty of game, much of it unusual. Large herds of red and brown buffalo (an intermediate form between the Nile and West African sub species) fringe the pans, Kordofan giraffe, roan antelope, tiang and a host of other antelope species speckle the plains. Lion too are numerous and on my first trip we even had a rare and magical encounter with a leopard as we watched a stack of crocodiles piled around a shrinking waterhole. I could go on – suffice to say that Zakouma feels to me how it felt to go on safari as a child, when the wilds of Africa seemed so much fuller and more complete.

And wild it truly is – getting there is more challenging than many destinations, but once you are there you have the privilege of being where very few have gone before. Zakouma delivers the freedom to explore in ways that very few parks can offer in today’s increasingly regulated Africa. This trip will offer up extraordinary opportunities like camping under simple mosquito nets on remote pans or walking for hours with the famous elephant herd, now numbering almost 450 and a reminder of both past tragedy and future hope.

Before the image of Shangri-La seems too complete, it must be said that it can also be blisteringly hot and at times the tsetse fly are as plentiful as the quelea.. The luxury lies in that you are part of an elite few to have experienced this remote and untouched part of Africa.

Chad is an extraordinary place and this journey will resonate with you on so many levels – from travel through to conservation. This is a journey for the traveller who wants an authentic experience beyond the infinity pool.

Michael Lorentz – Chief Explorer, Passage to Africa

For more details call or text (818) 353-9500