Kasanka spans 450km² on the south-western edge of the Lake Bangweulu basin, making it one of Zambia’s smallest national parks. Its reputation rests on something out of all proportion to its size: from October each year around 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats gather here, in what is the globe’s most significant mammal migration. They leave at sunset and return before dawn, and the sight is extraordinary.

The park rewards patience the rest of the year too. The rare, semi-aquatic sitatunga lives in the swamps and can be watched from an 18-metre platform hide set in a mululu tree above Kapabi Swamp, best in the early morning or late afternoon. Over 330 bird species have been recorded, among them Pel’s fishing owl, pygmy goose, Ross’s loerie, osprey, wattled crane and the rare shoebill. Visitors can take leisurely nature walks and game drives, or fish the Luwombwa River for tigerfish, bream and barbel.