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Want to know more about the Shoebill?

Imagine an enormous blue-grey bird, up to a metre and a half tall (60 inches) and armed with a massive, clog-shaped bill: the Shoebill Stork. Put it in a wild green landscape filled with antelope herds and their predators and you have the Bangweulu Wetlands, just part of a magical Zambian wildlife safari run by the highly experienced team at Robin Pope Safaris. The itinerary also takes in game viewing in the South Luangwa and Kasanka reserves and although the Shoebill is often the key sighting, this is a chance to see an extraordinary diversity of wildlife.

There’s only one scheduled trip a year – enquire now to avoid disappointment.

Want to know more about the Shoebill?

More about the Shoebill stork

The only living species in its family, the Shoebill is one of the world’s most sought-after birds.

In serious bird watching circles, the Shoebill Stork (Balaeniceps rex) is known as a ‘Mega Tick’ or even a ‘Lifer’, conveying the magnitude of such a sighting on one’s life list of recorded species. Birds like these are hard to find: they are rare – the Shoebill is listed as Endangered – and restricted to hard-to-reach places – in this case the remote Bangweulu Wetlands in northern Zambia.

Zambia is home to shoebills

Shoebills in their classic wetland habitat – great for other birds too.

But the reward is a view of one of nature’s strangest-looking birds: the colour of a battleship and stork-like in appearance but with a broad brush of the prehistoric. Its large shoe-shaped bill is used for grabbing catfish, frogs and water snakes and its broad wings carry it between hunting sites in the swamps.

There aren’t many left – fewer than 10 000 individuals in Africa – but they are protected in Bangweulu and their numbers are increasing there, thanks to the interest they attract and the resulting economy built up around them. Another example, perhaps, of the power of making conservation profitable for all role players.

Hands-on Expertise

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Reviews

Safari Online were extremely efficient and absolutely charming to work with.

Our 28-day itinerary took us to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana. A magnificent and unforgettable adventure. Everything ran smoothly and efficiently from the flights, transfers, rides, connections, etc. Absolutely wonderful! Can’t thank them enough!

Ann and Mario (Canada)
Best trip I have ever been on. Highly recommend.

Would highly recommend. Safari online asked questions when booking and were efficient and knew exactly what we were looking for in terms of accommodation and animals were wanted to see. Gave advice on a few little extras with no pressure, which we did and am very grateful which make trip even more exciting. Would definitely recommend booking with them.

It was a safari of a lifetime and exceeded all of our expectations!

Our mom grew up in Central and South Africa so we had visited the continent many times. My sister and I wanted to take our teens and husbands to Africa to experience the magic. We had a limited budget but big and specific expectations and by some miracle Walter was able to manage both.

Heather (USA)
Very helpful good suggestions for holiday ideas always available for questions good organising

Excellent service and they supplied good suggestions for our holiday they also organised all internal flights and arranged check in for us so we had no worries while on holiday. We have had a most memorable holiday staying at wonderful places thanks to Sabrina and Safari Online. Would recommend Safari Online to organise your holiday.

Lorraine (UK)
Karina was absolutely instrumental to our safari success.

Our experience with Safari Online was excellent. After becoming very frustrated trying to search for a safari destination on our own, we turned to Karina for help and she was a lifesaver.  We had an amazing safari adventure at the lodge–the experience of a lifetime–and are so grateful for her help. We literally couldn’t have done it without her!

Chris (USA)
Professional, patient, efficient and responsive. Met all our travel needs and requirements spot on

Communication was excellent – I asked A LOT of questions and did a ton of research myself and Walter was extremely patient with me and very responsive. he was straight forward and extremely professional. Tour itself was excellent – an incredible experience and one never to be forgotten. Everything was spot on.

Neena
Walter has always been an excellent communicator and has supported us fully

We have been to Africa for 24 of the last 27 years so know a bit about what is involved. Walter has arranged the details for the last couple of years, and has done a superb job. He is always quick to respond and comes up with answers immediately……..no evasive tactics, always head-on!

Roger (UK)
Professional, quick and top of the edge service!!!

From the very first contact we’re very happy about the respond time and quality of information from safari-online.com. Based on the received first tailor-made quote, which is a weblink with all the details about the flights, photos of the lodges etc. we knew that this is “our” partner for this trip. Our expectations were excelled!!!

Lukas (Germany)
Safari Online made our fantastic family holiday dream come true!!

Safari Online have been nothing but professional and incredible from the time we made our first enquiry to the last day of our stunning holiday. Nothing was too much trouble for Walter. We are now starting to plan our next family Safari for 2019. Guess who we will be booking with??? Safari Online we hope you are ready!!!!!

Penni (AU)
An incredibly well organised tour with no hassles whatsoever.

Safari Online understood our needs and was able to present us with sensible options to choose from. It was evident that this tour operator has knowledgable and experienced agents who can arrange a seemless tour. We were provided with a professional online itinary which was comprehensive and easy to use, knew exactely what to expect, and encountered no stumble blocks along the way.

Gwen (AU)