Kissama National Park is located in the northwestern part of Angola along the coast. The park covers an area of 3,845.57 square miles (9,960sq km), thus being characterized by a series of distinct landscapes. It is possible to find savanna areas, with trees, and even open pastures, depending on the stretch.
This great variety also allows many species to inhabit the place, with a vast biodiversity. Only among animals, there are zebras, crocodiles, elephants, hippos, wildebeests, giraffes, among many others. With regard to flora, the variety is equally considerable.
Kissama is also known as Quicama National Park. Locally, it is also referred to as parquet Nacional do Quicama or Parque Nacional da Quissama. Because of years of civil war across Angola, most of the national parks have decimated from poaching and hunting.
The park is situated between the Atlantic Coast to the east, the Cuznza River to the north, and the Longa River to the south. The majority of the park is comprised of savannah grasslands, dense vegetation, and Baobab forests.
This park, founded in the 1950s, suffered a lot for the actions of man. This is because the civil war in Angola ended up decimating and greatly reducing a large number of species, in addition to having also been a hunting ground for many years.
Kissama is the only park that is currently operating as a national park. This is mostly from the collaborative effort from Botswana and South Africa known as Noah’s Ark. This project served as the world’s largest animal transplant creating an opportunity for the park to return closer to its original status.
Where the park is not as deep in mammalian species, it is a bird lover’s haven. There is an array of species that are nesting or migrating through the park. Birdwatching is actually one of the most popular activities of the national park.
