After two weeks of travelling through some of Zambia's most remote areas in our old battered Land Rover, we finally came across the reason that had inspired our adventure in the first place: a shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) standing at the edge of a marsh in the Bangweulu Swamps! That moment I knew I was one of only a handful of people that had been lucky enough to see one of these magnificent rare bird in the wild. To this day, this remains my most special animal encounter.