Average Expert Rating
Rating Breakdown
Write a User ReviewWild, Undeveloped and Ravaged
This unknown national park, located on the eastern escarpment of the Luangwa Valley between the North and South Luangwa parks, is amongst the least visited in all of Zambia. It is truly wild, unmanaged and undeveloped. Only the most determined 4×4 adventurers will make the effort to mount a self-supported expedition to this remote park without facilities or game viewing tracks.
Thought to be home to one of the largest remaining free-roaming wild dog populations in Africa, there is little in the way of wildlife information or effective park management in Lukusuzi. We were unsuccessful in our quest to locate the Lukusuzi wild dogs, but we did see decent numbers of skittish puku and some plains game as well as large groups of illegal fisherman netting the tributaries of the Luangwa. The birding remains very good, but there is no doubt that poaching has taken a heavy toll on the wildlife numbers in this seemingly abandoned protected area.
Little-visited park in the much-visited Luangwa Valley
Though situated very close to Zambia’s famous and popular South Luangwa National Park, Lukusuzi is totally overlooked by most visitors. The park is a small, scrubby patch of mopane and miombo woodlands overlooked by rocky ridges. Facilities are virtually non-existent and for now little is being done to stop the occasional indiscriminate snaring of wild animals. Despite this, the park is home to wild dogs, though I have not been lucky enough to see them.