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Write a User ReviewSouth Luangwa walking safari
There is definitely something unnerving and rather intoxicating about plodding through the bush knowing you're in the sights of many wild animals - but in their domain. That's exactly how I was feeling in South Luangwa, Zambia's best known national park. The wildlife-watching here is unparalleled and this, coupled with the sublime beauty of the bush, puts it in the top echelon of parks in southern Africa. I saw plenty, including giraffe, various antelope including waterbuck and puku, zebra, elephants, buffalo, and - heaving itself out of a small pool of water that we walked past - a hippo.
The walking is sometimes tough, through gouged-out, sun-hardened mud but it's the quintessential nature of the woodland and grassy plains that captures the imagination. And while walking through it, you are that much closer to the sights, smells and sounds.
Valley of Adventure
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brought a deafening chorus of frogs and insects, the bush bloomed with flowers and butterflies, and the lush vegetation and vivid storm skies were tailor-made for photography. With few lodges operating, it felt as though we had the park to ourselves. This, by any standards, was an outstanding experience – putting paid to any preconceptions that the rainy season is no good for safaris.That said, a visit to this park during the more popular dry season is not to be missed. South Luangwa is indisputably the jewel in Zambia’s safari crown, and when the bush dries out from August to November, its mosaic of floodplain, oxbow lake and ebony grove is teeming with wildlife drawn to the few remaining water sources. Hippos cram the seasonal pools and meander loops, while elephant and buffalo are everywhere. Among numerous predators, leopards are unusually abundant and often seen on night drives – along with civet, porcupine and other more elusive nocturnal species. Notable absentees include cheetah and rhino, the latter exterminated by the 1980s, but wild dog populations are growing – now regularly sighted – and the local Thornicroft’s giraffes are a unique subspecies. Among a good selection of antelope are eland, greater kudu and puku, the last of these as numerous here as impala. Specials for serious birders include Pel’s fishing owl, bat hawk and western banded snake-eagle, while breeding colonies of yellow-billed storks and carmine bee-eaters are among the highlights for any visitor.
In general, the visitor experience in South Luangwa is one of seclusion and privacy – with the occasional exception of the main gate area, where big cat sightings sometimes attract a cluster of vehicles. The park has gained a good reputation for its small, owner-run lodges, where wildlife wanders through at will. Perhaps its greatest asset, however, is its top-notch guiding – not just by vehicle but also on foot. It is often said that South Luangwa offers Africa’s best walking safaris, which range from morning walks to three-day trails. And in my experience – having tracked lions, dodged elephants and waited under a baobab as songbirds mobbed a slowly uncoiling python – this claim is hard to contest.
Possibly Africa’s finest walking safari destination
The level of activity and the beauty of the surroundings, graced by groves of mature trees, have attracted many first rate safari companies. It’s particularly good for those who enjoy walking – though at the end of the dry season it’s so hot that you can’t walk for too long.
As well as seasonal camps, there are permanent camps in areas which don’t get flooded during the rains. The staff at the latter are
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just as enthusiastic about the green season as the dry season, bringing as it does an abundance of fresh vegetation, newborn animals and dazzling birds.Walking in the valley
The game viewing in South Luangwa is fantastic. If you love leopards, like I do, you’re in for a treat. There are few places where these notoriously shy big cats are so habituated. A highlight for me was watching the flirtatious rituals of a mating pair over two days – something I haven’t witnessed anywhere else in years of African travel. Also very special were the herds of elephants that crossed the Luangwa River daily at dawn. There’s always lots going on; mothers helping their tiny babies, so they don’t get pulled away by the current, adolescents playing in the water and the matriarch rounding them all up before moving on to feed.
I’ve enjoyed many excellent walking safaris in South Luangwa. It’s a good opportunity to slow down and look at footprints, insects, and everything else that is easily overlooked from a vehicle. However, it’s the thrill of tracking large animals, such as buffalo, lion and elephant, on foot and approaching these Big Five heavyweights quietly from downwind, that makes walking safaris in the valley so memorable.
Home of the Walking Safari
I love South Luangwa. Despite its vast size (9000 sq km), it has relatively few visitors so provides a real wilderness sensation. Yet, the chance to take guided walks and night drives gives it an intimacy rarely provided in most African national parks. Other than black rhinos, the Big 5 are here in abundance but, with some of the most knowledgeable guides in Africa to explain in minute detail the lives of seemingly all creatures great and small, you might find watching little bugs just as interesting. Night time in South Luangwa brings a whole new bush scene, from tiny but beguiling elephant shrews to prickly porcupine to leopards stalking for a kill – I’ve seen more leopards here than anywhere else, often when I’ve been on foot. Its topography has been carved out by the vast Luangwa River leaving oxbow lagoons and flood plains in its wake. If you stay at Tafika or the Time+Tide lodges, I strongly recommend visiting Kawaza and Mkasanga villages, both brilliantly supported by the camps, to see the human side of life in the bush.
Africa’s best night drives
My abiding memory of South Luangwa are the routinely superb night drives, which yielded an incredible number of leopard, genet, civet and white-tailed mongoose sightings, along with some great one-offs, such as honey badger and porcupine. I also really enjoyed the fact that you can choose between game drives and guided walks: the latter offer a rare opportunity to see the likes of buffalo and elephant on foot, and to absorb the sights and sounds of the bush without the constant roar of a car engine as distraction. The Luangwa River, for which the reserve is named, is also an imposing presence, supporting hundred-strong huddles of hippos in isolated pools as the Dry season kicks in, as well as large breeding colonies of the stunning southern carmine bee-eater. Overall, this is an excellent reserve, and close to the top of my ‘must revisit soon’ list.
A wonderfully wild location with a host of African animals
There’s such an abundance of animals in South Luangwa it could almost be called crowded. I’ve always had amazingly diverse safaris here, and not just to see the usual suspects (of which there are plenty). At the smaller end of the scale, I have been delighted to see honey badger and civet cat, a porcupine sniffed around our door one night, the elephant shrew fascinated me, as did the snake dangling in the tree by the camp kitchen. Also incredibly rewarding are night drives which open up a whole new world under the sensitive glare of the spotlight. Highlights were following an elephant family in the moonlight and a staggering four leopard sightings in just one evening. Equally as wonderful was sitting at a lodge studying the peaceful Luangwa River; bushbuck came to drink, baboons played around, magnificent birds fluttered in, and hippo and croc lolled around doing even less than me.
Boots-on time in big game country
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for small, authentic and owner-run bush camps as exemplified by Kaingo and Tafika. At most camps the usual 4WD game drives are also on offer, including night drives to track down the leopards for which Luangwa is famous.Zambia’s Big Hitter
There is accommodation for every budget, from luxury lodges where you can gaze out at wildlife heavy plains from an infinity pool, to basic, self-catering camps. I stayed at lively, riverside Flatdogs camp, where I pitched my tent amongst the monkeys on a platform in the trees.
To experience the bush in intimate detail a walking safari (the first African walking safaris were dreamt up here by conservation pioneer Norman Carr) is a must. Your chances
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of coming across game are high, and your guide and armed ranger will give you a detailed (and nerve-wracking!) briefing of what to do in case of a Big Five encounter.The Valley of the Leopard
It ultimately took me eight years to make it back to the Luangwa Valley again, but when I finally did in the middle of the 2022 Dry season, the best period for big game viewing, I found it no less captivating. For me, this is the African bush exactly as it should be.
The guides here are among the best in Africa and so are the walking safaris. There’s also a growing number of excellent lodges and camps in and around the park, which happily have not taken away from the overall feeling of unadulterated
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wilderness.The birding is also excellent here, particularly in the quieter, wilder Nsefu section of the park. This area is also a good bet for wild dogs.
Elephant encounters
The largest elephant herd I ever saw was in South Luangwa. After weeks of travel, I opted out of a morning wildlife drive and was sitting at our campsite, fretting over my potentially regrettable decision when I was alerted to a herd of elephants crossing the river. We watched as they made their way up the banks and leapt up a tree (thankfully there were ladders to assist) as the herd picked up speed and hurriedly made their way straight through our camp. The park is a haven for water babies, with ellies and hippos sighted in their droves in the rivers and water holes. Four of the big five can be spotted (there's no rhino) as well as the occasional wild dog, some smaller cats and myriad monkeys.
Jewel in the Crown
South Luangwa is undoubtedly the country’s most celebrated park and for good reason. It’s an attractive wildlife area with the perennial Luangwa River demarcating the eastern boundary as it snakes its way south. Animal densities are high, especially in the popular Mfuwe region, where the well-habituated animals provide guests with plenty of opportunities to enjoy quality sightings of all the main carnivore and herbivore populations (excluding rhino).
In addition to this, the park boasts some of the best leopard viewing in Africa and wild dogs have also made a strong comeback in recent times. With the exception of rhino, South Luangwa has it all! Unfortunately, this impressive wildlife diversity also means it’s an incredibly popular wildlife sanctuary. However, you can escape the crowds and enjoy an enhanced wilderness experience with superlative sightings if you visit during the Emerald Season (during the rains) or spending a little more money to stay at a top-tier lodge deep inside the national park.
Zambia’s Jewel in the Crown
South Luangwa is Zambia’s top safari destination, and rightly so. It is a stunningly scenic park, with the Luangwa River twisting through, its associated flood plains and oxbow lakes as well as beautiful stands of trees. Perhaps more than any other park, the landscape changes dramatically according to the time of year – so visiting in the ‘Emerald season’ is a completely different experience to the Dry season.
South Luangwa has a rich variety of game, including puku antelope and the special Thornicroft’s giraffe. You have a good chance of seeing predators, especially leopard, and wild dog and lion are present too.
Much of the safari development is clustered around the Mfuwe end of the park, with numerous camps and lodges based just outside the Mfuwe Gate. If budget allows, try and stay within the park itself, so you don’t have to queue up and travel in each day, or in the quieter Nsefu section.