Reviews of South Luangwa (From 12 Acclaimed Safari Experts)

Expert

Alan Murphy –

AU

Visited: May

Alan is a travel writer and author of over 20 Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the guides to Southern Africa and Zambia & Malawi.

12 people found this review helpful.

South Luangwa walking safari

Overall rating

5/5

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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.

12 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Mike Unwin –

UK

Visited: Multiple times

Mike is an award-winning wildlife writer, former editor of Travel Zambia magazine and author of the Bradt Guide to Southern African Wildlife.

10 people found this review helpful.

Valley of Adventure

Overall rating

5/5

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My last visit to South Luangwa was during the height of the January rainy season – marketed as the ‘emerald season’ – and far removed from a standard safari experience, with heavy rain and widespread flooding severely limiting our explorations. Nonetheless, it was a memorable trip, and typical of what this superb park can offer in the hands of its innovative private operators. As expected, large mammals were widely dispersed, but that didn’t prevent us from tracking down lion and leopard almost daily, and enjoying a dramatic hour with a pack of wild dogs hunting impala. On a smaller scale, we enjoyed treats I’d seldom seen before, including mating African bullfrogs, a newly hatched clutch of baby crocodiles and a wriggling procession of sharp-tooth catfish crossing the road. When the roads ran out, we took a boat downriver, dodging hippos, watching elephants along the bank and enjoying a pageant of birdlife, with such seasonal specials as painted snipe and dwarf bittern. Night 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.

10 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Emma Gregg –

UK

Visited: November

Emma is an award-winning travel writer for Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller, Travel Africa magazine and The Independent.

9 people found this review helpful.

Possibly Africa’s finest walking safari destination

Overall rating

5/5

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Bush Vibe:

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Intense, absorbing wildlife encounters are pretty much guaranteed at South Luangwa during the dry season, when elephants, antelopes, gazelles and giraffes converge on the Luangwa River. When I visited, we saw leopards, mating lions, wild dogs, carmine bee-eaters, vast herds of buffalo and scores of other animals and birds. The rains were late to break and the tension in the air was extreme, as the grazers struggled to sustain themselves. I felt this particularly acutely on one bushwalk, when we were were surprised by advancing elephants and a furious hippo.
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 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.

9 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Brian Jackman –

UK

Visited: Multiple times

Brian is an award winning travel writer, author of safari books and regular contributor to magazines such as BBC Wildlife and Travel Africa.

6 people found this review helpful.

Boots-on time in big game country

Overall rating

5/5

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South Luangwa sums up everything that is great about Zambia. With at least 500 lions and more than 700 leopards the game viewing is terrific, the birding is brilliant and the guiding is second to none. Robin Pope and Phil Berry set the benchmark, having learned their trade with the late Norman Carr, the legendary game warden who pioneered walking safaris here back in the 1970s. Today there is nowhere better to experience Africa on foot as you stroll through the park’s shady ebony glades or tiptoe through the towering “adrenaline grass” in search of elephant, lion and buffalo. As for the birds I can think of few sights to match the carmine bee-eater colonies that nest in the banks of the Luangwa River, flying up as you pass by and then settling again like a shower of falling rose petals. The river, of course, is the park’s lifeblood. Meandering through the valley from end to end between its wooded banks and oxbow lagoons, it provides permanent water for the game and idyllic settings 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.

6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Christopher Clark –

UK

Visited: June

Christopher is a British travel writer and has contributed to various Fodor's guidebooks and a range of travel magazines.

4 people found this review helpful.

The Valley of the Leopard

Overall rating

5/5

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When I first visited South Luangwa in 2014, I immediately knew I would have to come back when we spotted a male leopard lounging in a sausage tree by the river’s edge just minutes after entering the park without another car in sight. This would become an almost daily occurrence over the subsequent days. Among other numerous highlights of that trip was watching a large pride of lions with cubs fighting off an onslaught of spotted hyena and vultures from a recent kill.

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 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.

4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Expert

Stephen Cunliffe –

ZA

Visited: Multiple times

Stephen is a travel writer and avid conservationist whose work appears in prestigious magazines such as Africa Geographic and Travel Africa.

2 people found this review helpful.

Jewel in the Crown

Overall rating

5/5

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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.

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