​User Reviews – South Luangwa NP

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 21-30 of 61 Reviews
Jaka Visited: August 2007 Reviewed: Apr 24, 2012

One of the most unique experience.
Overall rating
5/5

The wildlife was magnificant. We've seen all of the big animals, except for the Rhino (obviously:( ). Lodging was also fantastic and a hippo joined us at the breakfast once, until he was spooked away by one of the guards.
The guide was alright, knew the wildlife just fine, but his driving skills were quite bad. We got stuck in the pile of sand, and he literally had no knowledge how to use the winch... The jeep was also very old and got broken down quite a few times.

hemrin2000   –  
United States US
Visited: December 2002 Reviewed: Apr 24, 2012

20-35 years of age

Absolutely amazing
Overall rating
5/5

My wife and I stayed at Mfuwe Lodge in South Luangwa National park. There wasn't a brick building in sight except for the airport. It was a little pricey but worth every cent. We saw the big five including a leopard. Our guide was very well educated and spoke fluent english. We took off for the morning safari after breakfast. The weather was beautiful. The sky looks so blue and the sunsets are a vivid orange. The night sky is light up with stars. We saw hippos bathing, a lion had just made a fresh kill and there were a few other lions from the pride hanging out there. The open four wheeler (toyota land cruiser of sorts) was fun to ride in with ups and down in the dirt road.

After we got back to the lodge, we had lunch. We are vegetarians and had informed the lodge of our meal preference up front. We rested a bit in the afternoon in the lodge. We went out again for an evening safari where we saw a leopard that was trailing a herd of impalas. We slowly followed it for about 45mins as it was inching closer and closer to one implala it had singled out. Unfortunately, it was getting very dark and we decided to head back.

Overall, a very good experience. Would definitely go again.

Robin Wood   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: October 1997 Reviewed: May 2, 2012

Email Robin Wood  |  35-50 years of age

At that time the park was more exciting and less touristic than other parks in south and east Africa
Overall rating
5/5

The wildlife was abundant but it was the variety of tours that made the South Luangwa days outstanding. We went on ordinary day safaris, night safaris and hiking safaris. The old Landcruiser without doors and roof was an extra thrill booster. The guide Jason knew where to find the animals and also managed to avoid too close encounters while walking. Extremely exciting experience. Highly recomended!

inikep Visited: December 2011 Reviewed: May 10, 2012

Visit to South Luangwa National Park is a must if you want to experience real Zambia.
Overall rating
4/5

South Luangwa National Park is definitely a very rewarding destination. You have the best chances of seeing leopard there. We've seen hunting leopard twice during amazing night drives. Chances of seeing other animals from BIG 5 are also very good (with the exception of rhino). But there is something for everyone: lovely hippos bathing in Luangwa River, lots of bird for birdlovers and fantastic food and accomodation for all budgets and tastes.

Ricardo Coelho Visited: May 2010 Reviewed: Jun 17, 2012

Was the amazing place I've seen in my life!!!
Overall rating
4/5

The South Luangwa National Park is a place that you can see few animals... an exuberant fauna and an excellent infrastructure.

Lushine   –  
United States US
Visited: August 2010 Reviewed: Aug 9, 2012

35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Overall rating
4/5

Very good game viewing, travel destination and amenities. There may be more scenic areas in Southern Africa, but South Luangwa is huge so everything is there - may just take a little more effort on the part of your guide to find everything.

SafariGirl   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2011 Reviewed: Apr 4, 2013

Email SafariGirl  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Overall rating
5/5

Incredible wildlife in dense areas

Meg   –  
Australia AU
Visited: August 2014 Reviewed: Aug 23, 2014

50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Shenton Safaris in South Luangwa (Kaingo and Mwamba Camps) a must-do.
Overall rating
5/5

We have just come back from the most amazing holiday in South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi. We stayed with the Shenton owned small exclusive safari camps Kaingo Camp and Mwamba Camp in South Luangwa. We absolutely loved both camps. The wonderful staff and guides at both camps were amazing, the food absolutely delicious and the accommodation very good. I am dreaming of our return.

Achim Visited: September 2014 Reviewed: Apr 8, 2015

A rough diamond of safari destinations
Overall rating
5/5

South Luangwa N.P. was the most developed destination of our Zambia Safari and we had our best sightings of wildlife there. Compared to the other parks, it was easy to get around (e.g. roadsigns, maps, good roads ). And even if a lot of lodges are near to the gates, it wasn't as crowded as other famous national parks in Kenia or Tanzania.
We had a great - but hot -time there, meeting nice people and enjoing the comfort of beautifully situated lodges.

Jean Rogers Visited: March 2014 Reviewed: Apr 30, 2015

A really wild and wonderful experience.
Overall rating
4/5

We arrived in an overland truck and made it through the muddy road into Wildlife camp on the banks of the luangwa River. Wildlife camp truly lived up to it's name. There were hippos and crocodiles in the river in front of our comfortable hut and elephants, mongoose, monkeys, squirrel, and Impala roamed the grounds. I was pleased to view the abundant bird life around camp and on safari, even seeing a Giant Eagle Owl during spotlighting one night.
There had been some rain so the park was partly flooded, which made it harder for the safari guide to get us around, and the vegetation was thick so it was more difficult to spot animals, but we saw lions, giraffe, Impala, and such. Some of our group saw leopard. The safari guides didn't have radios to communicate sightings so we saw less than in other parks like the Mara where they share information freely between safari groups.
The lush green scenery around the park is beautiful. The pool is refreshing and though it didn't look a nice colour, no one got sick from swimming in it. The only negative was some of our party had money stolen out of their huts when away on safari.
I would definitely recommend this park for its wildlife experience and peaceful setting.

Average User Rating

  • 4.8/5
  • Wildlife
  • Scenery
  • Bush Vibe
  • Birding

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star 52
  • 4 star 8
  • 3 star 1
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 0
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