South Luangwa National Park

If Remote, Luxury & Lions are the some of criteria you seek, then South Luangwa has it in spades!

After being spoiled on safaris in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, where do you go to maintain that standard? Zambia we thought, South Luangwa, we'd not been there before, and it seemed sufficiently expensive and remote to get away from the safari crowds; we were not disappointed. Two beautiful lodges, South Kafunta and Lion Camp complimented by a real back to nature experience at Kafunta Bush Camp comprised our accommodation. When you've been woken in the dead of night by two hyenas communicating with each other, one across the river, the other just feet away at the bottom of the open steps to your stilted bedroom, you've had a real wildlife experience.

Breakfast at Bush Camp was taken on old camp chairs circled around the braai over which we toasted the most delicious home baked bread, then it was off on a walking safari to learn about all creatures great and small that make up the local ecosystem, and of course the evening walks always finished adjacent to a river, with a sundowner, mine's a G&T please. The other delight of this remote camp, apart from there only being six guests there, was Klaus, the elderly German camp manager. What a wealth of knowledge about all things Africa, could just sit and listen to him for hours, very entertaining.

Although I'm not a "Birder", I am a photographer and I was able to take many shots of my favourite bird, the Lilac Breasted Roller, such beautiful colours, and they do pose longer and allow you to get closer than some of the others, they are obviously the posers of the bird world, and don't they know it. On the other hand the Carmine Bee Eater, hundreds of them, just will not stay still, and I never managed to get any shots quite as good as those of the the Roller.

Plenty of elephants, some fairly docile, others quite aggressive, just hope your driver doesn't switch the engine off when they decide to come closer. Some of the most beautiful giraffe we had seen, large herds of buffalo, lots of antelope, especially Puku, and Kudu.

Then on to Lion Camp, about three hours drive through the park from Mfuwe, and as usual sitting in the jeep is like sitting behind a jet engine prior to take off, very hot air blasting through, hold on to your hat and make sure you have plenty of water. The reward for all this is an extremely remote camp in a beautiful corner of the park alongside the South Luangwa river, and of course the famous Hollywood pride. The pride was 19 strong when we visited, a dominant male, six or seven lionesses and numerous cubs from just a few months old to stroppy teenagers, always looking for trouble when the elders wanted to sleep. They are called the Hollywood pride because they have been featured in several wildlife films, and it was no different when we saw them, they were being filmed from afar by a seriously big camera outfit.

Five glorious days at Lion camp, being waited on hand and foot, served the most delicious food, along with a maximum of six other guests was heaven, well all except for one mega-opinionated retired US marine Colonel, just had to blank him out, tosser!

Game drives each morning and evening, each day concluded by the ubiquitous sundowner, with many sightings including one drive where we sat in the same riverbank position for two hours just watching the Hollywood pride resting and playing, and keeping their wary eyes on a group of five elderly buffalo; little did we know what awaited us the following morning, our last day and our last game drive.

Just two vehicles from Lion camp on an open plain looking for the first sighting of the day, and what a sighting, maybe a once in a lifetime sighting, the male and six lionesses chasing, catching and bringing down one of the elderly buffalo we had seen by the river the previous evening. If you haven't seen a kill before, or more to the point if you haven't heard a kill before, it's not easy viewing or listening, especially from a mere 20 metres away, for the hour it took the buffalo to succumb. In some parks there would have been dozens of jeeps homing in on such an event, here in South Luangwa, there was just the two vehicles from our camp, and the film crew, some mile away across the river.

We took a break and drove a safe distance for coffee and cake, and to look at the photos we had all taken. While we were doing this, the male and one of the lionesses strolled off across the river, and after a few rests along the way, brought all the cubs back for some grub, but woe betide they got in the way of the grown ups, if they did a swift thwack with a giant paw soon taught them some meal time etiquette.

We will never forget this spellbinding experience in South Luangwa National Park, shared with just the small number of friends we had made at Lion camp; the marine Colonel had left the previous day, such a shame!

Probably the most beutifull place I have been to.

There were many excellent sightings, beautifull landscapes, freedom of movement. It was no easy to get there by car, as we did, but I am sure there is other modes of travel

We went as a family with teenagers and they really enjoyed it as well. We camped and did not use the accomodation on offer, but it seemed good. We did a self drive excursion. No guides.

One night we did a night drive with guides, lots of animals, great knowlegeable guide.

Camping on the lUangwa river bend was definitely a highlight.

Wonderful park with lots of cats, elephants, and birds. Stay on the river at Track & Trail Lodge

Great park with heaps of animals. A brand new tar road leads from Chipata to Mfuwe which cuts down that drive time from 7hrs to 1-2hrs, but also increases the traffic in the park. Mfuwe airport is also an easy place to fly into on Pro-flight and many lodges offer pickup on the spot.

Park is known for it's cats. This park probably gives you the best chance of seeing lions and leopards. We drove into the park and immediately stumbled on 10 lions feeding on a carcass followed by a elderly leopard hunting. Birds are fantastic too, as always in Zambia. Lots of hippos, crocs and elephants. It can get crowded with safari vehicles in the busy season, but still enough lions to go around and the river at low water is beautiful.

Stay at one of the lodges on the river and you will not be disappointed -- I chose Track&Trail which was superb. I'm an avid photographer, but the owner is a real pro. Shooting with him, getting pointers, and most importantly having a photographer driving the vehicle made a HUGE difference. Elephants, hippos, and monkeys regularly walked through the camp. I packed my own food and camped on a platform at the lodge, but dinner at the lodge was great -- family style barbeque which was delicious and there was a great homemade aioli sauce.

I've also heard there are some great lodges in this area if you have small children. Ask the lodge if they have babysitting or nanny services.

Great for leopards, saw wild dogs, lions, very nice lodge

We stayed at Flat Dogs Camp just across the river from the Park for 5 nights. That is a lovely facility with great food. The elephants wander freely by the hatched-roof "tents". sometimes snacking on them. It was the dry season so most of the wildlife was crowded near the river which meant lots of wildlife sightings, but also quite a few other vehicles. Our drives away from the river had far fewer vehicles and found wild dogs, and other good wildlife. One nice feature is the park allows night drives (until 8pm) which were not allowed in Botswana parks. We greatly enjoyed seeing the nocturnal animals. The weather was warm but not too hot, there were almost no bugs. Everyone in our group of 7 had a great time there and highly recommend it.

A rough diamond of safari destinations

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.

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

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.

Incredible wildlife in dense areas

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

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!

One of the most unique experience.

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.

The South Luangwa River attracts heaps of animals, and one can camp just outside the park, on the banks of the river. It is my ideal safari experience, to be immersed IN the wilderness. No need to drive all day. Just live in the outdoors and be an organic member of it all.