The "real" Africa experience
Having visited Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda, Namibia and South Africa, my favorite safari country is Zambia. Specially (North) Kafue and North Luangwa.
The scenery of the Busanga plains is exceptional, and for the rest Kafue will always surprise you with better and more thrilling game sighting while you are alone. So much unlike Tanzania and Kenya where every big cat cannot move without 20 safari vehicles on its tail.
North Luangwa is great for day long bushwalks, encountering the big 5 on foot. A vast space with *no* other man around for many, many miles. If you start to think what might happen if you break a bone on a long walk, far, far away from any help and infrastructure, North Luangwa is not for you.
If you like to encounter lions, stand in between 200 buffalos when you stepped out of the tall grass, this is the place to go.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A beautiful, friendly place where simple things are loved and appreciated
We had a wonderful weekend trip from Malawi to South Luangwa. Our camp was set up on the banks of the South Luangwa river, where we could watch the hippos and crocodiles. The hospitality and our guides were excellent, and South Luangwa park is enormous so there was much to see. We were so fortunate to see many lions, including a mother and five adorable and active cubs who just played all around our vehicle! I will never forget waking up in the middle of the night to the sound "chomping" from outside my window, and peering out to see a gigantic hippo eating grass right in front of my window! There were several other hippos walking around the grounds as well, the natural lawn-mowers of South Luangwa! Later, still in the early morning, as they called us for breakfast while it was still dark, we could hear rustling trees and one of the staff trying to chase the elephants off the grounds who were blocking the walking path! All in all an unforgetable experience!
Zambia is fabulous - wonderful scenery, wildlife and, generally the people.
Everything was as good as I expected when I lived there - only better. Saw stacks of wildilfe in the Kafue National Park/Lower Zambezi National Park, with the attendant prolific birdlife. The weather in Zambia is superb in September - warm, sunny, cloudless days and hot - but not the hottest months [October/November] aren't for the faint hearted as it gets VERY hot, particularly in the Zambezi Valley.
We drove around ourselves and found that generally the roads were good and have improved since I left home in 2001.
There has been much investment in the country; the bush camps are 'wild', not like the very 'touristey' operations in Kenya where if something unusual is spotted within 5 minutes suddenly 40 vehicles arrive. The camps are rustic, homely, comfortable and offer good food, ambience and second to none safari guides.
Thoroughly recommended!
Unlike any place on Earth
We stayed at Sussi and Chuma on the Zambezi River. We didn't care about visiting the falls, but we did go boating on the river each day, late in the afternoon, early evening. We went to see animals in the reserve earlier in the day on land with a guide.
While the animals in the reserve were amazing, the scenes on the river were unimaginable. We saw massive crocodiles and hippos everywhere. We saw animals on the banks of Zimbabwe although we did not visit Zimbabwe. Only after we returned home did we realize how dangerous our adventures had been.
A hippo had been hit on the road that ran through the reserve one night. The locals used it to feed the poor. While on the river one evening, we saw the carcass lowered down to the crocs on the banks. It was something you could never imagine seeing and put life in America into sharp perspective.
