Zambia Travel Guide

Fortunately not too popular yet. We were two of very few tourists in amazing and beautiful places.

We went during the green season, at the end of the rainy season. Lovely weather, very few tourists, a lot of wildlife easy to spot if you are with an experienced guide. Unfortunately some roads were still flooded and closed, but it didnt impact hugely our plans. We visited Kafue National Park (highly recommend Nanzhila Lodge) and Livingstone. It was perfect!

Wild and natural- an untamed destination

Enjoyed my safari to south luangwe national park and the booking went really smoothly. Your company, Ntanda tours, who offered the itinerary and safari bookings were really communicative and I got fast and helpful responses. Would use safari bookings again to find possible tours and itineraries.

Under rated.

We booked to a part of Zambia that we were not familiar with. South Lawanga, not hard to get to but not all that easy, which made it perfect for us. We did not want the over touristing that can occur in some parks. The Thornicroft Lodge was perfect. Very comfortable, food was exceptional and the expert management was reflected in the entire experience. Game drives were always fun, and sometimes quite exciting. Due to the lower volume, animal sightings were often not overrun with other vehicles, and the game was quite plentiful. One person who insured our trip exceeded expectations was Elina Phiri, who manages the lodge. She insured that all went smoothly, from game drives to making sure we were where we supposed to be on time. I would highly recommend this excursion to anyone.

Vibrant, welcoming people

Superb stay at Wild dogs in Lusaka and crocodile camp in south Luangwa (mufwe).
Helpful and welcoming at all times, bush drives all good and couldn't fault.

Relaxing destination providing the opportunity to be thrilled by wildlife

Zambian people are very friendly and polite with general living standards above the African average, helping the tourist feel relaxed and safe.
Victoria waterfalls are truly a great wonder of nature and the various natural parks offer wildlife encounters depending on the season and location.

nice people nice scenic and wildlife

We travelled with Zamsato and everything was well organised.
The river safaris on the Zambezi are spectacular as well as the canoe trips.
The game drives on the lower Zambezi are a bit long but with lush vegetation.
The connection to South Luangwa was very well organised by plane and airplane.
game drive safaris and walking safaris in luangwa very good with less people than in other countries.
The lodges are generally very good with international cuisine and very friendly staff.

Experience the trie wildness of Africa

Although a rough time for Zambia due to the drought and rolling blackouts in Lusaka we did fine. The nicer restaurants and malls had generators.
Mufue Lodge the Safari camp we went to was amazing. Staff and service incredible as well as amazing wildlife sittings all over. We especially appreciated the work that both lodges we went to do for their respective communities. People are peaceful and respectful and seem happy you are there. As with many growing nations their internal political processes are hard to understand from an American standpoint.
The highlights were the two safaris we went on and we’re not disappointed with anything

Some of the best game-veiwing in the world and some of the most amazing lodges

Having visited North and South Luangwa parks several times I can say that they are some of my favourites in south and east Africa.

The north and the south have very different characters and are run very differently. The south has more accommodation options and a greater network of trails and is more vistited but has such an incredible diversity of habitat that it doesn't seem over-developed. There is so much to see that guides don't rush their clients around. The place teems with life and the diversity of species is fantastic. The variety of accommodation provides a variety of prices and most people should find something to suit them.

The north is a much more exclusive place with just three camps within the park. There is a limited network of roads and all the camps specialise in walking safaris. The park is truly wild and exploring it on foot literally brings you face to face with that. Staying in one these places is not just staying in a game park but more case of being part of it. The sights, sounds and smells of the park are unsullied. The stars and the animal chorus at night are sublime. However, with this awsome experience comes an awesome pricetag. If you do manage to do it, though, you will never forget it.

Just writing this review has made me want to go back.

A Valley lost in Time

The Luangwa Valley in south-eastern Zambia is all but lost when talking about the most popular tourist destinations in Africa. Few people outside of Safari enthusiasts and back-packing adventurers had ever visited the place before the late 1990's, and in that fact lies it wonders and its charm. The valley is small by African standards being only 482 km long and 120 km at its widest point. It is situated at the southern tip of one of the spurs of the Great African Rift.

In places where the rift formed land on both sides began to slump. Just such a depression formed the Luangwa Valley and isolated it from the outside world by means of steep hills and daunting cliffs. For centuries its very inaccessibility guarded a vast wilderness where wild animals thrived and few people visited.

The Luangwa Valley is one of the few really wild places left in Africa. It has high concentrations, and a wide variety of wild animals.

If you have ever wanted to visit a wild and wondrous place that you thought no longer existed, go to the South Luangwa National Park. You will find it is an experience that you can connect with, in a deeper sense, and as with me, it will keep calling you back; back to a vast wilderness where today animals roam the land much like they did when our ancestors walked the earth.

I've traveled the world a lot, but still my experience did not prepare me for a place like this – a place where hippopotamus came up from the river at four in the morning to eat the sweet grass outside my bedroom window, a place where wild lions watched me watching them from only a few feet away, a place where there are no bars or restrictions, except common sense, between you and these totally wild animals. I was not only a guest of Norman Carr Safaris, but of this truly remarkable place and its wildlife. I felt honored and privileged to be there. It was exhilarating to ride and walk among them as they continue to roam, with little or no fear of humans.

My first task was finding a safari outfit to which I was willing to entrust my life. This adventure would not be a concession ride, nor would it be a zoo. This, I was hoping, would be the real thing! As it turned out, I need not have worried. Most Safari operations in the area are small. Wholesale tourism has yet to invade this little corner of the world.

For me one operator, Norman Carr Safaris, stood out from all the rest. On its Web Site http://www.normancarrsafaris.com/ I read the history of how they got started and was impressed with Norman Carr’s philosophy and vision. Living in the valley most of his life he was appointed one of the areas first Game Rangers. He believed that there was a special appeal to walking the bush. Safari the Old Way was what it was called, and its success in the Luangwa Valley was due in no small part to the man who has been called "the father of the non-consumptive walking safari". Bush drives are great but you are only and "observer" of Nature. When you walk the bush (not some carefully selected path) you are a "participant" with Nature!

Eco-tourism is supposed to be a new concept, but Norman Carr was doing it more that 50 years ago. He strongly believed in sharing the profits of his enterprise directly with the indigenous peoples of the region, to help them become self-sustaining and provide an alternative to illegal poaching.

Norman Carr Safaris offer the variety of a luxury safari lodge and a selection of five authentic and wonderfully appointed bushcamps. All the guides are indiginous and a number of them, still there, were personally trained by Norman Carr himself.

The Luangwa Valley is a place where time, for time’s sake, is meaningless except to know when it was time to leave, and wishing you could stay just a little bit longer. It is said that if you ever find a place like this, you will always go back. I could not understand that statement or pull such a place exerts on something deep inside you, until I went there. I still don’t fully understand it but I can tell you it is there today, whispering in my ear, calling me back!

The first time I visited the Luangwa Valley was in March of 2007 during the birding season when the birds were displaying their colorful mating plumage. I went back in June of 2008, right before winter set in. Everything was still green and the animals were plentiful. I plan to return in 2012.

This was our second trip to Zambia (both to South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi)We love the Zambian people, the excellent wild life viewing, the walking safaris, the lack of vehicles (except around the Mfuwe area/gateway to park), and the excellent camps (Kaingo, Mwamba, Sausage Tree and Potato Bush Camps)