South Luangwa is often named as one of Africa’s best national park combining fantastic wildlife experiences and top quality guiding. South Luangwa is all about exploring the bush on foot. The famous walking safaris originated here and it is possibly Africa’s finest walking destination.
Exploring the bush on foot is an especially interesting tranquil way to discover the small hidden treasures of this wildlife haven.
The Luangwa River with its distinctive ox-bow lagoons is said to have one of the most intense concentration of hippos and crocodiles in Africa. At night you will silently fall asleep with their snorts and grunts.
South Luangwa National park is home to over 60 mammal species and 400 birds. It has three endemic species, the beautiful Thornicroft giraffe with a more striking coloration than giraffes in the rests of Southern Africa, Cookson’s wildebeest that is slightly more reddish and the Crawshay’s Zebra, a subspecies of the plains Zebra, lacking the shadow stripes between the black stripes.
At 4750 square kilometres, Lower Zambezi National Park is a comparatively new addition to the crown of attractions available in Zambia. What a jewel it is at the heart of a very important conservation area which also includes Mana Pools National Park across the river in Zimbabwe and several substantial game management areas. Flying in low over the Escarpment is just start of your adventure into this amazing corner of the world.
The scenery in Lower Zambezi is magnificent, centred on the mighty Zambezi River, whose meandering waters are responsible for depositing the unusually rich soils that line the river, creating broad grassy floodplains and impressive stands of open mahogany and ebony forests. Your first Glimpse of this valley will leave you in awe of this majestic river and its surroundings.
The ever constant and reassuring Zambezi Escarpment rises a short distance from the river creates a majestic backdrop for this hidden world and forms a natural barrier for the wildlife of the Lower Zambezi National park
The area contains excellent densities of wildlife, notably elephants, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, hippos and crocodiles. There are also good chances for interaction with wild-dogs.
From a safari perspective, the most outstanding aspect of this area is the very wide range of activities on offer, including vehicle safari, night vehicle safari, walking safari, motorboat safari and canoe safari. Viewing elephants, hippos, crocodiles and other animals from the water is a particular highlight.
The national park itself is home a handful of exceptionally good safari camps, whilst the Game Management Area to the west contains a much larger number of lodges offering lower rates than the camps inside the National Park.
The area is also greatly advantaged by the fact that most of the camps here are privately owned and operated. It is one of those places where you actually get to meet the people involved, benefit from their experience and share their passion.
