8-Day Fly-In Zambia Highlights Safari

We leave camp at 0600 after a light early breakfast of toast, cereal, yoghurt, tea and coffee from 0530. We do our safaris in open game viewers so that guests have an all round view of the birds, trees, wildlife and beauty of the Park.

Midway through the drive there is a tea/cold drink stop so guests can stretch their legs before carrying on, looking for new sightings, or following alarm calls to a predator or a kill.

Morning game drives usually return to camp at around 1000 depending on the season.

We leave camp at 3.30pm for our afternoon safaris, after tea in the courtyard. The safaris head out again after the heat of the day, when animals and birds start to get active again after the midday stupor! Your safari guide will aim to stop at a scenic spot just before sundown, so you can enjoy an infamous African Sundowner! Once the sun has set, you will continue on with a spotlight, operated by your spotter, who looks for interesting nocturnal creatures that you are unlikely to see during daylight hours. There is a chance to see nocturnal birds like night-jars, owls and bathawks as well as nocturnal mammals such as honeybadgers, civet, genet, porcupine, leopard and hyaena.

Afternoon drives return to camp at around 7.30pm depending on what you are seeing but the National Park's gate closes at 8pm.

Credit: Dana Allan

Credit: Paul Tiller

Credit: Paul Tiller

Credit: Paul Tiller

Credit: Paul Tiller

Credit: Paul Tiller

Sundowner Credit: Stevie Mann

Family game drive Credit: Rubin family

Game drive Credit: Valentin Lavis

Game drive elephant crossing Credit: Stevie Mann

Game drive with leopard Credit: Valentin Lavis

Kennedy explaining bones Credit: Valentin Lavis

Tea & Coffee break on morning drive Credit: Stevie Mann

Morning game drive Credit: Stevie Mann

The South Luangwa is renowned as the "home of walking safaris", this is where Norman Carr first offered the idea of visitors exploring the Park on foot rather than by vehicle, escaping the noise of the engine and experiencing the thrill and excitement of being at one with the wildlife and habitat at a slower pace. Our safari guides will explain the smaller details of the bush which you can see, hear and smell when on foot, from bird calls to alarm calls to trees and plants which have medicinal uses and tracks of the wild, so you can interpret what you are seeing and hearing with more clarity. Walking is usually enjoyed in the mornings when the temperatures are cooler, but can be enjoyed through the year for longer periods during cooler months. Each walk is usually 3-4 hours long at a gentle pace.

Walking with bull Credit: Dana Allen

Walking safari with giraffe Credit: Dana Allen

Walking safari with elephant Credit: Dana Allen

Unlike many "Traditional Village" projects, Chundu Village is really a living working African village where the local residents have agreed amongst themselves to invite visitors to show them their lives. They then use the money raised by visitors & donations to help the disadvantaged and for their co-operative farming programmes. During the visit, guests can see and help villagers preparing maize for meals, collecting water and visiting their nearby school if lessons are not in progress. The day trip including a local style lunch costs $40 per person. Transfers to the village cost US$75 per vehicle for day trips. Overnight stays at Chundu village are also possible, for a more in-depth experience, meeting the villagers and spending the night in a traditional local hut. Overnight stays cost $80 per person per night including all meals (entirely authentic local dishes – you eat what the villagers eat). Transfers for an overnight stay cost $75 per vehicle each way. If the village visit is chosen to be done instead of either a morning or an afternoon game drive, then there is no extra charge for the transfers for groups or four or more.

A trypical Chundu visit Credit: Kerry McFarlane

Can you do this? Credit: Kerry McFarlane

Traditional huts Credit: Kerry McFarlane

One of the guest huts at Chundu village Credit: Kerry McFarlane

Kids in the village Credit: Kerry McFarlane

Ladies at the well Credit: Kerry McFarlane

A planting we go! Credit: Kerry McFarlane

Driving safaris are all conducted in open 4X4 vehicles (Land Cruiser or Land Rover) with either two or three 'rows' of seats. We generally have 4, with no more than 6, people on a vehicle ensuring everyone has a 'window' seat.

Night drives are generally an extension of your afternoon game drive, canoe or walking safari. As the sun begins to set we stop to watch the day come to a close and as dusk falls set off to explore as the nocturnal animals start to emerge.

The best chance of seeing genets, civets, elephant shrew, porcupine and the fierce honey-badger is after sunset and the large predators, with the exception of wild dog, are most active at night. Night time birding can be very rewarding with nightjars, owls great and small, dikkop, bat hawk and coursers are all abundant.

The Africa night sky is simply magnificent and it’s worth coming all this way just to experience its vastness and splendour. The Milky Way seems 100 times brighter in the Luangwa Valley where there is no light pollution. We’re watched over by the Southern Cross, Orion and Scorpio amongst an infinite number of others and memories of sitting in awed silence listening to the distant call of lions, cicadas and a million tree frogs under the crescent of an African moon will live with you forever.

There is little to compare to the thrill of a walking safari, and we are fortunate to have some of the best terrain for exploring on foot in the Lower Zambezi valley right on our doorstep. Walking is the only way you really become intimate with Africa, learning about the small, seemingly irrelevant plants and animals which are often overlooked on a game drive.

We walk accompanied by an armed scout, and your safari guide will show you an amazing secret world of tiny wonders as he leads you slowly through the bush along ancient animal pathways, examining plants, trees and insects along the way.

One of the most leisurely ways to experience the sights and sounds of the Lower Zambezi valley is on a canoe safari. Our canoes seat two guests and a guide in comfort, with ample room for cameras and binoculars.

Canoeing offers you a completely different perspective as you glide gently along either the Zambezi and its beautiful channels or the Chongwe River, allowing you to fully appreciate the magical beauty of this incredible area and the creatures and plants that inhabit it.

It truly is a special experience for the nature lover using only the safest of routes where previous canoeing experience is not necessary, and lifejackets are provided. All you need to do is sit back, relax and watch Africa slip by!

Chongwe is tiger country! The Lower Zambezi is home to the tiger fish, nicknamed the “water dog,” whose sharp teeth are matched only by its fighting spirit and reputation as one of the world’s top game fish.

At Time + Tide Chongwe Camp we offer our guests the chance to head out onto the river in search of this formidable combatant, operating a strict catch-and-release policy in order to preserve stocks of this incredible fish. You can fish with both fly and popper.

Alternatively, you can try your hand at bream fishing on the river itself, where a limited catch can be brought back to camp and served up with a delicious lemon butter sauce!

Fishing can be combined with game activities and all equipment is provided, with both conventional tackle and entry level fly rods available. We recommend serious fly fisherman should bring their own tackle. Please contact us for specifications and recommendations.

The Zambezi River offers a variety of additional activities that few, if any, other destinations can offer. One such activity is a river safari which offers both morning and afternoon opportunities to view game from the comfort of a luxury boat.

Sit back and relax as your guide leisurely navigates the islands and main channels of the mighty Zambezi. Cruise the river looking at game, birds and enjoy some of the most spectacular sunsets you are ever likely to see. All without the bumps and dust of game drives.

Morning coffee or evening sundowners can be enjoyed from either the boat or from your own island in the middle of the Zambezi River!

A microlight flight over the Victoria Falls is a must for everyone. Flight options include a 15 minute

introductory flight over the Victoria Falls and Zambezi River - with genuine bird’s eye view of this

awesome spectacle. The 30 minute trip includes a flight over the Victoria Falls, then upstream over

Long Island, Palm Island, Kakunka and Kandahar Islands and finally onto the Mosi-oa-Tunya National

Park, where you’ll achieve a unique perspective of our famous park.

The most awesome perspective to see the Victoria Falls from the bottom of the gorge. Swimming in the rock pools below the Falls, surrounded by the massive black basaltic rock towering up above you and the water cascading down, seemingly out of the sky, is certainly one of the most breathtaking experiences you will ever have. This activity is a perfect combination with white water rafting: swim under the Victoria Falls before you hop in the raft and experience the thrill of ‘rafting at its best’.

The Zambezi River below the Victoria Falls is widely considered to be the very best rafting river in the world. A deep channelled, high volume river, the Zambezi has class 3-5 rapids interspersed with tranquil pools. This enables you to marvel at the magnificent beauty of the Batoka Gorge between some of the most exciting and challenging rapids rafted anywhere on the planet. Highly

professional guides ensure your safety and enjoyment of this amazing adventure.

The ultimate safari experience is a day-trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana, which boasts the world’s largest elephant population. The game cruise on the Chobe River brings you close to brilliant bird life, pods of watering hippos, primeval crocodiles and elephants, breathtaking in their sheer number. The afternoon’s land-based safari heads deeper into the Park to spot the elusive big cats that make Chobe their home.

A daring highlight of visiting Zambia is swimming in Devil’s Pool. This uniquely located plunge pool resides right on the edge of Victoria Falls, where the waterfall’s thundering cascade plummets 350-feet down, providing a pulse-racing dip. The pool is also special in that it can only be visited between mid-August and mid-January, before the summer rains swell the Zambezi River. Afterwards, the pool remains hidden under the river’s pounding flow.

The Zambezi - river of dreams and romance, evoking images of the

great era of adventure and exploration. Wild and captivating, the Zambezi beats to a rhythm and a time that is fast disappearing. The clear waters of the river and the game reserves that surround

it, attract herds of elephant, buffalo, several species of antelope,

giraffe, zebra, lion and leopard. You will negotiate small but exciting rapids, canoe through narrow channels and drift down open stretches. No previous canoeing experience necessary.

The African Queen and the African Princess are berthed just upstream of The Victoria Falls. Fully inclusive morning, lunch and sunset cruises are offered daily, treating passengers to sophisticated

views of the Zambezi River and the surrounding game reserves.

The Royal Livingstone Express ‘time travels’ back in history using beautiful steam locomotives and carriages lovingly restored by Bushtracks Africa and Rovos Rail. In this magnificent, romantic, steam-powered train we offer ‘The Dinner Excursion’ which includes a run along the “Cape to Cairo” mainline, which will then go on to the Victoria Falls Bridge in time for sunset. Don’t miss this unique chance of experiencing the sights and sounds of Zambia

Enjoy a once in a lifetime helicopter ride and watch from above as the mighty Zambezi River carves its way through the steep cliffs of the Batoka Gorge and transforms from a gentle and serene river into the rampant Victoria Falls that descend 120metres to the floor of the valley.