Zambia: South Luangwa National Park
🌍 Zambia: South Luangwa National Park
South Luangwa National Park sits in the south-east of Zambia, cradled in a wide rift valley that forms part of the East African Rift System — one of the great geological features of the planet, stretching some 6,000 kilometres from the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia all the way down to Mozambique. To the west, the park is bounded by the dramatic Muchinga Escarpment, an ancient geological uplift that rises steeply to over 1,800 metres above sea level, creating a stark and spectacular natural backdrop. To the east runs the Luangwa River itself — widely regarded by ecologists and conservation biologists as the most intact major river system on the African continent. It is the lifeblood of the entire valley, drawing wildlife from hundreds of kilometres around, and its oxbow lagoons, formed as the river gradually shifts course over centuries, create some of the most extraordinary wildlife-viewing habitats anywhere in Africa. The park is, quite simply, one of the great wild places left on earth, and we had been wanting to get there for a very long time.
🚗 The Great Border Adventure: Getting There from Malawi
South Luangwa was high on our list of places to visit in Zambia, and it is located in the south-eastern corner of the country. The park is not exactly around the corner from anywhere particularly convenient, it has to be said. From Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city — a bustling, chaotic place of around three million people, which only became the capital when the country gained independence from Britain in October 1964 — it is a punishing twelve-hour drive on roads that have seen better days, many of which have seen considerably better days. Flying into Mfuwe Airport, the small airstrip that serves the park, is certainly an option, but the fares on the bush plane services that operate there are eye-wateringly expensive. After a fair bit of deliberation, we decided the most sensible and practical option was to drive across from Malawi, where we had already been travelling. We had sorted things out with the Avis office in Lilongwe — Malawi’s capital, a relatively compact and leafy city of around a million people, built at an elevation of over 1,000 metres — to take the rental car across the border into Zambia. To their credit, they were helpful and organised a bundle of paperwork for us, which included an Interpol clearance report to confirm the vehicle wasn’t nicked, a formal letter from Avis Malawi granting permission to take the car into Zambia, and a copy of the vehicle logbook. We hoped this would be enough. Spoiler: it mostly was, but not without considerable drama.
🛂 The Mchinji Border Post: Organised Chaos at Its Finest
The drive to the Mchinji border post from Lilongwe took about 90 minutes, heading west through the flat, fertile plains of central Malawi. The Mchinji crossing is one of the main overland entry points between Malawi and Zambia, and it has been in operation since the colonial era. The town of Mchinji itself is named after the local Chewa people’s word meaning ‘boundary’, which is rather apt. What greeted us at the border post was, to put it diplomatically, organised chaos — and I am being generous with the word ‘organised’. We had barely stepped out of the car before we were descended upon by a cheerful and extremely persistent swarm of people offering to sell us SIM cards, exchange our money, and help us with forms, and goodness knows what else. It was like stepping into the world’s most enthusiastic sales conference. We eventually managed to thin the herd somewhat, though two or three optimistic souls continued to trail us with the determination of a London bus driver who has spotted a fare. They promised us a ‘one-stop’ service — which, as anyone who has done border crossings in sub-Saharan Africa will know, is rather like being promised a quiet Friday afternoon in a government office. The reality was considerably more involved. Immigration itself was the easy bit — passports stamped, done, lovely. Then came the vehicle formalities. It seems the cross-border trafficking of stolen cars is a significant issue in the region, and quite rightly, the authorities take it seriously. Out came one of those enormous ledger books that we had encountered right across Africa — a physical relic, we suspected, of British colonial administrative practice, which demanded that everything be recorded in triplicate in large handwritten registers. Into the book went all of our details and everything about the car, right down to the chassis number, gross weight and engine size. Then an officer handed us a form to fill in with exactly the same information, this time requiring us to estimate the vehicle’s value. We hadn’t the faintest idea what a rental car was worth in Malawi. We made a number up. We handed the completed form over, the officer disappeared with it, typed things into a computer at her own unhurried pace, and then sent us across to the cashier to pay 20,000 Malawian kwachas — the equivalent of a few dollars, but an important bureaucratic box to tick nonetheless. We collected our receipt, returned to the officer, who disappeared again, performed what we can only describe as some form of digital jiggery-pokery on her computer, and returned with a stamped form. This entire process took approximately one hour. One hour! For paperwork about a car.
🦠 Welcome to Zambia: Vaccines, QR Codes and Common Sense
We were finally free to leave Malawi — which meant driving a hundred yards down the road to the Zambian immigration post. Our three determined new friends accompanied us, one of whom had genuinely been quite helpful in shepherding us through the Malawian paperwork. Before anything else, we had to pass through the health checkpoint, which in early 2022 meant presenting our Covid-19 vaccination records. This was the tail end of the period when border crossings across southern Africa still required proof of vaccination, a requirement introduced during the pandemic that had swept the globe from early 2020. There was a bit of a kafuffle over our CDC vaccination record cards — the American Centres for Disease Control format that we had been given in the United States — because the Zambian official insisted we needed something with a barcode on it. As it happened, I had registered on the African CDC’s digital platform, which had issued us with a QR code certificate. This satisfied her, though I will note, for the record, that she never actually scanned the QR code, nor did she check our passports to verify that the vaccination record matched our identities. What the heck, as they say. From there, our helpful companions guided us into another building where our visas were authenticated and our passports received their Zambian entry stamps.
📋 More Forms, More Books, More Rubber Stamps
So far, so good — or at least, so tolerable. The next hurdle was getting the rental car approved for importation into Zambia, which involved yet more of those enormous handwritten ledger books and yet more forms to complete with identical information. It seemed to take forever — and we use the word ‘forever’ advisedly, having now spent many happy hours filling in forms at African border crossings. Once the vehicle importation paperwork was done, we discovered we also needed to obtain Zambian car insurance and pay the carbon tax, a levy introduced by Zambia as part of its environmental and road-use charging framework. This is where things took an entertaining turn. The most helpful of the men who had been assisting us throughout this entire process revealed himself to be, in fact, an insurance salesman. One has to admire the business model — position yourself at a border crossing where every foreign driver needs insurance and simply wait. He guided us into a small office to handle the necessary paperwork, accompanied by the other two men, who turned out to be currency changers. The total cost for insurance and carbon tax came to 68 US dollars, but it had to be paid in Zambian kwacha. There was an ATM at the crossing, but we were told it was not working. Whether this was strictly true, we cannot say with certainty — under normal circumstances we would have investigated further, but by this point we were so thoroughly worn down by the entire process that we simply handed over some US dollars to the money changers, almost certainly at a thoroughly unfavourable exchange rate, collected our kwacha, and paid our fees. Our insurance friend then stuck a fresh insurance sticker on the windscreen and we assumed that was that. It was not.
📄 The Missing Logbook Stamp: One Final Hurdle
We still had to complete the vehicle immigration process on the Zambian side, which required queuing to see yet another official whose precise role in the administrative hierarchy was not entirely clear to us. Our insurance man paid the carbon tax on our behalf, at which point this official examined our paperwork and announced there was a problem. The rental car’s logbook copy was not stamped and signed by the rental company — something that any reputable rental company operating vehicles across southern African borders absolutely should have done, but apparently Avis Malawi had overlooked. This meant we had to walk back across to the Malawian side of the border, to the makeshift police station that operated there. Our insurance friend seemed to be on good terms with the officers — which, when you think about it, makes complete sense for someone who spends his working life at a border crossing. After a brief and convivial chat, a senior-looking officer took our logbook copy — and we hate letting official documents out of our hands, but what can you do — disappeared into a back office, and returned a few minutes later with it signed and stamped. Back we went to the Zambian side, found our agent still busy appearing to be occupied with his computer, and sat down in a waiting room that had, mercifully, a television showing an English Premier League match. There is always football on somewhere in Africa — it is one of the great constants of the continent, like the big ledger books and the form-filling. Eventually the agent got round to us, issued us a document for our return journey, and handed us a handwritten slip of paper to give to the man at the gate. Two and a half hours after we had first pulled up at the border, we were on the road in Zambia.
🏕️ Track and Trail River Camp: Our Home on the Luangwa
The rest of the drive was mercifully straightforward. We stopped en route to pick up a Zambian SIM card — a process that, with all the registration requirements introduced under Zambia’s telecommunications regulations, took about half an hour — and it was late afternoon by the time we pulled up at Track and Trail River Camp, which sits very close to the main entrance of South Luangwa National Park. The camp is owned and operated by renowned wildlife photographer Peter Geraerdts and his wife Kirsten Gottenkieny, who have built it into one of the finest small safari camps in the Luangwa Valley. They were there to greet us on arrival and showed us around our bungalow, which looked out directly over the Luangwa River. It was, frankly, spectacular. The bungalow was enormous — easily the largest accommodation we had stayed in since leaving the UK — with a huge bed, a comfortable sitting area, and a bathroom of generous proportions featuring a massive walk-in shower and a free-standing clawfoot bath. As well as being spacious, it was beautifully and thoughtfully decorated, with unique furnishings and wall ornaments, mostly interesting pieces of naturally shaped wood hung on the walls in an arrangement that sounds rather more rustic than it actually was — it looked genuinely lovely. The camp itself was a haven for wildlife even outside the park: during the day we spotted bushbucks, vervet monkeys, baboons, warthogs and guinea fowl wandering freely around the grounds, and elephants were known to visit regularly, requiring a degree of care when moving around. At night, hippos frequently roamed the camp, and guests were advised to be escorted by the night watchman after dark, which is not something you tend to get at your average Premier Inn.
🦛 Sundowners, Elephants and a Very Good Dinner
With no activities planned for that first evening, we had the chance to draw breath and relax properly for the first time in what felt like days. We headed down to dinner early to take advantage of the view of the sun setting over the Luangwa River, which was, as we quickly discovered, very well populated indeed with hippos and Nile crocodiles. The hippopotamus — Hippopotamus amphibius — is, despite its rather comical appearance, one of Africa’s most dangerous animals; responsible for more human fatalities on the continent than lions, leopards or any of the other animals people tend to worry about. The Nile crocodile, meanwhile, Crocodylus niloticus, is the largest freshwater predator in Africa, capable of reaching five metres in length and five hundred kilograms in weight. Knowing this, we sat at a very comfortable distance from the riverbank, enjoyed a cold beer, and watched the spectacle unfold. As we were sitting there, we noticed a group of elephants on the far bank. Two of the younger males — probably adolescents testing their strength in the way that young males of most species tend to do — got into a proper tussle, clashing tusks and shoving each other around with great enthusiasm. African bush elephants, Loxodonta africana, are the largest land animals on earth, with mature males reaching up to four metres at the shoulder and weighing up to seven tonnes, so watching even a pair of youngsters have a push-and-shove is an impressive sight. After a while, the rest of the herd came into view, and after a few minutes of grazing along the bank they crossed the river — which was wide but extremely shallow at this time of year, the dry season having reduced it considerably — with the younger calves virtually wading through it. Having thoroughly enjoyed our first wildlife fix, we settled down to dinner. What they served us that evening was absolutely incredible — and it was completely vegan, which suited us perfectly.
🌅 Dawn Game Drive: The Park in All Its Morning Glory
The next morning we were up very early indeed for the morning game drive. Sleep had been somewhat fragmented throughout the night — the hippos, which we had been watching so contentedly from the dining terrace the previous evening, sounded as though they had relocated themselves to directly outside our bedroom window. Hippos are remarkably vocal animals; they communicate through a series of deep rumbles, honks, grunts and bellows that carry enormous distances across water and open ground, and when you are lying in the dark at 3 am, these sounds can be rather dramatic. We threw on our clothes — coats and hats included, because morning game drives in the Luangwa Valley in the dry season can be genuinely cold, with temperatures sometimes dropping to single figures before dawn — and were collected by the night watchman, who escorted us to the main lodge for a quick breakfast before heading out into the park. It was only a short distance from Track and Trail to the park entrance, and for the next three hours we made our way through what is, without any doubt, one of the prettiest game parks we had visited on our entire Africa tour. The landscape of South Luangwa is distinctive and quite unlike the flat, open savannahs that many people associate with African safari. There are a great number of tall, mature trees — leadwoods, ebonies and winter thorns among them — set in a landscape that, in the morning light, gives an almost parkland quality to the scenery. I did remark to Karen that you could almost be visiting Downton Abbey — well, sort of, if Downton Abbey happened to be full of impala and zebras rather than tweedy aristocrats. Scattered throughout are denser areas of bush where animals like to conceal themselves, as well as numerous watering holes and the course of the Luangwa River itself. Antelope were absolutely everywhere: the ever-present impala, kudu with their magnificent spiralling horns, and the puku — a stocky, golden-brown antelope that is found almost exclusively in the Luangwa Valley and parts of Botswana, and which we had not encountered anywhere else on our travels. Zebras were abundant too. As we drove through one of the open grassland areas, we came across a small group of spotted hyenas lurking in the bushes at the edge of the track. The spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta, is one of Africa’s most successful and ecologically important predators — contrary to popular belief, they kill the majority of their own food rather than simply scavenging — and they made for tremendous photographic subjects as they emerged into the open.
🦒 Thornicroft’s Giraffe: South Luangwa’s Very Own Subspecies
We were also treated to sightings of several elephants going about their morning business, and, most excitingly, the Thornicroft’s giraffe — a subspecies that is found exclusively in the South Luangwa Valley and nowhere else on earth. Named after Harry Scott Thornicroft, a colonial administrator who served in north-eastern Rhodesia (as Zambia was then known) in the early twentieth century, the Thornicroft’s giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti, was formally described as a distinct subspecies in 1911. It is distinguished from the more common southern giraffe by its distinctive coat pattern — more jagged and irregular patches compared to the smoother, more regular patterning of other subspecies — and by the fact that the patches tend to extend all the way down to the hooves, whereas on other subspecies the lower legs are generally lighter. There are thought to be around 600 to 700 Thornicroft’s giraffes remaining in the wild, making them one of the rarest large mammals in Africa. The South Luangwa National Park is, consequently, the only place in the world where you can reliably see them. To encounter them on our morning drive, stretching their impossibly long necks up into the canopy of the mopane trees, was genuinely one of those moments that reminds you exactly why you travel.
🦅 Vultures, a Kill Site and More Hyenas Than Expected
One of the classic signs of a big cat kill in the African bush is vultures circling in lazy spirals above a specific patch of ground — and as we drove along, we could clearly see a number of them doing exactly that, not far ahead of us. The white-backed vulture, Gyps africanus, is the most common large vulture in sub-Saharan Africa, and they are extraordinarily efficient at locating carcasses from great height, sometimes spotting a kill from several kilometres away by watching the behaviour of other birds. Our driver decided to leave the track and do a bit of what we might diplomatically call cross-country driving to get closer to the scene. It was, to put it mildly, an extremely bumpy experience — the Luangwa Valley in the dry season is criss-crossed with dried watercourses and rutted ground — but we made it. The lions had long since left the scene with full stomachs, but several vultures were on the ground gorging industriously on what remained of a carcass, and a large spotted hyena was happily crunching on some bones with the kind of complete contentment that only a hyena at a free meal can manage. A thoroughly good day for hyena spotting, all told.
As our morning game drive was drawing to a close, our driver spotted a couple of Land Cruisers pulled up close to a thicket of bush, and as we drew nearer we could see why: a small pride of lions was resting in the shade, made up of two females and a young male. They had clearly fed recently — their stomachs were visibly distended in that deeply satisfied, almost embarrassed way that well-fed lions have — and they were lying down in the manner of animals with absolutely no intention of going anywhere in a hurry. We were able to get quite close to them, which was genuinely wonderful. One of the things we appreciated greatly about South Luangwa is its unofficial but widely respected wildlife-viewing etiquette: no more than five vehicles should congregate around any one animal or group of animals at any given time, and each vehicle should move on after five minutes to give others a chance. It is a sensible, considerate system that prioritises the animals’ welfare and the quality of the experience for everyone, and it makes a very pleasant change from some of the more chaotic scenes you can encounter at major wildlife destinations in East Africa. We happily moved on when our five minutes were up — and happily, we only had to travel a short distance before we came across a second, larger pride, who had also clearly eaten well and were engaged in some serious horizontal relaxation. Lovely..
🌙 The Evening Game Drive: Into the Dark
For the evening game drive, we were joined by a dedicated spotter — a second pair of eyes whose sole job is to scan the surrounding bush whilst the driver concentrates on the track ahead. This is a practice that originated in South Luangwa, where the terrain is complex enough that two sets of eyes are considerably better than one. Uniquely among many parks we had visited on our Africa trip, the evening drive in South Luangwa does not end at sunset. The vehicles are equipped with powerful spotlights and the drives continue into full darkness, allowing guests to encounter the nocturnal animals that are simply never seen during daylight hours. Our driver took us on a different route to the morning, following tracks that largely ran alongside the Luangwa River, giving us wonderful views of the riverine forest and the oxbow lagoons. Along the way we saw baboons — including, memorably, a tiny albino baby clinging to its mother, which must have been about one in several thousand births — large Nile crocodiles basking on the sandy banks, an African jacana performing the remarkable trick of walking across the backs of hippos as though they were stepping stones, cape buffalo standing in the shallows, and an absolutely charming scene of a cow elephant with a tiny, very new calf trotting along beside her. Then came the radio call.
🐆 The Leopard: An Absolute Belter of a Sighting
Our driver suddenly got a call on the radio: a leopard had been spotted, active in the area where we had started our drive earlier that afternoon. We agreed without hesitation to head back, and ‘head back’ does not adequately capture what then happened. Nothing casual or particularly relaxing about that drive — we flew along the tracks at considerable pace, thwacking overhanging branches as we went and bouncing off the rutted surface with considerable enthusiasm. It was exhilarating, I will give it that. After about ten minutes of this, we arrived at one of the areas of the park where shallow gullies run through the terrain — these are the drainage channels that scar the valley floor, and the leopard, Panthera pardus, Africa’s most secretive and adaptable large cat, uses them as highways through the bush, moving along them with extraordinary stealth to avoid detection by both prey and rivals. The leopard is the most widely distributed of all the big cats, found across sub-Saharan Africa and much of Asia, but despite its range it is notoriously difficult to see in the wild, preferring dense cover and operating largely by night. A couple of Land Cruisers were already parked at the gully when we arrived. We pulled over and waited. A few seconds later, a beautiful leopard climbed out of the gully directly beside us and simply sat there for a couple of minutes, looking unhurriedly around, as though entirely unbothered by our presence, before melting away into the bush. Absolutely stunning. By now the sun had gone down, and our driver found us a quiet spot right on the riverbank — at a sensible distance from the hippos and crocodiles, naturally — where we sat and enjoyed our gin and tonics in the warm Zambian dark. A pretty much perfect end to an evening, it has to be said.
🌒 Day Two: Hippos at the Window
The previous night had been a rather eventful one. The hippo sounds that had formed a background soundtrack the night before were significantly closer this time — much, much closer, in fact, as we were to discover. In the early hours of the morning, whilst it was still pitch dark, we were woken by a commotion outside our chalet. Now, I am perfectly prepared to admit that my first instinct was to pull the pillow over my head and pretend it wasn’t happening, but Karen was absolutely insistent that we investigate. We crept to the window and peered out. Standing on the grass directly outside our chalet — no more than six feet from where we were standing — were a couple of hippos, methodically munching their way through the lawn with the unhurried determination of animals that have decided this particular patch of grass is theirs for the evening. The hippopotamus, as we noted earlier, is one of Africa’s most genuinely dangerous animals, responsible for an estimated 500 human deaths per year across the continent, and they are deeply territorial and unpredictable when they feel threatened or cornered. So we stayed very sensibly inside. Our neighbours, however, appeared to have made a rather different risk assessment — they were outside, taking photographs with their flashes firing away. Absolutely crazy. Each to their own, but we were very happy behind our glass. The night watchman hailed us at 5:30 in the morning to let us know the coast was clear, and we headed off gratefully to breakfast before the dawn game drive.
🐆 Morning Drive Day Two: The Leopard with the Mongoose
After a light breakfast, we headed back out into the park. South Luangwa really is a beautiful place in the early morning — the light is extraordinary, all golden and low, and the air still has a cool freshness before the heat of the day builds. We saw giraffes and plenty of antelope as we made our way through the park, and eventually our route took us back down towards the river. It was here that our driver noticed something interesting: a small group of impalas who were displaying the particular alert, rigid, staring behaviour that antelope adopt when they know a predator is very close by. We pulled over to investigate. Only a few feet from where the impalas were standing, frozen with nervous fascination, was a leopard, crouching in the bush and feeding on a kill. Our driver identified the prey as a white-tailed mongoose — not, as he explained, a typical leopard prey item, since mongooses produce a rather unpleasant secretion that makes them unappealing eating. His assessment was that this had been an opportunistic kill: the mongoose and the leopard had simply run into each other in the bush at an unfortunate moment for the mongoose, and the leopard, being a leopard, had acted accordingly. Two leopard sightings in less than twenty-four hours — we were not complaining.
🐾 The Hyena Family: A Surprisingly Tender Scene
The leopard with the mongoose was, in itself, a quite exceptional sighting — but it was almost surpassed by what we found a short while later. Our driver spotted a female hyena with her two pups tucked into the shade of a tree. This was, as he explained, an extremely unusual thing to see. Spotted hyena pups are normally kept hidden deep in underground dens for the first months of their lives, specifically to protect them from other predators — and the list of things that will happily kill hyena pups is a long one, including lions, leopards, wild dogs and even other hyenas. The fact that this mother had her pups above ground and in the open was highly unusual. What made the whole scene genuinely lovely to watch was the mother herself: clearly exhausted in the way that mothers of small and energetic young universally are, she was holding her pups firmly to the ground beneath her outstretched legs, giving them just enough room to wriggle free and reach her teats to suckle, but not enough room to escape entirely. There was only us and one other vehicle watching this quietly domestic scene. When that vehicle eventually pulled away, leaving us alone, the pups seized their moment and made a break for freedom, gambolling around in the morning light with complete abandon. It was one of those wildlife moments that has nothing whatsoever to do with predators and drama, but which stays with you just as long. After this, we headed back to Track and Trail for lunch and a well-earned siesta.
🌆 Afternoon Drive Day Two: Still Waiting for the Big Cats
For the afternoon drive we were again joined by a spotter, and we set off in good spirits and with high hopes of further big cat action. It was another glorious Zambian evening — the light in the Luangwa Valley in the late afternoon is simply magnificent, the kind of warm, amber, sideways light that makes every animal look like it has been individually lit by a film crew. We had a fine time: elephants, giraffes, and a pair of hyenas who had so clearly eaten an enormous meal that they could barely put one foot in front of the other and were waddling along with the gait of a man who has underestimated a Christmas dinner. But the big cats remained elusive. Not to worry. Sundowners were taken again in a lovely spot on the riverbank — the gin and tonic has become something of an institution on our game drives — before we headed out for a spot of night driving. This produced a couple of elephants but not a great deal else. We made our way back to Track and Trail for dinner. We were, as it turned out, the only guests staying that night, so we had the whole restaurant entirely to ourselves — which was perfectly pleasant but also, if we are honest, just a little bit lonely, truth be known.
About South Luangwa National Park
Zambia itself is a landlocked country sitting in the tropics, positioned at the northern edge of what is generally described as ‘southern Africa’. Shaped rather like a butterfly when you look at it on a map, it covers approximately 752,610 square kilometres — making it roughly three times the size of the United Kingdom, though with a population of only around 20 million people, which gives it a very different feel to most of Europe. The country sits at the confluence of several major southern African geographical regions and shares borders with eight countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. Zambia gained independence from Britain on 24th October 1964, becoming the Republic of Zambia under its first president, Kenneth Kaunda, who led the country until 1991 and remains one of the most significant political figures in the history of post-colonial Africa. South Luangwa National Park was formally gazetted as a national park in 1972, but the land had been protected as a game reserve for over sixty-five years before that, which is a significant part of why it remains in such exceptional condition today — it was never subjected to the degradation of unregulated mass tourism or large-scale commercial agriculture. It was here, in this very valley, that the now globally famous ‘walking safari’ was invented. Norman Carr, who began his career as a ranger in the game reserves of north-eastern Rhodesia in the 1940s, was the man responsible. Carr recognised the inherent limitations of the traditional hunting safari — which was essentially about killing things — and developed the walking safari as a way both to increase tourism revenues for conservation and to transform the relationship between visitors and wildlife from one of extraction to one of observation. It was a genuinely revolutionary idea at the time. The Luangwa River, as previously noted, is considered the most ecologically intact major river system in Africa. The park itself covers 9,059 square kilometres and hosts 60 different mammal species and over 400 different species of birds — including, remarkably, around 400 of Zambia’s 732 recorded bird species, among them 39 species of birds of prey and 47 migrant species that pass through seasonally. The one notable and deeply sad absence from this extraordinary wildlife roster is the rhinoceros, both the black and white rhino having been poached to local extinction in the park. Poaching remains one of the gravest threats to African wildlife, and South Luangwa has not been immune.
Planning your visit to South Luangwa National Park
| 📍 Location | South Luangwa National Park, Eastern Province, Zambia – situated in the Luangwa Valley, bordered by the Luangwa River | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 🕖 Opening Times | Open year-round; peak season June–October. Gate hours typically 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM (night drives available with licensed operators) | 🌐 Website | zambiatourism.com / zawa.org.zm |
| 📞 Phone | +260 216 246 054 | info@zawa.org.zm | |
| 🚗 By Road | From Lusaka: approx. 600 km via the Great East Road to Chipata, then 115 km south to Mfuwe Gate. Road is tarmac to Chipata; remainder is graded dirt, passable year-round but 4WD recommended in wet season | ||
| ✈️ By Air | Mfuwe International Airport (MFU) receives scheduled flights from Lusaka (approx. 1 hour). Charter flights available from Lusaka, Livingstone and other bush airstrips | ||
| ℹ️ Notes | All visits must be accompanied by a registered guide for walking safaris. Night drives must be booked through licensed safari operators. The park is renowned for its walking safaris, leopard sightings and the extraordinary annual elephant migration through Mfuwe Lodge reception area |
🎟️ Entry Fees
| International Visitors | SADC Nationals | Zambian Citizens | Children (under 15) |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD $25 per day | USD $15 per day | ZMW equivalent (reduced rate) | Half price |
The Best Time to Visit Zambia
Zambia is a year-round destination, but the season you choose will dramatically shape your experience — from dramatic thunderstorms and lush green landscapes to dry, dusty plains teeming with wildlife at the waterhole. Understanding the rhythm of its two principal seasons helps you match the trip to what you are hoping to see and do.
🌧️ The Green Season (November to April)
The green season, also known as the emerald season, runs from November through to April and coincides with the rains brought by the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Rainfall is typically heaviest between December and March, when afternoon downpours can be dramatic and short-lived, often clearing to reveal vivid, clear skies. The bush transforms into a lush, intensely green landscape, waterfalls such as Victoria Falls are at their most thunderous, and the Zambezi River runs high and powerful.
This is the season for birdwatchers. Hundreds of migratory species arrive from Europe and Central Africa, and breeding plumage makes resident birds spectacular. Bat-eared foxes, wild dogs, and other predators are actively raising young. Professionally guided walking safaris are available in some areas even during the rains, and the reduced visitor numbers mean you will often have camps and game drives to yourself.
The trade-off is that thick vegetation makes wildlife harder to spot, some remote camps close between January and March, and dirt roads in more rural areas can become impassable. Malaria risk is also at its peak during this period.
What to pack: Lightweight, quick-dry trousers and shirts (neutral colours), a packable waterproof jacket or poncho, sturdy waterproof walking boots, insect repellent (DEET-based, high strength), a long-sleeved base layer for evenings, antimalarial medication, a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, a dry bag for camera equipment, and a compact umbrella.
🌤️ The Shoulder Season (May and October)
May and October bookend the dry season and offer some of the most rewarding conditions in Zambia. May sees the bush still flushed with green while the rains taper off, temperatures are comfortable, and rivers begin to recede. Game viewing improves as vegetation thins and animals start gathering around permanent water. Victoria Falls is at its absolute peak flow in April and May, producing a roar and spray cloud visible for kilometres.
October sits at the opposite end of the dry season. It is hot — often exceeding 40°C in the Luangwa and Zambezi valleys — but game viewing is exceptional. Animals concentrate in ever-shrinking areas around the last waterholes, predator activity intensifies, and the bare, dust-coloured landscape means visibility across the plains is at its finest. The first rains typically arrive in late October or early November, bringing relief from the heat and the first flush of new grass.
What to pack: Breathable, moisture-wicking shirts and trousers (neutral tones), a light fleece or mid-layer for May mornings, a wide-brimmed sun hat, very high SPF sunscreen, polarised sunglasses, electrolyte tablets or sachets, a 2-litre reusable water bottle, dust-proof camera bags, and open-toed sandals for camp evenings. In October, add a cooling towel and a personal fan for lodge downtime.
☀️ The Dry Season: Core Season (June to September)
June through September is the classic safari season in Zambia, and for good reason. The rains have long ceased, vegetation thins dramatically, and wildlife congregates around the Luangwa, Kafue, and Zambezi rivers and their tributaries. Temperatures are pleasant — warm during the day and cool to cold at night in June and July — making game drives and walks comfortable.
This is when Zambia’s legendary walking safaris are at their finest. South Luangwa National Park, the birthplace of the modern walking safari, comes into its element: lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo are readily encountered on foot and from open vehicles. Kafue National Park offers similar rewards with fewer visitors. The Lower Zambezi allows canoe safaris, boat cruises, and fishing, all in spectacular dry-season conditions.
Accommodation and park fees are at their highest during peak months (July to September), and popular camps book out well in advance. July and August in particular attract large numbers of international visitors, so advance booking — ideally six to twelve months ahead — is strongly advisable.
What to pack: Neutral-coloured safari clothing (khaki, olive, tan — avoid blue, which attracts tsetse flies), a warm fleece or down jacket for early morning drives in June and July, a light gilet or body warmer, sturdy ankle boots or walking boots, thick socks, a buff or neck gaiter for dusty game drives, binoculars, a good torch or head torch, and a power bank for devices. Bring layers you can remove as the day warms.
🌊 Victoria Falls Timing
Victoria Falls deserves special mention, as the best time to visit depends on what you want from it. The falls are at maximum flow and spectacle from February through May, with April and May producing the greatest volume — the spray is so heavy that waterproofs are essential just to approach. By August and September, the Zambian side of the falls can run relatively low, exposing rocks and reducing the drama, but the Zimbabwean side remains impressive. The upside of low water is that the famous Devil’s Pool — a natural infinity pool on the lip of the falls — is accessible from around August to January, an experience entirely impossible during high water.
🧳 Overall Best Time to Visit
For most first-time visitors seeking the definitive Zambian safari experience, July to October represents the optimum window. Game viewing during these months is among the finest on the continent: wildlife is concentrated, the bush is open, and every game drive or walking safari has the potential for exceptional sightings. July and August offer more comfortable temperatures and remain the most popular months, whilst September and October bring an added intensity — the heat is significant but the rewards in terms of predator activity and sheer wildlife density are extraordinary. Those with a particular interest in birding, green-season atmosphere, or avoiding the crowds will find May and November deeply satisfying alternatives, offering a Zambia that feels wilder, quieter, and surprisingly beautiful in its own right.
Zambia- Month-by-Month
January is a good time to see Victoria Falls, but is very wet elsewhere and most camps are closed.
Events & Festivals
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
- Carmine bee-eaters arrive: This month sees the carmine bee-eaters arrive, with flocks of hundreds nesting in river banks, providing a thrilling spectacle of colour and sound in South Luangwa National Park
- Great bat migration: Experience the world’s largest mammalian migration as millions of bats fill the skies in a remote part of Zambia.
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
- Green Season: this is a great time for birdwatchers and walkers, offering beautiful scenery, flocks of migratory birds and hardly any people, as well as amazing value for money
It remains wet throughout February, so it’s a good time to see Victoria Falls, but only a few camps stay open for boating and walking. It’s also a good time for birdwatching.
Events & Festivals
Victoria Falls is at its fullest, sending huge amounts of spray into the air and often obscuring the view of the falls themselves. Some camps are open for boating, and birdwatching is excellent. This time of year offers fantastic value for money and camps are really quiet so there are no crowds.
Events & Festivals
The weather starts to dry up a bit, but rain remains a significant feature of April.
Events & Festivals
A few more camps open up as the rain stops. However, this isn’t the best time to embark on a safari as the ground is still sodden, which makes access difficult.
Events & Festivals
The ground starts to dry out after the rains, making June a lovely time to visit. The rivers are still full and the bush is colourful. The camps have opened and are offering excellent deals, while there are few other visitors to compete for space with.
Once July hits, Zambia kicks into high gear. Temperatures are rising but it stays chilly in the mornings and evenings. All camps are open in all the national parks, with the South Luangwa the best option for game, the Lower Zambezi for river cruises and fishing, and the Kafue for remote wilderness. Victoria Falls is spectacular, without being overly wet.
The hotter weather and drier bush means walking safaris are excellent across the country. This is the prime time of year to combine game viewing and Victoria Falls.
September is a superb time to be on safari. Temperatures in the high 20°Cs make the days pleasant, and the water sources are drying up so animals congregate by the rivers and waterholes. Victoria Falls is not as dramatic as earlier months but is still impressive. Meanwhile, carmine bee-eaters arrive in their thousands to nest in the river banks.
Events & Festivals
The heat increases through October and game viewing is best done early and late in the day to escape the midday temperatures.
The rains arrive in the latter half of the month, but as they are not regular they are not too disruptive and the bonus is seeing dramatic skies with storm clouds building. Temperatures are high and it can be muggy. Some camps close but lots stay open and are great value. You may also be able to see lots of young animals being born.
Events & Festivals
Rains fall regularly, the rivers rise and the bush gets thicker and more colourful. This is an excellent value time to travel.
Events & Festivals
Track & Trail River Camp
For our trip to South Luangwa National Park, I booked us into Track and Trail River camp, which is very close to the main park entrance. The camp has a variety of accommodation options – you can camp there; either in your own tent or you can stop in one of their safari tents. They also have some chalets; 3 River Chalets, 4 Family River Chalets, and 3 Secluded Chalets. We had one of the River Chalets, which was huge and very tastefully decorated. Our chalet also had a small outdoor patio which overlooked the South Luangwa River.
The camp is also a haven for animals. During the day there are bushbucks, monkeys, baboons, warthogs and guinea fowl everywhere. There are also frequent visits by elephants – which require some care when you come across them. At night hippos frequently roam the camp, and they advise you to have a security guard help you to and from your room after dark.
Track & Trail also has its own safari vehicles, so it is very easy to get a game drive in the park with a qualified driver and guide. The camp is owned by renowned photographer Peter Geraerdts and his wife Kirsten Gottenkieny. As well as regular safaris they offer specialist photographic safaris led by Peter.
When we stayed we opted for the full-board package. The food was incredible and they catered for our vegan diet!
