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squidy837
GB
Visited:
July 2007
Reviewed: Oct 10, 2011
under20 years of age
Unforgettable experience in a country so far unspoilt by mass tourism
After a fantastic day in the park, we stopped on our journey back towards our
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accommodation to see a herd of elephants, outside the park underneath a road bridge. The impression which we were left with was that it was not only the park which offered a host of wildlife watching opportunities, but the wider area was a simply fantastic place to immerse oneself in a safari environment. I would say it is imperative to visit Mosi-oa-Tunga because tourism revenue will encourage conservation efforts in the area and further improve the safari experience, providing money does not go to spoil the unspoilt and genuine atmosphere which makes this area so wonderful.
Guillaume d'Autichamp
FR
Visited:
October 2018
Reviewed: Oct 31, 2018
Email Guillaume d'Autichamp | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
African safari as it should be
I decided to travel back here after an incredible first visit 5 years ago. We visited Kafue, both Luangwa Parks and of course livingstone and the falls: What a wonderful and rewarding experience !!
- wildlife viewing was superb : we just missed cheetah and rhino but saw 7 leaopards during our trips, lion, loads of hippos, Elephants, koudous impalas, pukus , zebras and buffaloes and encountered less common species such as sable antelope, hartebeest, a pack of 20 wild dogs (in south luangwa), bushpigs. Except near the Mfue gate we had the animals for ourselves!
Whats really liked in parks such as Kafue is that we had to really search game : find some clues (footprints), track them down and in the end...we were rewarded
- Safaris and guidings were excellent: our guide in North Luangwa was able to find lion footprints, we followed these footprints and we able to discover a lone male Lion that roares and jumped
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from a busm just 20m ahead of us! Moreover guides are friendly, very accessible and give great explanations. We mixed, game drives, night drives canoe and walking safaris.- Accomodation was exclusive, rustic (made from natural materials) : we were 100% part of the wilderness
- Food was 100% hand cooked and really delicious
All in all what is so special with Zambia is that you do not feel the commercial aspect of the safari industry : you have excellent and dedicated guides for yourself (no tourist buses here), you feel the bush vibe (no tared roads, no fences), tourists densities are low (in Kafue we were alone in our camp) and some of the industry benefits are dedicated to local communities which is great
We absolutely recommend this marvellous country !!
Wild Edu
ES
Visited:
August 2018
Reviewed: Dec 28, 2018
Email Wild Edu | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Hakan Olsson
SE
Visited:
September 2019
Reviewed: Oct 9, 2019
Email Hakan Olsson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Even better than expected, we had a wonderful but too short visit to South Luangwa.
We have travelled a lot in Southern and Eastern Africa visiting most of the great parks and South Luangwa stands out as one of our favourites after a previous visit. An Eden of scenic beauty and this time during high season there was wildlife everywhere and something to see behind each corner. And the park is never crowded. Flatdogs and Nkonzi are truly nice places, well managed with excellent food and comfortable safari tents. Elefants and hippos sharing the camp grounds are part of the bush feel. Guiding was superb including walking safaris and night drives.
Halley
US
Visited:
October 2019
Reviewed: Nov 30, 2019
Email Halley | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful spot on the River
The safari overall was spectacular, just so much fun seeing all the animals in their natural habitats. The time we were there (mid October) was very hot, we felt it and so did the animals. So because of the heat many of the animals were not out and about, but still very much enjoyed everything Lower Zambezi had to offer!
Stephen Eustace
NL
Visited:
April 2008
Reviewed: Nov 14, 2011
Email Stephen Eustace | 35-50 years of age
Ye it is the real Africa!
Zambia, Safari Experience 04MAY 2008
I found the Safari park “Track and Trail” from the internet and paid my fees in US dollars in advance. Everything went very smoothly. The safairi park is situated in South-Luangwa, which was recommened to me by relatives.
I was picked up at Mfuwe airport by kirsten, one of the owners, who took me in a jeep to the park, that in itself was quite an experience as we drove into the sunset. Safari parks aside, one of the most spectacular thinbgs about Zambia is her sunsets which alwasy leave me gobsmacked.
By the time we arrived at the campsite it was dark, where I enjoyed a few mosi beers, tot eh sopund of hippos grunting nearby. The rules of the site where “no walking around unsupervised” which meant drinking beer and the usual toilet trips were slightly annoying even if it was for my own safety. Please don’t get me wrong, I was actually terrrified walking around and didnt want to walk around
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on my own!! I took my beer backc to my beautiful chalet, where I saw a note and a whistle. More house rules, “If you meet an animal please blow this whistle – DO NOT USE FOR SPIDERS”. My first reaction was to go looking for spiders in the bed!! Sleeping for me was very difficult, I was not used to the great African orchestra of baboons, birds, frogs, bats, insects and above all the deep grunts and belches from the many hippos. I have to admit I did not get very much sleep, but I really did not mind the 05:00 call, where I was was met for breakfast. Derek, my guide, was extremely knowledgeable and not only did I see “the usual” elephants, bufalo, zebra, baboons and the like, but also teh very rare african wild dog. The entire safari was completed with stories, anecdotes, legends, science and traditions which I will not go into here.After a siesta, we had a night safari, includinbg a small pinic in the wilderness. The night safari was astonishing and was “very african” you even got the feeling you were part of a David Attenborough documentary. The evening meal was served with love, wow, I had informed Kirsten I was a vegetarian, and she made the most wonderful meals. She even made her own peanutbutter which was better than any I have had in Holland.
The following day, I had another spectacular safari in the morning, and I was dropped off at Mfuwe airport form y flight.
If I can summarise:
location – excellent
Food – to die for
Wildlife – stunning
Staff – they went beyond the meaning of service
Beer – a little expensive
Would I recommend it? YES!
Stanley
ZA
Visited:
July 2021
Reviewed: Jul 25, 2021
Email Stanley | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Hustlers thieves, officials,police,ruin what would otherwise be a wonderful tourist destination
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help there, we did go to the Livingstone police but they laughed at us and said we most probably dropped the money ourselves -so they find it a joke and obviously are not there to help tourists -our guests said it spoilt their experience there, and I doubt will recommend anyone else to go thereThe "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.
Gisela Scheinpflug
BR
Visited:
May 2010
Reviewed: Nov 18, 2011
Email Gisela Scheinpflug | 35-50 years of age
The Adventure of a Wildlife
Safaris in the Luangwa National Park were different from those made in the Kruger Park, South Africa. They are wilder and more close of local people's lives. The villages of the region are practically within the park and there are no fences enclosing the area. After the damaged car episode, we arrived too late and we went to the park in searching for our lodge, which was located into the park. The plates looked old and were not in good conditions, especially for us that we were tired and concerned about driving at night, in a national
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park full of wildlife in Africa.So we started some feelings about being lost. We had to return to the starting point and then we found another lodge where we asked for guidance. They said we should just to move on and we did it, until we found a road forked and we did not know what to do. We choose one way to found a bridge wich we couldn't see clearly, in the darkness, if we could cross or not. It was almost a letter "V", entering to the center of the crossing stream and seemed that was broken on the half. We couldn't see the whole path far ahead. On guy in the car was opening the car's door to go out there and see better, when we shouted all together "don't go out of the car!!" We hold him by the shirt and closed the car’s door again, almost in panic. The driver put the car in a way that we could see clearly the bridge path, so finally we crossed the bridge to find just after that a herd of elephants crossing the road.
I had seen these scenes at Kruger Park, on South Africa, that was the first wildlife experience for the others. You can imagine the reaction of a person who was never seen an elephant, to find a whole herd in the middle of the night, crossing the road just in front of the vehicle. There were the most oddest reactions, which began smoothly with no one showing their own fear, but in few seconds everybody were lost in their own emotions and some even began to pray quietly while others gave the most absurd guidelines for the driver. "Speed up this car, let's go at once," was all that was heard in a voice full of fear, while the driver, a brazilian guy, stuck by the scene and driving for the first time in the oposite seat of Brazil, remained in shock. I asked him to avoid sudden gestures, high beams and horn, to stop the car and wait the herd leaving. Everyone then got relaxed and finally enjoyed that wonderful scene of wildlife.
We started again our searching for the lost lodge, and then we could saw a plate were it was written "Wild Life". That was the Lodge's name, but in that time we were so excited that we started to think that it was simply stating the place where we were at that time, because we were truly in the "Wildlife".
Luangwa National Park is actually much more wilder and less under control than the Kruger Park, with far fewer animals in it. The safari guide in the next day explained that, because Luangwa is a natural park, not being allowed to acquire animals from other regions. All animals were borned and raised there, spontaneously. He also said to us that, due to the hunters, there are a very low adult males population of rhinos, lions and buffalos. Hunters could buy a lion to hunt for something like five thousand dollars. They could bring home the animal skin and teeth. Should be a nice prize, but I still prefer to take my pictures.
Some animals are almost unique in Luangwa National Park, such as their zebra, whose pattern of two colors only exists in Luangwa and some few regions of Malawi and Zimbabwe. The pattern is really beautiful, more than the other one that I knew at Kruger Park, which had beige tones between the white and black stripes.
During a safari I saw a large group of young lions resting. They were so young that it was just a little furry manes, pending down from their faces, as happens with some human adolescents. It was really a wonderful feeling, to see the animals there so loose, so free and so close to us.
Impalas are the wild animals fast food. They are found in large groups in all safaris I've ever done. In Luangwa, there was also another animal very like him, but with a weird white mark on his ass. The safari guide told us a very old story about that, regarding to the bible. Noah finished painting his ark in a hurry and shipped all the animals when the ink was still fresh. That animal was the first to use the bathroom and because of that it got a stamped with the brand of toilet seat on his ass.
Safari is a lottery, with many different surprises. Sometimes we are fortunate, some less so. A couple who were with us saw a lions hunting, last night safari. They said the feeling were incredible, and you could hear the lions chewing the impala's bones as if they were tiny chicken wings. Hyenas came and fought tough for a piece, dragging it down near the river and eventually loose the game for a crocodile emerged from the water.
These are the feelings of life, the big ones eating small ones, even in nature, which is by itself more than perfect.
Lushine
US
Visited:
August 2010
Reviewed: Aug 9, 2012
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!