The South Luangwa region of Zambia in late October is not for everyone. Even before arriving in Zambia I knew that it was going to be hot and dry and so it was. Just more so. A lot more so. The first clue was a bumpy descent into Mfuwe Airstrip on a 29-seater Proflight British Aerospace Jetstream 41 aircraft on a late morning flight from Lusaka. A more reliable indication of what lay ahead was the pilot informing us that the temperature on the ground was 38C. In Texas that would be a cool 97F.
Of course you don’t have to visit Zambia in October. Any time from May through the end of August would be better to avoid the worst of the heat. Together with a few other tour operators I was on the equivalent of what the British would call a busman’s holiday. Doing for pleasure what you ordinarily do for work. Which is why we found ourselves in ‘the valley’ in late October. We do not usually recommend the area for our North American guests at that time of the year. Upon asking around it appears that British and at least some European visitors are not quite as averse to the extreme temperatures as we are. To each his own.
This last October trip was my fifth visit to the area and together with several other Zambia trips done by members of our team, we now have a pretty good idea of what makes South Luangwa National Park – and by extension all of Zambia – a worthwhile candidate as a safari holiday destination.
Wild unspoiled rivers
The Luangwa River dominates the south Luangwa National Park. Not surprisingly, the majority of the camps in the park are either right on the river or not far from it. In the dry season the river is a veritable lifeline, its steadily diminishing water sustaining many species of mammals, reptiles and birds, until the first rains show up in November.
Elsewhere in the country major rivers like the Kafue in the west and the mighty Zambezi which flows west to east along Zambia’s border with Zimbabwe to the south, are just as important and just as impressive.
Whether the Luangwa is at its lowest flow ever – as it was last October – or the Zambezi is at flood stage as we’ve seen it previously – rivers and safaris are like peanut butter and jelly. Beyond their life-sustaining value to surrounding communities, rivers attract wildlife, provide opportunities for activities like boating and canoeing, fishing and even photography. We’ve taken some of our best photographs on safari from the stable platform of a boat or pontoon. And some of our finest moments on safari in Zambia have been in and along rivers. Enjoying a leisurely lunch drifting down the Zambezi on an outing from Chiawa a few years ago and twice (not just once) being prevented from walking straight to our rooms at Lower Zambezi camps due to elephants by the jetty. That’s Zambia. That’s Africa.
Unique mammal species
Look closely at the first giraffe you come across in the South Luangwa NP. It’s not your garden variety plains or Burchell’s giraffe. Being slightly smaller in stature with smaller, more compact dark patches, having an overall darker appearance and a more recurved upper mouth makes it a Thornicroft’s giraffe, an endemic subspecies. Matter of fact the South Luangwa National Park came into existence in 1947 for the specific purpose of safeguarding the then dwindling number of Thornicroft’s giraffes.
Another unique species to the valley is the handsome Cookson’s wildebeest. An endemic subspecies found mostly just there. It’s a noticeably lighter gray/brown color than the regular blue wildebeest and it’s also larger with bigger horns.
Elsewhere in Zambia the Kafue lechwe – a subspecies of the common or lechwe – are still easily seen on the Busanga Plains but their numbers have been steadily declining due to habitat loss and human encroachment. Competition with cattle for food and contamination of their drinking water by surrounding human communities are putting further stress on the animals.
For first time visitors to Africa – or guests who may have spent time elsewhere in Africa on safari – any of the major Zambia national parks would deliver a first-class wildlife viewing experience. Combining two or even three of them is even better, such as Lower Zambezi and South Luangwa, or South Luangwa and Kafue.
High density of hippos
If you’re keen to see hippos in the wilderness, then Zambia will be your jam. In the South Luangwa, all along the Zambezi, in the Kafue and other rivers and dams, they’re present pretty much everywhere, often in great abundance. Towards the end of the dry season – such as when we were there last October – there are sometimes hundreds of them jammed together in rapidly shrinking hippo pools, testing their own and each other’s limits as they hunker down and wait for the rains. With their watery homes rapidly disappearing around them and having to walk many kilometers each night in search of food, they are stressed and cranky. So treat them with the utmost respect and keep your distance at all times.
An abundance of predators
Practically the second mammal which we saw in the south Luangwa this time around (last October) was African painted dogs on my very first game drive from Chichele Presidential Lodge in the South Luangwa area. Within the next couple of days we added leopards and lions, hyenas and jackals – and a sighting of a different pack of painted dogs.
Every one of our Zambia visits over the years have been notable for excellent big cat and other predator sightings. A standout sighting on the very first trip – on a night drive from Kaingo – was a lion charging a leopard. The leopard had inadvertently been lit up by our tracker’s spotlight. Fortunately the leopard escaped by scampering up a tree. On that same trip we had several other leopard sightings in the South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi areas, and good lion sightings in Kafue. Noticeable on night drives in the South Luangwa is that the guides immediately start to look for leopards when seeing hyenas. The hyenas having cottoned on to the fact that the leopards often drag prey around and that they can either be coerced to or accidentally drop or abandon the hard-won carcass.
A visit to Musekese Camp in Kafue a few years ago left us astonished at the number of leopards present in the area around the camp and we were fortunate to see several of them. It felt very much like the Sabi Sand Reserve in South Africa, just without any other vehicles around.
Yet another memorable predator sighting took place in the Lower Zambezi on a game drive from Kutali. On that occasion we experienced – in all of its rather grim reality – a pack of African painted dogs killing and devouring an unfortunate chacma baboon. The dogs were hunting and we were following them as they were running and occasionally jumping through a grassy floodplain, their eyes fixed on a small group of impalas in the distance. A young male baboon inadvertently got in the way and opportunistically three of the dogs dispatched him in a matter of minutes, right in front of our eyes and with me shooting multiple never-to-be-published photographs.
Limited number of vehicles
We’ve personally had several days go by on safari in Zambia without seeing any other vehicles, specifically in the Kafue National Park. In some parts of the South Luangwa National Park such as in the Mfuwe area, this is not always the case as there are several lodges in the area. Even so, it is unusual to see more than a handful of vehicles, even around predator sightings. Most of the time it’s just you, the guide, the wilderness and wildlife.
Range of properties
There was a time when Zambia did not have the same variety of accommodation options as other Southern Africa safari destinations, such as South Africa and Botswana. That is no longer the case. On the basis of what I have personally seen over the last few years, I now rate the range and diversity of Zambia’s safari properties to be every bit as good as anywhere else. Nowadays, the range of Zambian accommodation options stretches from basic bush camps all the way to the most sublime deluxe lodges. The choice is yours: an authentic wilderness experience in a remote, tiny bush camp or a few days of being pampered in a deluxe lodge – and everything in between.
This variety was on full display during our recent trip. Classic bush camps, some with as few as three rooms, larger ‘proper’ brick & mortar lodges along the Luangwa, a quaint old-fashioned camp with several comfortable ‘rondavel’ style rooms, midrange tented camps and deluxe air-conditioned lodges with every luxury one can imagine. That’s just in the South Luangwa: further afield there are just as many options. The Lower Zambezi has an equally stunning array of properties ranging from fairly basic, small tented camps (in gorgeous locations on the edge of the most atmospheric albida forests) to deluxe tented and hybrid lodges on the Zambezi, with all the luxury anyone could want, including air conditioning.
The Kafue area – while massive – does not have quite as many properties to choose from, but the range is impressive, nonetheless. It’s all there from rustic bush camps to deluxe tented properties, even a lodge with rooms in the style of elevated bird’s nests, on the edge of the Busanga Plains.
Top quality guiding
Zambia and its southern neighbor Zimbabwe are known for the quality of their guides. We’ve personally experienced some extraordinarily good guiding in Zambia, particularly on ‘out of the vehicle’ excursions when the guides can demonstrate the breadth and depth of their experience and knowledge. Zambia is where ‘foot’ safaris first became popular so they are almost always on the list of available activities. If you’re so inclined and have the time and opportunity, by all means go on a walk. Being on foot in big game terrain changes everything.
If you’re considering a Zambia trip, or would like to get a little more information about the trips which we do there, please contact Lyndon at lyndon@fisheaglesafaris.com. Or call us at 713-467-5222 and leave a message with our answering service – we will call you back promptly.
Property photos courtesy Chiawa, Chisa, Classic Zambia and Bushcamp Company.
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