South Luangwa National Park

South Luangwa National Park, situated in Zambia is one of the great wildlife sanctuaries. The concentration of game around the Luangwa River and its ox bow lagoons is among the most intense in Africa.

The Luangwa River is the life blood of the park's 9 050km². The river has its source in northern Zambia near the border with Tanzania. After meandering 1000km southwards, it joins the Zambezi River at the border of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. During the rainy season the river swells up with a huge volume of water from its numerous tributaries, reaching a peak flood in February/March. In the dry season this majestic river shrinks - the water level drops and the river becomes narrow and shallow. At the end of the dry season there is almost no current left, with wide sandy areas of riverbed left bare.

The ‘walking safari’ is one of the best ways to experience this pristine wilderness first hand. The changing seasons add to the Park’s richness ranging from dry, bare bushveld in the winter to a lush green wonderland in the summer months.

The South Luangwa National Park is a place of primeval forest and lush savanna, stretching for hundreds of miles and encompassing the Luangwa River basin, its adjacent highlands and a mosaic of different habitats extending outwards from the central river.

The Park is home to a wide variety of wildlife, birds and vegetation with 60 animal species and over 400 bird species been recorded. The only notable exception is the rhino, sadly poached to extinction. The Thornicroft’s Giraffe, unique to Luangwa Valley should be easily spotted. The park has a good population of leopard and lions which many of the Lodge’s game trackers are skilled in finding.

Bird watching is superb in the Valley. Near the end of the dry season, when the river and oxbow lagoons begin to recede, hundreds of large water birds can be seen wading through the shallows. With approximately 400 of Zambia’s 732 species of birds appearing in the Valley, including 39 birds of prey and 47 migrant species, there is plenty for the bird-watcher to spot, whatever the season.

Seasonal changes are very pronounced in Luangwa. The dry season begins in April and intensifies through to October, the hottest month when game concentrations are at their height. Warm sunny days and chilly nights typify the dry winter months of May to August. The wet season begins in November as the leaves turn green, and the dry bleak terrain becomes a lush jungle. The rainy season lasts up until the end of March and the migrant birds arrive in droves. Each lodge stays open for as long as access is possible, depending on its location in the area.