Getting there and around | Suggestions on where to stay
The Luangwa Valley is one of Africa’s prime wildlife sanctuaries, with concentrations and varieties of game and birdlife that have made it world famous. This is the landscape of the ‘Real Africa’, with herds of antelope sheltering under thorn trees, or roaming the plains, predators skulking in the shadows and primal drama in every vale. Experts claim South Luangwa is one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world, and not without reason. The concentration of game around the Luangwa River and its ox bow lagoons is among the most intense in Africa. One does not have to be an expert to recognize that!
If you’re in your own vehicle, be sure to get a map of the
park from the helpful scouts at the park entrance and follow the loop roads in
the park, past dams bursting with hippos, crowned cranes, grazing antelope and
scurrying baboons.
In case you wish conduct your own safari’s in an open game
viewing car or are travelling in a big group and would like to conduct your own
drives, make sure to have a look at our rental Safari Vehicles. Our cars seat up
to nine persons enabling you to enjoy the drives with your complete party,
ensuring nobody misses out on good sightings. A bonus for self drives is that
there are no time restrictions and you can enter the park for the entire day.
To make the most out of your game drive, why not hire a private guide for your party. He is well known in the park, knows the best loops and game activities, plus it saves you the driving yourself. Needless to mention he is available for the entire day, only retiring after a exciting day in the park. Pre-booking with The Personal Touch is absolutely necessary as good guides are hard to come by. We are more then happy to assist you with additional information. A great budget option for independent groups wishing a tailor made safari during their stay in the valley and not be restricted by set timing.
Lodge Safaris
If you’re staying at one of the Valley’s lodges, their guides will ensure you have every opportunity to see all that the valley has to offer of its wildlife, birds and varying vegetation and habitats in both morning and afternoon drives. Lodge game drive activities are at set hours, leaving around 6.00 and returning 10.00 for the morning and leaving around 16.00 to return around 20.00 for their afternoon drives. Prices for game drives range per lodge and are paid per person per drive or inclusive in their accommodation rates.
Please note;
Entry regulations and rules are obtained at the entrance of the park or at your
lodge. As pricing and regulations seem to change regularly, please e-mail us for
the latest information. Do note, entrance fees can only be paid cash in
(preferably) US dollars or Zambian Kwacha. No credit cards or traveller cheques
are accepted.
The Luangwa River is the most intact major river system in Africa and is the life blood of the park's 9050km2. The now famous ‘walking safari’ originated in this park and is still one of the finest ways to experience this pristine wilderness first hand. The changing seasons add to the Park’s richness ranging from dry, bare shrub-lands in the winter to a lush green wonderland in the summer months. There are 60 different animal species and over 400 different bird species. The only notable exception is the rhino, sadly poached to extinction.
Wildlife
The hippopotamus is one animal you won’t miss. As you cross
over the bridge into the park there are usually between 30 and 70 hippos
lounging in the river below and most of the dams and lagoons will reveal many.
There is estimated to be at least 50 hippos per kilometre of the Luangwa River!
In, but most certainly also outside of the park, you are bound to see elephants in small herds, gathering to form large herds in the dry season. You will find that the Luangwa elephant seems to be a bit smaller then its Southern Africa cousins and most of them lack the big tusks. Reasons vary according to whom you speak, but the extensive poaching history must have had its influences on their genes.
Zebra can be seen running in small herds. The differences
between Zambia’s Crawshay zebras and those in the south and east of Africa (Burchell
Zebra) are in the stripes. Here they are purely black and white, lacking the
shadow stripe found in the Burchell Zebra. You will notice the big difference
when looking back at your numerous photos. Other endemic species of the Luangwa
Valley include the Thornicroft’s Giraffe and the Cookson’s Wildebeest.
The park has 14 different antelope species, most of which
are easily seen on game and night drives. Watch out for the elusive bushbuck,
widely spread throughout the park and even easily seen outside of the park
boundaries. The most numerous antelope is the impala, these animals can be seen
in herds all over the park. Not to be confused with the Puku, of similar size
but a much fluffier buck with a rich orange coat and maybe elsewhere in Africa
rare, but prolific in this area.
Perhaps the most beautiful is the Kudu, with its majestic spiral horns and
delicate face. Although fairly common, they’re not always easy to find due to
their retiring habits and preference for dense bush.
Of the primates, baboons and vervet monkeys are prolific. More scarce is Maloney’s monkey. Present, but unlikely to be seen except on night drives, is the night ape and the nocturnal bushbaby.
Hyenas are fairly common throughout the valley and South
Luangwa has a good population of leopard but they are not that easy to spot.
However the park claims to have the highest concentration of leopard and often
visitors are rewarded with a glimpse or longer sightings. Personally we visited
more then eighty parks in Africa and nowhere have we seen leopard that “easy” as
here in the Luangwa Valley.
Lions are as plentiful in the Luangwa as anywhere else in Africa, but when a
kill is made away from the central tourist area, the pride may stay away for
several days and may not be seen by visitors on a short stay.
Birdlife
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. Red faced yellow billed
storks, pelicans and the striking 1.6m saddle bill are easily spotted. Then
there’s the marabou stork, great white egrets, black headed herons, open billed
storks, the stately goliath heron and so many more. Of the most beautiful are
the elegant crowned cranes, with their golden tufts congregating in large flocks
at the salt pans and heard easily when flying over in large numbers.
The African fish eagle is the national symbol of Zambia and
found everywhere in the park. Their call is part of the natural bush-radio and
their flight impressive.
In November, just before the rains set in, the migrants
from Northern Europe and the intra-African migrants arrive to exploit the
feeding opportunities that the warm rainy season brings. These include the red
chested cuckoo, white storks, European swallows, swifts, hobbies and bee-eaters,
as well as birds of prey such as the Steppe eagles and Steppe buzzards that come
all the way from Russia.
A special sight is the hundreds of brightly coloured carmine bee-eaters nesting
in the steep sandy banks of the river. With about 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 birdwatcher to spot, whatever the season.
Flora
For an enhanced experience of the bush, one would do well
to develop an interest in the varying vegetation in Zambia. Some magnificent
trees grow in the Valley and it certainly adds to the richness of your
experience to begin to recognize different tree species and figure out the
implications of them growing in that particular area. Among the more common
trees in the valley are the mopane, leadwood, winterthorn, some beautiful
specimens of baobab, large ebony forests, the tall vegetable ivory palm, marula
and the magnificent tamarind tree. The sausage tree is obvious in and outside of
the park and plays an important role in feeding the numerous animals of the
valley and is even used as part of an indigenous treatment at the South Luangwa
Bush-Spa!
The Personal Touch
Ltd.
South Luangwa National Park
P.O. Box 58
Mfuwe, Eastern Province
Zambia
Tel.: +260 216 246 123
Cell: +260 978 459 965
Mail:
info@tptouch.com
© 2012, The Personal Touch Ltd., with gratitude to Johan & Ine
Elzenga for amazing photos
More information on Zambia, Zambia Tourism site:
http://www.zambiatourism.com/travel/nationalparks/sluangwa.htm
More information and to order some photos;
http://www.johanfoto.com/en/
Getting there and around | Suggestions on where to stay