South Luangwa National Park Safaris
South Luangwa is Zambia’s most famous safari park. It’s the finest walking destination in Africa and is also well known for its high levels of guiding.
When to go to South Luangwa National Park
Best Time to Go
Zambia’s most famous safari park
High-quality camps and guiding
The best walking destination in Africa
A contender for Africa’s finest Safari Park
Home of the Walking Safari
South Luangwa is a park adored by safari enthusiasts. There are very few parks in Africa with as high a density of animals and such pristine, truly wild wilderness areas – yet so few tourists. Experts love South Luangwa because of the Valley’s reputation for exceptionally high standards of guiding, the quality of walking safari on offer, and the park’s small yet very high-quality camps. Some of the guiding here is set at a ridiculously high level.
‘Luangwa Valley’, including both the North and the South Luangwa, is widely recognised as the finest walking area in Africa. There are many camps here that put a real focus on walking – some do not offer anything but walking. The park’s diversity of safari activities is also a major attraction. You can game drive by day and by night, as well as walk here. The night safari opens up some of the finest leopard viewing in Africa. Value, as with the whole of Zambia, is also one of the Luangwa’s main attractions. Camps outside the park also offer special activities, such as cycle safari. John Coppinger’s phenomenal Tafika Camp offers microlighting. We believe the country as a whole offers the best-value safari in Africa.
South Luangwa National Park Trips
Renowned as the ‘Valley of the Leopards’, South Luangwa is Zambia’s most famous safari park and the finest walking destination in Africa. The mix of floodplains, woodlands, and oxbow lagoons forms a vital conservation landscape that offers one of the most diverse arrays of wildlife and birdlife on the continent, in my opinion. With world-class bush camps and exceptional guiding, it delivers some of Africa’s most authentic and thrilling wildlife encounters.
Talk to someone who’s been there
Real expertise doesn’t come from a few trips to Africa. All our specialists have either been guides, run the camps, or grown up and lived in Africa. That’s over 600 years of genuine safari experience.
Good to Know
01.
What is the best time to visit South Luangwa for the best value?
Look for the deals! There are some very good offers available from operators who have a number of camps. They encourage you to stay longer by slashing their rates for long stays. The value on offer in this park is really not to be underestimated.
02.
When is the best time to travel to South Luangwa National Park?
The Luangwa comes into its own during the dry season, with wildlife sightings becoming more rewarding later on in the year. From June to October, large herds gather along the river systems, and at this time of year, this is some of the best game viewing in Africa! That said, temperatures also rise, with October being especially hot. Outside this period, many camps will close due to seasonal flooding of the Luangwa River. If you travel earlier in the year, when the plains are waterlogged, boat safaris replace game drives as the primary way to explore the park.
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