South Luangwa National Park

Luangwa River

We had heard a lot of praises of South Luangwa NP in the east of Zambia, and as we were coming from this side, we were happy we had enough time to explore the park. With the Wildlife Camp, we had found the perfect spot just outside the park but directly at the river with a stunning sunset.

One day we spent exploring the park with our car, which was no problem as the roads were good and only two times we had to turn around because of low hanging trees or a muddy ford, which we didn’t want to risk, just because it was not necessary.

The Luangwa leaves many swamps and lagoons behind when it subsides after the rainy season, a reason which makes the abundance of wildlife possible, which the park is famous for.

Numerous huge crocs are everywhere
Open-billed stork
Saddle-bill stork
Crawshay’s zebra with narrow stripes
Thornicroft’s giraffe – endemic to the Luangwa Valley
Hooded Vulture
Wildlife Camp @ Luangwa River

We spent a second day at the campsite, just enjoying the view, counting the crocs and hippos at the river and watching the birds. What a great place!

The next days were dedicated to driving to Lusaka, which we did with a stop in Petauke and another one at the Luangwa Bridge. From Mfuwe at the park entrance, to Chipata close to the border to Malawi, the road contains lots of potholes. The main road from Chipata until the bridge over the Luangwa was perfect, afterwards it was a bad road with enough potholes again.

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