SOUTH LUANGWA

05

BIRTHPLACE OF THE

Walking Safari and Renowned for

IT’S SIGHTINGS, SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL

Park in Southern Zambia is Steeped

IN HISTORY AND ABUNDANT WITH WILDLIFE

Upon my arrival in South Luangwa National Park, I was greeted by two lionesses feeding on a dead hippo in the middle of the Luangwa River. Most people don’t think of lions as scavengers, but truthfully the King of the Jungle (there are no lions in the jungle) is a predator and an opportunist. Lions will scavenge dead animals and steal kills from leopards or hyenas when given the chance. This hippo was already dead, and what made this sighting particularly special on top of that is the simple fact that lions hate water.

SOUTH LUANGWA WAS FOUNDED

As a Game Reserve in 1938

and officially became a national park in 1972. Home to the legendary conservationist Normal Carr, who created the concept of conservation-based tourism, it is here that the photographic safari and walking safari were born. Spanning over 9,000 square kilometers, South Luangwa is home to massive populations of elephants, buffalo herds in the hundreds, lions galore, and the Thornicroft’s Giraffe, a species endemic only to the Luangwa valley.

SOUTH

LUANGWA

LEOPARDS DOZE IN

DRY RIVER
/Beds and (PERCH) IN
FIG TREES

Leopards doze in dry river beds and perch in strangler fig trees, waiting for night to fall and the hunt to begin. Packs of wild dogs are plentiful, puku and bushbuck peer through the tall grasses, and crocodiles cluster in feeding frenzies when the hippos start dropping at the end of dry season. South Luangwa has gravel roads accessible by 4x4, making it the park most visited by locals. Time spent here guarantees magnificent sightings and unforgettable moments. Overlooking the river at sundown, I turned around to find myself face to face with a herd of 15 elephants only a few feet away. They had silently sneaked up behind us and and they had small calves. As twilight turned to dusk, they headed down the embankment to the river to drink, black silhouettes against the purple sky.