South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
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 primordial drama in
every vale.
The ‘Valley’ lies at the tail end of the Great
Rift Valley, that continental fault
which runs from the Red Sea down the length of East
Africa. This accounts for the spectacular escarpment
scenery in East Africa as well as the African Lakes.
As the Rift reaches Zambia, it divides; one arm to the
east encompasses Lake Malawi and the western arm becomes
the Luangwa Valley, which stretches some seven hundred
kilometres at an average width of about one hundred
kilometres.
In the west, the Muchinga Mountain range forms the limit
of both the Valley and the parks. In the east is a
similar, though less well defined escarpment. The Valley
floor is about a thousand meters lower than the
surrounding plateau.
Down the centre of the valley flows the Luangwa River,
fed by dozens of sand
rivers that come down during the rainy season. The
Luangwa carves a tortuous course along the floor and when
in flood rapidly erodes the outer bends, depositing silt
within the loops. Eventually the river cuts a new course,
leaving the old course to silt up, forming ‘ox
bow’ lagoons. These lagoons are very important to
the ecology of the riverine zone and account for the high
carrying capacity of the area.
The countryside is spectacular in its rugged beauty, the
vegetation thick and,
near the Luangwa River and its many tributaries, a lush
riverine forest occurs that is green all year round.
Flanking the rivers western banks are the North and South
Luangwa National Parks separated by the 30km Munyamadzi
corridor. To the east, between the two main parks is
another small and as yet undeveloped Park called Luambe.
Further east on the rocky uplands beyond the flood plain
is the Lukusuzi National Park, also undeveloped but plans
are in the pipeline.
SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK
Experts have dubbed South Luangwa as one of the greatest
wildlife sanctuaries in the world, and not without
reason. The concentration of game
around the Luangwa river and it’s ox bow lagoons is
among the most intense in Africa. The park’s 9050km2
is host to a wide variety of wildlife birds and
vegetation. 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 bushveld 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
If you’re staying at one of the Valley’s
lodges, the 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. If you’re in your
own vehicle, be sure to get a
map of the park from the Crocodile Farm at the park
entrance and follow the loop roads graded in the park,
past dambos bursting with hippos, crowned cranes, grazing
antelope and scurrying baboons. Further out on the plains
you’re bound to see the large elephant herds,
reaching up to 70 in number. Buffalo are abundant and
spread throughout the valley.
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 dambos and lagoons will reveal many. There is
estimated to be at least 50 hippos per kilometre of the
Luangwa River!
Zebra can be seen running in small herds of about a
dozen. The difference
between Zambia’s zebras and those in the south and
east of Africa are in the
stripes. Here they are evenly spaced as opposed to broad
light stripes with a faint shadow stripe in-between.
Thornicroft’s Giraffe, unique to Luangwa Valley
should beeasily spotted.
The park has 14 different antelope species, most of which
are easily seen on game and night drives. Watch out for
the elusive bushbuck, preferring to inhabit densely
covered areas. The common duiker is not that common near
the Luangwa river but inhabits the back country of the
Luangwa Valley. The largest of the antelope is the eland,
usually near the Nsefu sector of the park. The most
numerous antelope is the impala, these gregarious 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 also prolific.
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.. Reedbuck,
roan, sable, hartebeest, grysbok, klipspringer and oribi
are all here but not prolific in the central tourist area
of the Park. They tend to stay deeper in the remote parts
towards the Muchinga escarpment.
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 their
plaintive, eerie cry, so characteristic of the African
bush can be heard on most nights.
South Luangwa has a good population of leopard but they
are not that easy to spot and tend to retreat when they
hear vehicles. Many of the Lodge’s game trackers are
skilled in finding leopards on night drives however, and
often visitors are rewarded with a full view of a kill.
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. Very
often they roam in prides of up to thirty.
Of the other carnivores present but not often seen is the
caracal, wild dog, serval and side striped jackal.
The Luangwa river also has an extraordinarily high number
of crocodiles. It is not uncommon to see several basking
on the riverbanks or even floating down the river tearing
at a dead animal.
Night drives are fascinating in the Luangwa. Not only for
the chance of seeing a leopard but for the many
interesting animals that only come to life at night.
Genets, civets, servals, hyenas, and bushbabies as well
as owls, nightjars, the
foraging hippos, honey badgers and lion.
Birdlife
Birdwatching is superb in the Valley. Near the end of the
dry season, when the
river and oxbow lagoons begin to recede, hundreds of
large waterbirds can be seen wading through the shallows.
The red faced yellow billed storks move along with their
beaks open underwater, disturbing the muddy liquid with
their feet until the fish flop into their mouths. The
pelicans tend to operate in lines abreast, driving the
fish before them into shallows before scooping them up
into their beak pouches. The striking 1.6m saddle bill
stork makes quick darting movements into the water. Then
there’s the marabou stork, great white egrets, black
headed herons, open billed storks and the stately goliath
heron that can stand in the same position for hours
before pouncing. Of the most beautiful are the elegant
crowned cranes, with their golden tufts congregating in
large flocks at the salt pans.
Around the same time, just before the rains set in, in
November, the palearctic
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.
The ever-present sounds of the birds in the Valley takes
some getting used to.
An early caller is the ground hornbill, looking like a
well-dressed turkey, but
emitting the sound of a deep base drum. The melodious
Heuglin’s robin, the shrill cry of the fish eagle
and the background cooing of doves and larks.
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.
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 one’s experience
to begin to recognise 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.
Accommodation
and Safaris in Luangwa National Park
Tena Tena Camp
Nkwali Camp
Robin Pope Walking Safaris
Flatdogs Camp
For
further information, reservation details or details of
packages which include The Luangwa National Park please
go to:
or email us
Not in the UK? - Go to
our .com Site