South Luangwa National Park

South Luangwa is Zambia’s premier wildlife destination, comprising 9,050 square kilometres of unspoilt African wilderness. Its eastern boundary is the meandering Luangwa River whose regular changes in course leave characteristically scenic ox-bow lagoons.

Set amongst beautiful riverine vegetation of evergreen mahogany and ebony trees, these lagoons and the ‘grazing lawns’ around them are a magnet to the park’s outstanding wildlife. You can expect to encounter numerous large animals here – elephant, buffalo, hippo, Thornicroft’s giraffe, lion, crocodile, warthog, puku, Crawshay’s zebra, Cookson’s wildebeest and eland are all common. Luangwa has the world’s highest naturally occurring population of leopard.

For the birdwatcher too, Luangwa could hardly be better. The sun-scorched riverbanks play host to vast colonies of carmine bee-eaters, which together with lovebirds and kingfishers lend more than a splash of colour to this beautiful destination.