Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PITSTOP
Despite the relative proximity of North and South Luangwa National Parks, driving between them is long and hard,
and it will take over 11 hours if you were to try the trip in one go. However, most who venture this route stop after
around six hours in small Luambe National Park and spend a night or more at the
Luangwa Wilderness Lodge
(
www.luangwawilderness.com
; campsite per person ZMW53, full board s/d US$245/360; all-inclusive s/d US$440/
700)
, only 3km off the roadway on the Luangwa River. It's another five hours or so from here to Buffalo camp in
North Luangwa.
North Luangwa National Park
This
park
(admission US$20, vehicle US$15; 6am-6pm)
is large, wild and spectacular,
but nowhere near as developed or set-up for tourism as its southern counterpart. The big
draw of North Luangwa is its walking safaris, where you can get up close to the wildlife
in a truly remote wilderness.
The bush in North Luangwa is dense in places, so the animals are slightly harder to see,
and there are very few tracks for vehicles, so the emphasis is firmly on walking. The
range of wildlife is similar to South Luangwa's, except there are no giraffes, and the park
is particularly famous for its huge buffalo herds (sometimes up to 1000-strong), which in
turn attract large numbers of lions and hyenas. While all the black rhino in the valley were
wiped out by the late 1980s (Zambia once had one of the largest populations of black
rhino in the world), over the last decade nearly 30 have been introduced to a specially pro-
tected area of the park thanks in large part to the
Frankfurt Zoological Society
(
www.zgf.de
)
, the conservation group working with ZAWA to protect the park.
North Luangwa's eastern boundary is the Luangwa River, but the heart of the park is
the Mwaleshi River - a permanent watercourse and vital supply for wildlife. Dotted along
the river, specialised camps and lodges cater for enthusiasts and aficionados. These are
open only in the dry season, usually June through the end of October, as access is very re-
stricted in the rains.
It's important to note that most of the southern part of the park has been set aside as a
wilderness area. There are not many roads and only three smallish camps that mainly run
walking safaris. The only way to access this part of the park is to arrange your stay with
one of these operators. However, to the north is a zone that allows wider self-drive access
with one main track and several smaller tracks running off it. Note though that you'll need
to have a fully-equipped 4WD vehicle to attempt this.
