South Luangwa is known for its walking safaris and off the grid boutique bush lodges. We were a bit nervous for this trip because we were staying in very remote lodges and it was the longest plane ride Sonja had done to date.
We flew from Johannesburg to Lusaka and then took a small 20-seater plane into the town of Mfuwe where we were met by the safari guide from our first camp. As we drive towards the park it suddenly transitions from town to wilderness. There are no fences surrounding South Luangwa, only natural borders such as rivers and hills demarcate the park’s boundaries. The driver, who is from the town, tells us about how the elephants ransack the gardens at night and about dangerous encounters with hippos as they venture into the streets at night.
The camp Nsolo was a 2 hour drive into the park. It is one of the most remote camps in the park, completely off the grid. It’s a temporary camp, broken down and removed at the end of each dry season. The walls, made of reeds from the bush, are built from scratch year after year.
A map of the Time & Tide properties inside South Luangwa NP. We flew into the town of Mfuwe
Like the park, the camp also didn’t have a fence. Elephants often wandered through, grazing on trees as they passed. We were instructed to always be vigilant and never walk to our room at night without a staff escort.
The camp was located next to a dry riverbed. Around camp we saw many Lilac Breasted Rollers and Little Bee Eater birds who nested in the dried riverbanks. I’m not sure how Phil did it, but at both camps we stayed at while in South Luangwa, we were the only guests at that time and had the whole place to ourselves.
We did not get to take advantage of all the camp had to offer it truly bask in it’s remoteness as we were worried about Sonja being so young. This just means we’ll have to come back for another trip when the girls after older to enjoy the walking safaris, late night safari drives and sleep outside.
The night drives were amazing at South Luangwa. We saw tons of hippo, leopard, porcupines(!), hyena, genet and a lot more
After 2 nights we transferred to the next camp, KuKaya. As we were checking in Phil recognized a running friend, Andreas, from several years ago! We couldn’t believe it given how off the beaten trail we were. He was leading a large group checking out that day so once again we had the camp all to ourselves. While normally we would have preferred the rustic and remoteness of the first camp, I was much more at ease here with Sonja. It was more established and had air conditioning so I worried less about her comfort. The camp was also larger with more staff, including the head chef that was in charge of the menu for all their sister camps throughout the park. KuKaya is 6 permanent tented chalets, sleeping 22 guests, but for the two nights we were there we had it all to ourselves.
Sonja enjoyed the pool at our tent in KuKaya camp, which overlooked the (mostly) dry riverbed. We saw giraffe, warthog, zebra, wildebeest from our deck. At night, armed guards walked us back to the tent from the dining area and on one such trip we saw a hippo grazing right in from of our tent!
Staying in two different parts of the park also allowed us to fully experience the varied terrain. From dry riverbeds and thicket to open plains and corridors of tall trees, each area of the park was unique.
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