One of the perks of being in the travel trade is joining an educational trip to see a country for yourself. They’re great fun but most certainly not a holiday as they tend to have a maximum duration of no longer than 5-7 days and are incredibly busy with participants staying at a different lodge/camp each night and inspecting other sites during the day.

I was fortunate to join a small group of just six African safari specialists on a trip to Zambia organised by a great company called Time & Tide in August a few years ago; this is my travel journal.

Living near Gatwick I flew on Emirates via Dubai to Lusaka, the capital city of this vast land-locked country. You can also route via Johannesburg but you need to keep an eye on onward flight connections to the national parks or you’ll need to overnight in Lusaka; on the plus side though doing this means you’ll have a good nights sleep before arriving at your first safari lodge the next day. Being an educational that luxury was not an option, as we had an onward private charter flight to take us into the Lower Zambezi National Park for our first night stay at Chongwe Camp. The flight only took about 40 minutes but the scenery as we crossed the steep escarpment and dropped down into the valley of the Zambezi River was spectacular, with endless views of the valley and into Zimbabwe and the Mana Pools National Park.

Lower Zambezi National Park - Days 1-3

We landed at Royal Airstrip and were met with a short transfer to the Chongwe Camp, set on the Chongwe River which joined the mighty Zambezi River a couple of hundred of yards away. The camp offers its guests a rustic but very comfortable experience with just nine en-suite tented accommodation units that sit well in the landscape. The covered lounge and dining area looks out onto the outdoor fire-pit, perfect for those end of safari tales, and beyond to confluence of the Chongwe and Zambezi.

*Chongwe - image courtesy of Time & Tide Africa*

Being a former private reserve for the President of Zambia, the Lower Zambezi National Park has not been ‘over-touristed’ and is home to a low number of safari lodges. The reserve itself stretches along the Zambezi but is restricted in depth due to the escarpment. Elephant and hippo sighting were superb both from the camps safari vehicles and their motorised boats. Canoeing along the Chongwe River though offered a genteel way to encounter the locals – a leopard having a drink as we slide silently past was quite a sight!

The next day we had a short transfer along the Chongwe River for a real treat; a night at Chongwe House, which I’d describe as Grand Designs meets The Flintstones – what an incredible place! The house is totally open – no doors, no windows, just an un-spoilt view over the river to the escarpment beyond. It offers just four massive en-suite bedrooms with furniture hewn from local trees and is perfect for a family or group of friends. The food was delicious and the service impeccable. It comes at a price but what an experience – I have never seen anything quite like Chongwe House.

South Luangwa National Park - Days 3-7

Our time in the Lower Zambezi at an end we transferred to Jeki Airstrip for the flight back to Lusaka and onwards by Precision Air to Mfuwe, the gateway to the South Luangwa Valley. The drive to the park gates takes a little more than an hour and depending on the time of your flight you may have to overnight at a camp, such as Flatdogs, on the edge of the park. The early flight, which arrives into Mfuwe from Lusaka at 08:30, allows you to get to whichever camp is your first with no problem.

Our first night was at a camp called Nsolo, one of a small number of Time+Tide’s seasonally open bush camps, situated on a bend of the Luwi River. I say seasonally as the camps only open from May to October, as the heavy rains that arrive in the valley in mid-November and last to mid-April, make moving around in the far-flung parts of the valley incredibly difficult. Nsolo only has five rustic en-suite safari rooms, perfect for the sort of safaris for which the South Luangwa valley has become famous, simple and back to nature; a perfect way to experience Africa. That night we enjoyed a safari drive and ate dinner round the fire-pit, whilst listening to lions roar in the distance. Sadly the often seen-in-camp honey badger failed to appear that night – I have yet to see one and am beginning to think that when I do it’ll be sitting on the back of a unicorn!

*Nsolo - image courtesy of Tide & Tide Africa*

We had a fairly relaxed morning but found out why at lunch, as we were going to walk to Kakuli, our next bush camp, which was going to take a couple of hours. Walking safaris are a particular speciality of the South Luangwa although rare in many countries. The walk was gentle, stopping frequently to look at the flora and spoors that can so easily be missed when in a vehicle, and learning about the ecology of the valley, which apart from being home to one of the largest concentrations of leopards in Africa is also home to a healthy population of Thornicrofts Giraffe, which are endemic to the valley. Birding is also superb here with over 400 species; November is the best time to visit as many migratory species have arrived by then – Southern Carmine Bee-eaters and Lilian lovebirds are a particular delight to see.

On reaching Kakuli, we had a well-earned Castle beer, whilst settling in to our safari tents, all overlooking the river teeming with hippos. And since this was late August, the dry season was beginning to take hold leading to hippos starting to concentrate in huge numbers in the deeper pools, and they were getting grumpy and noisy.

That night we had a short game drive in a wooded area, in search of leopard, but they eluded us. My room sharer and I needn’t have worried though as after breakfast the next day, we were sitting outside our tent when a female leopard walked by no more than 25 yards away with her gaze firmly fixed on something unseen to us.

That afternoon we packed small day sacks and set out on another guided game walk but with a difference – we weren’t returning to Kakuli that night. The camp had arranged a sleep out in a dry river bed a couple of miles from the camp. Staff had gone on ahead of us and taken all the equipment and provisions we needed for the night and had left two game rangers who were to stay with us that night. Our ‘accommodation’ for the night was a bedroll laid on the sand, under see-through netting hung on four bamboo poles – self erected!

We all gathered wood to cook on and to build perimeter fires and sat, beer in hand, as our guide cooked a delicious meal on the open fire. In the far distance we could hear lions calling, probably the same ones we heard on our first night at Nsolo. It was incredibly atmospheric. That night I slept looking up at the African stars to the sound of Africa – that night will always stay with me.

*South Luangwa - image courtesy of Time & Tide Africa*

Back at Kakuli we had breakfast before our safari transfer to Chinzombo, a six-suite luxury lodge just outside the park on the banks of the Luangwa River. It was our slice of indulgence. Chinzombo is an incredible place, each suite is a symphony of timber, reed, leather and linen, set overlooking the park across the river and accessed via a private boat, rather than through the park gates and across the bridge. Each suite has a spacious secluded deck with a pool and outside bath.

*Chinzombo - image courtesy of Time & Tide Africa*

The part of the South Luangwa that Chinzombo accesses it probably the most game rich area of the park and we saw leopard, wild dog, a pride of lion on a predate hippo and much more. Although it is a busy part of the park and although Chinzombo is an incredible lodge, the bush camps show you the real South Luangwa.

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