Travel deep dive
South Luangwa, Where the Safari Goes on Foot
South Luangwa National Park follows the Luangwa river through the floor of a broad valley in the east of Zambia, a land of oxbow lagoons, sandy riverbanks, ebony groves and mopane woodland. It is one of Africa's great parks for wildlife, and it is where the walking safari was pioneered: here a guide leads visitors on foot to read the bush rather than drive to a sighting. Most visitors fly in to Mfuwe and stay several nights, on drives by day and by night and on morning walks.
Updated 2026-10-09
The river and its lagoons
The Luangwa winds across the valley in great loops, and as it shifts its course it leaves behind oxbow lagoons that hold water long into the dry season. The park lies along its western bank, and in the dry months the river and the lagoons draw the animals of the valley: elephants crossing the shallows, buffalo in large herds, hippos packed into every deep pool, and crocodiles on the sandbanks.
The animals of the valley
Lions hunt the open floodplain and the woodland edge, and leopards are a South Luangwa speciality, seen most often after dark. The valley has animals of its own: Thornicroft's giraffe, a giraffe found only in the Luangwa valley, and Cookson's wildebeest. Puku, impala and waterbuck graze near the water, and wild dogs pass through in some years.
Walking safaris
The walking safari was pioneered in the Luangwa valley by Norman Carr, and walking remains the park's signature. Zambia's walking guides qualify only after long training and examinations in tracking, birds and the behaviour of animals, and a good guide is often the reason visitors come back. A morning walk is led by a guide with an armed scout and moves slowly, stopping at tracks in the sand, dung, the calls of birds and the smaller life of the bush, and keeping a respectful distance from large animals. In the dry season some camps run walks from camp to camp over several days, with the luggage sent ahead.
Night drives
Night drives are allowed in South Luangwa, and they are where many visitors see their first leopard. A drive goes out in the late afternoon, stops for the sunset, and continues after dark with a spotter's lamp, which picks out leopards setting out to hunt, hyenas, genets, civets and the eyes of hippos grazing far from the water.
Birds of the Luangwa
The valley is rich in birds, from storks, herons and fish eagles on the lagoons to hornbills and rollers in the woodland. In the late dry season, from about September, carmine bee-eaters nest in colonies in the sandy banks of the river, and their red flashing over the water is one of the sights of the year.
Seasons and staying
The dry season, from about May to October, is the main season, when the bush thins and the animals keep to the river; it grows hotter towards October. In the rains, from about November to April, the valley turns green, many of the bush camps deeper in the park close, and the lodges near Mfuwe that stay open take visitors out by boat as the river rises. Camps and lodges range from the edge of the park near Mfuwe to small bush camps along the river, and every drive and walk is arranged through them.
Getting there
Mfuwe's airport, near the main gate, has flights from Lusaka of about an hour, and the camps meet their guests there. By road, Mfuwe is reached from Chipata, near the border with Malawi, on a long drive. Light aircraft link the park with the Lower Zambezi, the usual pairing for a trip through Zambia's parks.