Ultimate Zambian Safari - South Luangwa and Lower & Upper Zambezi

Zambia | Jul 20 - Jul 31, 2022

My husband and I are just home from a fabulous holiday in Zambia. We stayed 5 nights in the marvellous South Luangwa National Park – 3 at Kafunta Lodge and two at Three Rivers Camp. The accommodation was fabulous, especially the star beds at Three Rivers and the deck, infinity pool and hot tub at Kafunta! The fine dining was an unexpected pleasure too, along with a different and stunning dining location for every meal. Our guides Solomon and David were marvellous – skilful drivers, experts on the extensive bird life and other animals and strategic in their decision making to optimise the experience for us with our cameras always clicking. Highlights here were the frequent leopard and lion sightings. We were very impressed by the strong environmental focus at Kafunta. No plastic water bottles for instance. And the network of social enterprise partnerships they have, engaging with the local community around them. Congratulations to the founders Ron and Anke Cowan for their ethical and responsible approach to tourism.

We flew from the brilliant town of Mfuwe to the Royal airstrip, where we were picked up by wonderful Weston who was our guide on the Lower Zambezi, based at Baines River Camp. The pace here was less cracking, which was just what we needed by now! We chilled as we watched the mighty Zambezi flow from the verandah of our sumptuous room. We enjoyed several interesting game drives here as well as relaxing cruises on the river. Lots of crocodiles, elephants and hippos.

We finished with three nights at the beautiful River Club, out of Livingstone. A helicopter flight to view the Victoria Falls is an absolute must –after circling the falls several times we flew low over the water zig zagging our way downstream in the fantastic gorges! Paul, Mack, Davies, Chloe and Costa ensured we had a great stay here too. Terrific food served at a different location every meal, sensational setting and lovely cruises on the upper Zambezi.

The animal of the trip would have to be the hippo. Closely followed by the terribly shy warthog. We did not see any rhinos so will definitely be back to Africa in the near future to address this omission!