Ultimate South Luangwa

Duration: 6 nights

Explore the pristine wilderness of the South Luangwa – the home of the walking safari - with one of Zambia’s most experienced expert guides, whilst enjoying luxurious tented accommodation and fine dining, personalised service and comfort.

Day 01 - Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge

As you will be entering Zambia, a single entry visa will be required and is obtainable at the point of entry at a cost of USD50 per person, payable in cash. The visa fee is subject to change at the discretion of the Zambian Government.

On arrival at Lusaka Airport, proceed through passport control and collect bags off luggage carousel. Please make your way to the Proflight counter in the Domestic Departure area, once Air Port Departure taxes have been paid (these are currently USD 8 but are subject to change) to check in for your onward flight to Mfuwe International airport. The flying time is approximately 1 hour.

On arrival at the Mfuwe International airport a Sanctuary Retreats representative will meet you and transfer you to Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge and the transfer time is approximately 2 hours through the local Mfuwe village and the rest of the transfer a game drive through the South Luangwa National Park.

Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge was originally built for Kenneth Kaunda, the former Zambian president, in the 1970s and the original colonial style has been retained in the furnishings. A long veranda sweeps around the front of the main building,  from which guests are afforded views down the valley to the Luangwa itself. When possible, dinner is served outside. On cooler nights, roaring fires take the chill out of the air. The grunt of lions or the saw of leopards can often be heard from the wooded valleys that surround the lodge.

Each of the ten luxurious suites and one dedicated single room at Sanctuary Chichele comes complete with four-poster beds, air conditioning, full bathroom and every other amenity guests could wish for - all in the middle of the African bush.  In order to accommodate families the lodge offers one inter leading room and two triple rooms.

In keeping with the rest of the lodge, the suites are decorated in an understated colonial style. French windows open onto private terraces, where getting up early to watch the sun rise over the Luangwa Valley is a once in a lifetime experience.

A full range of day and night game drives in the South Luangwa National Park are offered by the lodge, using open 4X4 vehicles driven by knowledgeable guides. The emphasis in this area is on the plentiful game and the opportunity of being able to combine both game drives as well as short  walking safaris with a professional guide and an armed national parks scout. Walking safaris offer a different perspective on the bush and its plentiful inhabitants, experiencing the “little five” and much more.

The afternoon is at leisure to enjoy the game viewing activity on offer, including night game drives, the perfect complement to your South Luangwa explorations.

Overnight: Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge

Day 02 - Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge

The day is at leisure to enjoy the activities on offer. Including a morning or an evening game drive or a walking safari.

Lions and leopards are often seen in the area around the lodge, as are buffalo and elephant. For big game like this, guests really need a vehicle to get up close and here in the South Luangwa, travellers have the privilege of going on game drives at night. Guests are always amazed how much can be seen when they go down to the river for sundowner cocktails before leisurely driving back to camp. Bush babies in the trees stand out with their enormous eyes, puku and impala scarcely notice as vehicles pass by. Guests often see hyena and leopard in the early evenings and are able to get very close in Sanctuary Retreats’ specially designed 4 x 4 vehicles. On the open plains below the camp there are always grazing herds of antelope and of course they attract the predators that every guest wants to see.

Overnight: Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge

Day 03 - Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge

The day is at leisure to enjoy the activities on offer. Walking is the best way to see the bush around Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge. Sanctuary’s experienced guides love showing guests the indicators of the wild, ‘rewinding’ the action of the last few hours from just a few small give away signs. See where an elephant stopped to browse, where a leopard scratched a tree or a pangolin rolled into a ball. Accompanied by an armed game scout and taking careful note of the wind to mask any scent. There’s nothing like seeing lion tracks or the giant footprint of an elephant to make guests relish the comforts of camp. The area is home to 60 mammals and over 400 bird species, making it one of the top birding destinations in the world.

Overnight: Sanctuary Chichele Presidential Lodge

Day 04 - Sanctuary Zebra Plains

After breakfast the lodge managers will advise on your departure time for the half way meeting point at Ebony Groves where a Sanctuary Zebra Plains Camp representative will transfer you to the walking safari camp. The transfer is mostly though the National Park and forms part of a game drive where the driving time is approximately 2 hours to the meeting point and then another 1 hour 30 minutes to Sanctuary Zebra Plains.

Sanctuary Zebra Plains is the first true luxury walking safari camp of its kind with just four traditional tents – two doubles and two twins. The camp accommodates a maximum of six guests, allowing for an intimate exploration of the untouched Northern sector of the South Luangwa National Park. All tents have real beds, campaign furniture, mosquito nets, en suite facilities and flush toilets. Water for al fresco showers is mixed to your preferred temperature by your tent attendant. The main mess tent has a dining area although most of the gourmet meals will be served in the open in carefully selected vantage points. There is also a small library and bar area.

This is a seasonal camp operating from June to October each year. Sanctuary Zebra Plains will open to guests for the first time on June 1, 2011. The camp has been designed to leave the lowest possible carbon footprint and will be packed up completely with no trace that it was ever there between seasons.

What sets the area apart is quite simply the concentration of wildlife. On the plains zebra, antelope, buffalo and Puku antelope congregate alongside endemic species such as the Thornicroft's giraffe, and the unique Crawshay's zebra and Cookson’s wildebeest. Predators such as lion, leopard and the elusive wild dog can be seen tracking their quarry whilst the rivers and tributaries are teeming with hippo, elephant and crocodile. A safari on foot also ensures that one can see many of the 400 species of birds found in the area and the rarely seen but fascinating “Little Five” (rhino beetle, buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise and ant lion).

Garth Hovell, widely regarded as one of Zambia’s most highly respected guides with almost twenty years of experience, personally leads walks twice a day. For Garth there is no match for the thrill of a walking safari: “On foot your senses are heightened by all that surrounds you to give you the ultimate safari high.”

The days are at leisure to enjoy the walking safari activities on offer, you might wander along a river bank, observing elephants before canoeing across the river to a large island opposite the camp to get up close to plains game before returning to camp for cocktails and canapés as the sun sets over the Luangwa River.  Listen to the sounds of hundreds of snorting hippos providing the background music before sitting down to a three course candlelit dinner served under the stars, with white linen, the finest silverware with lanterns strategically placed to set the ambiance of this true ‘Out of Africa’ experience.

Overnight: Sanctuary Zebra Plains

Day 05 - Sanctuary Zebra Plains

The day is at leisure to enjoy the walking activities on offer. Imagine standing in the giant footsteps of an elephant or touching the bark of a tree where only minutes earlier a leopard had scratched it. Imagine watching the grass spring back seconds after a Puku antelope bent it in passing or spotting the tracks of a lion in the sand as it stalks its prey.

Overnight: Sanctuary Zebra Plains

Day 06 - Sanctuary Zebra Plains

Today you may choose to explore nearby Zebra Plains where buffalo, zebra and eland gather in large herds on the open savannah, a rarity in the wooded terrain of the South Luangwa. The following day your destination might be the Changwa Channel, featured in David Attenborough’s “Life” series and home to one of the highest concentrations of hippos on earth.

Overnight: Sanctuary Zebra Plains

Day 07 - Sanctuary Zebra Plains

Enjoy a morning game viewing activity followed by breakfast.  Please meet your guide who will transfer you to Mfuwe airport for your onward flight to Lusaka Airport. The transfer time will be advised to you locally by the camp management.

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