One of Zambia’s most inviting national parks is South Luangwa National Park, with a variety of animals, incredible scenery, good accessibility, and a wide choice of accommodation. The terrain crosses from dense woodland and open grassy plains to the banks of the Luangwa River, where everything from gigantic elephants to tsetse flies lurk day and night. It’s possible to go on a walking safari here, which, with wild animals all around as you traverse the same ground as they do, is an exceptionally exhilarating experience.
The incredible Lower Zambezi National Park was once the private game reserve of Zambia’s president, only opening to public visitors in the 1980s. As such, the park is still relatively undeveloped and very wild. The diversity of wildlife is not as wide as that of other big parks, but what it lacks in diversity, it more than makes up for in beauty and in opportunity to get a little closer to the park’s inhabitants. The river is often full of hippos and gigantic herds of elephants, while the inland floodplain is interspersed with forested lands and huge acacia trees—a perfect spot for Samango monkeys to take shade under the harsh sun.
