“We began in Big Five territory, at South Luangwa Natural Park, where the family-run Shenton Safaris operates two long-established camps. One of the oldest national parks in Zambia, South Luangwa is an outstanding model of the traditional relationship between tourism, community, and wildlife.”

“Our home in South Luangwa was Mwamba Camp, a cluster of thatch-and-bamboo huts on the banks of the Mwamba River, which runs along the park’s eastern edge. Each of the four guest chalets is open to the sky, allowing night breezes to take the place of air-conditioning. From my bed I stared upward, through a mosquito net and a layer of mesh, to branches seemingly hung with stars. The whistling of tree frogs and the whooping of hyenas made up the soundscape until dawn, when doves and coucals took over and I was summoned to breakfast.”

The Luangwa Valley has earnt a well-deserved reputation for brilliant walking safaris – the opportunity to strike out of camp with your expert private guide with a chance to track big game on foot is an experience not to be missed. Leopard are particularly abundant here with other star attractions including lion, wild dog, Thornicroft’s giraffe and thousands upon thousands of hippo. Find out more about walking safaris in Zambia.

“Bangweulu is a miraculous, 2,300-square-mile expanse of marsh in northern Zambia. It is also one of the last homes of the iconic, elusive shoebill—a prehistoric-looking bird with an eight-foot wingspan found only in the remotest swamps of Africa. Few people have seen one.”

Shoebill Camp is perfectly positioned on the banks of the expansive Bangweulu Wetlands standing on a rare piece of dry land. The camp is alive with birds and the sounds of thousands of lechwe sloshing through the shallow waters makes for a peaceful, relaxing stay in camp.

“I did love Bangweulu, utterly, from the first moment. I loved the meditative peace of the place, the state of primordial simplicity it put me in. I loved the volleys of birds that busy the air and the outlines of the fishermen punting their canoes. From across the reedbeds, I caught the cries of waterfowl and the distant voices of fishermen, women, and children (many of whom, I was told, have never seen a motorized vehicle).”

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