North Luangwa National Park

South Luangwa gets the visitors; North Luangwa gets the purists. There is no general road network for tourists here and no self-driving - the park is experienced almost entirely on foot with armed scouts and professional guides, in the walking safari tradition that Zambia invented in this valley. That means tracking rather than driving up to sightings: buffalo herds in the hundreds, lion prides that have learned to hunt them, Cookson's wildebeest and Crawshay's zebra, and the black rhino reintroduced here from 2003 after poaching had wiped them out. Camps are small, seasonal and few. The park was a game reserve from 1938 and became a national park in 1972; it covers 4,636 square kilometres.

Highlights

• Walking safaris - the park's only real way to see it, in small guided groups.
• Buffalo herds and lion - the valley's defining predator-prey relationship.
• Reintroduced black rhino - the recovery programme's flagship species.
• The Mwaleshi river - shallow, clear and walkable in the dry season.

When to go

The park opens roughly June to October and closes completely in the wet season. September and October offer the most concentrated game and the hottest conditions; June and July are cooler and greener at the edges.

Good to know

This is not a park for casual visitors: access is only through a handful of operators, costs are high, and the experience is walking for hours in heat rather than sitting in a vehicle. Fitness matters. Rhino sightings are not offered as a product for anti-poaching reasons.

Nearby

South Luangwa to the south and the Mpika road connecting toward the Great North Road.

Key facts