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ANIMALS
AND BIRDS
There is such
an abundance of animals in this park that
it could be called crowded! Antelopes, wildebeest
and zebra congregate along the river and on
the open savannah grasslands in the north,
where most safari camps are located. The muddy
Luangwa is home to hundreds of crocs and often
over 100 hippo in a single pool. The Nile
Crocodile is the world's largest reptile -
maxing at around 15ft ( metres) long and 100
years old.
Night drives are renowned
for sightings of leopard and lion on the hunt.
Baboons and vervet monkeys seem to be everywhere
and even rarely seen animals like the honey
badger and civet, are likely to be seen. Large
hunting packs of African wild dog - who require
a large traversing area - travel easily through
this park and are a special sight due to their
endangered status. Thornicroft's giraffe are
indigenous to the park, and are one of 8 different
races of giraffe in Africa. They have darker
muzzles and are slightly smaller than their
cousins. Even the zebras are a sub-species
of the common plains (or Burchell's) zebra,
and lack the muddy-brown shadow stripe of
its neighbours.
With over 400
species of birds recorded here you could easily
see over 100 different species in a three
day visit. Some particularly beautiful ones
are; carmine bee-eaters, kingfishers, lilac-breasted
rollers, bateleur eagles, saddle-billed storks,
crowned cranes and fish eagles.
SEASONS
Rainy
Season: The South Luangwa is inaccessible
during the rainy season from December until
the last rains in about April. After one night
of heavy rain and thunder, the Luangwa River
could rise by several metres to form a lake
that was not there the day before.
Dry Season: May to August
are the colder winter months with warm days
and cold nights. After that it gets hotter
and dryer and by September and October it
is very hot. By this time the bushes have
wilted and the earth is bone dry, so animals
assemble along the river and at remaining
waterholes. These hot dry months are the best
for game viewing.
SOUTH
LAUNGWA SPECIALITIES
• Walking safaris with expert guides
• Night drives with good sightings of
leopard
• Truly wild and remote setting
• An abundance of animals
• Encountering a lion or herd of elephants
on a walk
• Huge pods of hippos
• Exciting bird watching
• Mobile camps with all the luxuries
• Unusual animals sightings including
wild dog, honey badger, civet
FACTS
Off-road
and night drives are permitted
Most of the safari camps in the north of the
park are closed from November to June because
of unusable roads and muddy conditions.
This is a malarial area
The park covers an area of 3,494 ²miles
(9,050 ²km)
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