South Luangwa Photo Safari with Charl and Sabine

Chikunto is ideally situated inside the South Luangwa National Park which means we can get out exploring at first light. This is often the best time to see predators at the end of the “night shift”. We have chosen to be inside the national park instead of using (cheaper) lodges outside as it affords us better photo opportunities with access to the park during the best parts of the day….and thats why we are here!

We will be making use of two safari game viewers with both of the Pangolin Photo Hosts dividing their time between the two vehicles. This means you will get to spend equal amounts of time with both Charl and Sabine while on this South Luangwa Photo Safari.

The morning game drive usually lasts approximately four hours and we will be traversing the area in and around Chikunto. Chikunto itself is based on the Luangwa River and so we will have plenty of opportunities to catch those most iconic scenes such as large pods of hippos in the river and basking on the banks.

The two vehicles will be in constant radio contacts so that we can alert each other to sightings and at South Luangwa. There is an opportunity to position. The vehicles slightly off-road for better advantage points. It should be noted, however, that off-roading in South Luangwa is highly discouraged.

Charl and Sabine will coordinate the day and which direction you will head depending on reports of the sightings. the camp is far away from the busier parts of The South Luangwa park which means there will generally be far fewer vehicles at a sighting that we want to photograph and stay with.

In the mid morning, we will return to Chikunto for a brunch, and then there is plenty of opportunity for us to conduct. Image review sessions with Shah and Sabine. If you would like to participate in the sessions, you will need to bring your own laptop loaded with the editing software of your choice. It should be said that you should be comfortable with using your own editing software as there won’t be time to teach you. We strongly suggest that you take Janine’s 11 part Adobe Lightroom course if you are not comfortable with a particular editing program as of yet.

In the afternoon, we will head out again in search of more photo opportunities. The advantage of also being based inside the park is that the afternoon drive will turn into a night time game drive where we have the opportunity to spot some of the lesser seen mammals species such as genet, civets and also the nocturnal birds of prey such as owls.

We have scheduled this South Luangwa Photo Safari to coincide with a new Moon which should afford us some opportunities to conduct astro photography – if the cloud cover plays ball – which it should at this time of year! We will be bringing a couple of tripods with us but you will need to make sure you have a wide angle lens as well as a shutter release with you to make the most of these sessions. If you have a travel tripod then please do bring it along.

In the evenings there will be time to relax at the lodge – which is very comfortable and right by the river. There is a sleep out deck if you would like to spend the night under the stars (let your safari planner know and we can reserve that for you).

The food at Chikunto is amazing and can cater for most restrictions such as vegetarian and vegan as well as taking note of all allergies and intolerances. There is also a lovely swimming pool to relax by during the day with a good book.

South Luangwa offers up plenty of diverse photo opportunities that should be covered by either a decent prime lens or a capable telephoto with a reach greater than 400mm. We have scheduled our time in South Luangwa to coincide with a New Moon so that we can attempt some night photography should the cloud cover be suitable and cooperative. For this, you will need a wider lens as well as a shutter release. We will be bringing 4 tripods with us should you not have your own. This means we will do two sessions of night photography with 4 participants on each night.

The airport that services South Luangwa National Park is called Mfuwe and is accessed through the international hub (and capital of Zambia) Lusaka. Lusaka has excellent international as set out below:

Via the Gulf: There are direct flights to Lusaka from Dubai (Emirates) and from Doha (Qatar)

Via East Africa: There are flights from both Nairobi (Kenya Airways) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopian) and these routes are becoming increasingly popular with our guests coming from Europe and the Americas.

Via South Africa: You can use Johannesburg as your hub if you are flying from SA or perhaps also from Australia rather than going via the Gulf. This is a great hub if you want to combine South Luangwa with the South African Safari Circuit or even Cape Town.

Via Livingtone: Livingstone sits on TheZambian side of Victoria Falls which is always worth a visit (and is in full flood in June) and is also only a 1.5 hour transfer away from the Chobe where you could spend a few days with us at the Pangolin Chobe Hotel before heading up to South Luangwa with Charl and Sabine. Rumour has it that ProFlight in Zambia are going to launch a direct flight from Livingstone to Mfuwe (not via Lusaka) and if that comes to fruition we will be making the most of that shortcut!

June 2nd to 8th 2024

$7,950 per person sharing / $2,000 Single Supplement