Mobile Walking Safari with Robin Pope Safaris

On arrival at Mfuwe Airport, a guide from Robin Pope Safaris will meet and transfer you to the camp. The drive to Nkwali Camp is approx one hour through colourful local scenes of villages, agriculture as well as bush.

Nkwali Camp is built on the banks of the Luangwa river overlooking the South Luangwa.
This small camp of six thatched en suite chalets has an unusual bar encircling an enormous ebony tree and a dining room overlooking the lagoon. The six rooms are cool and spacious. They are comfortably decorated with open windows to the river. Each has an en suite semi-open bathroom with a large open shower and an enclosed flush toilet under thatch.

Depending on your arrival time in the day you will enjoy a lunch looking out over the lagoon to the back of Nkwali or if in the afternoon for tea and the afternoon and night game drive.

South Luangwa National Park

The brooding Luangwa River meanders through the luxuriant valley, supporting thousands of hippo and crocodile and sustaining the park. Elephant, a wide variety of antelope, buffalo, kudu, zebra, Thornycroft’s giraffe and wildebeest occur in great numbers, as well as over 400 bird species. Lion, wild dog and hyena are also common and the park is famed for its excellent leopard sightings.

The game in the central park is excellent – and includes many family herds of elephants and the endemic species of giraffe, the Thornycroft giraffe. A mid morning break of tea, coffee and cake will be taken by a scenic point on a lagoon or the Luangwa River. Return to camp for lunch around mid day. After lunch you can cool off in the swimming pool or have a siesta. Tea will be served in the afternoon and then off on an afternoon game drive that continues into the early night giving the chance to see the nocturnal wildlife.

Note: You can easily add on days at Nkwali preceding the official start date of the mobile walking safari if you wish.

At dawn breakfast is served around the campfire. This includes porridge heated on the fire and toast cooked by the coals.

After breakfast, you will be heading north to start your walking mobile. The drive is some 90km to the Mupamadzi River along a bush road. This country is different from the river belt and you will see new trees and there is possibility of a few species of antelope not found by the Luangwa River. Lunch will be a light picnic on the journey.

The camp is already set up for your arrival with well-equipped walk-in tents. The shower is under a tree and the toilet is a long drop with a wooden throne. Enjoy a relaxing siesta before tea and going for a walk in the afternoon to return for sundowners and dinner in the open under the stars!

Up at sunrise for the morning walk. The clear water Mupamadzi River is a major tributary of the Luangwa and all walks are led by an experienced naturalist and accompanied by an armed game scout. The area is remote and wild, the terrain and habitats varied and the game shy and unused to man. But tracking and creeping up on a pride of lion, or lying on the banks watching a herd of buffalo come to drink on the other side is quite an experience. Lunch will be ready as you arrive in the late morning.

Today the camp will be moved again to camp 2 during the morning as you walk further down the river.

Day 4 – Explore the area on foot – returning to the same campsite.

Day 5 & 6 – The camp will be moved again to camp 3 during the morning as you walk further down the river. The Mupamadzi River is a major tributary of the Luangwa.

All walks are led by an experienced naturalist and accompanied by an armed game scout.

After an early breakfast, you transfer to the Luangwa River crossing point. This is a 4 to 5 hour drive. Tena Tena or Nsefu staff will meet you there and take the party across the river by boat. Then its a 20 minute drive to Tena Tena or a further 30 mins to Nsefu Camp.

On arrival you will be shown to your tent and then lunch will be served followed by a well deserved siesta before the afternoon and evening game drive. Time to rest those weary legs!!

Tena Tena – This remote and small camp lies within the National Park and enjoys a stunning location on a wide bend of the Luangwa River. A grove of mahogany trees shade the large custom-made tents (under thatch) with en suite open air shower rooms. From the thatched dining room and bar, guests can watch the elephants, hippo and antelope on the riverbank. Tena Tena has 5 large custom made tents, each with a dressing room and open air bathroom that overlooks a water hole. Most meals are taken under the shade of a huge Mahogany tree in the centre of the camp.

Nsefu Camp – On a sweeping bend of the river, 12 kilometers north of Tena Tena and in the heart of the South Luangwa National Park, lies Nsefu. The furnishings and fittings are in keeping with an “old fashioned” feel. As one guest put it – Nsefu is “understated elegance”. Each room has a clear view of the river, through both the large windows and from the wooden verandahs. The original rondavels have been extended, with a spacious bathroom added. The dining room has a superb view of the river where elephants come to drink and then cross the river.

Depending on your flight time you will be transferred by vehicle to Mfuwe Airport which is approximately 1½ hrs drive from Tena Tena and 2 hours from Nsefu.

Note: We strongly recommend that you stay on for at least another night but this is optional if your time does not allow it.