Zambia's South Luangwa National Park

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As a safari destination the land-locked central African state of Zambia is perhaps less well known than its neighbors to the north and south. Although the country's tourism industry has been long established, economic and social stresses have prevented the showing of its full potential. And the potential is certainly there, for Zambia has an impressive 21 per cent of its land set aside for the conservation of wildlife, including 19 gazetted national parks with a total area of some 60000 square kilometres. Sadly, few of these are currently open or readily accessible to visitors. One that is, however, is South Luangwa where elephants - although much reduced from the 100,000-strong population of the 1970s - are still commonly seen and the general abundance of wildlife has led to the appellation 'The Crowded Valley'.

The undoubted focus of South Luangwa National Park, and its life-blood, is the Luangwa River snaking southwards down the eastern region of the Park towards its meeting with the Zambezi at the head of the vast man-made lake of Cahora Bassa. For the most part the Luangwa Valley is flat-bottomed and when the floods come, as they do periodically in the early months of the year, the alluvial plains are inundated by the spreading waters. The force and flow of the flood can cause the channels of the Luangwa to change, and as the waters recede they leave oxbow lakes along the old course, in the process contributing further to the scenery and resources of this highly productive ecosystem.

The Luangwa Valley - some 50 kilometres wide - is bounded in the west by the steep rise of the Muchinga escarpment and to the east by a gentler, hilly landscape. It is a branch of Africa's Great Rift, part of the 6000 kilometre-long fault system that cuts north to south down the entire eastern flank of the continent.

Mid-winter through to early summer is considered the best time for game-viewing in the Luangwa Valley as the weather is appreciably cooler - except for October which can be scorchingly hot - and the oppressive humidity so characteristic of the rainy season - December through to March - is absent. Also, the vegetation is less dense in the dry months, making the spotting of game a little easier. Avid bird-watchers may well have a different view, however, as with the wet summer comes the arrival of a number of migrants. In general, though, the birding is good the whole year round - approximately 400 species have been recorded in South Luangwa, including some rare species.

It is not only the birdlife that counts 'specials' among its numbers, however, for the Luangwa Valley also harbours a number of mammals that are found in few other places. Included among these is the puku Kobus vardonii, a golden-haired antelope of medium build which is related to the waterbuck and lechwe. It occurs only in isolated pockets in central Africa in the narrow grassland strips along the margins of rivers and marshlands. The only other places where sightings are likely are the Kafue National Park in the west of Zambia and Botswana's Chobe system.

Even more unusual are Thornicroft's giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis thorncrofti which is found only in South Luangwa and the much smaller Luambe National Park adjacent to its northern tip, and Cookson's wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus cooksonii, also confined to the Luangwa Valley.

Despite endemic poaching in the Luangwa Valley from the mid-1970s well into the next decade, game is still plentiful and visitors are almost assured of good and frequent sightings of most of Africa's large mammals. A noticeable and sad exception among the 'big five', however, is the rhinoceros which has been poached to the extent that it is now debatable whether any survive at all.

In an effort to halt the devastating slaughter of game a number of attempts were made to enlist the support of local communities. Two important current initiatives are the Administration Management Design (ADMADE) programme through which local participation in wildlife management has seen income accruing directly to communities through tourism, and the Luangwa Integrated Rural Development Project (LIRDP), a more broadly applicable programme for the economic upliftment of the valley which includes wildlife management as well as the development of forestry, agriculture, fisheries, water resources and general infrastructure.

Notwithstanding the encouraging results of recent programmes such as ADMADE and LIRDP, the concept of integrating the interests of people and conservation to their mutual benefit is not new to the Luangwa Valley. As early as 1950 the legendary Norman Carr - widely regarded as the father of conservation in Zambia and still campaigning for wildlife with great energy and persuasion from his Kapani Lodge on the eastern bank of the river - convinced Chief Nsefu of the Chewa people that the region would benefit from setting aside tribal land as a private game reserve. The results were so successful that a camp was built in 1954 with more following soon after. Tourism-led infrastructure continued to grow and by the 1970s all-weather roads, a bridge over the Luangwa and an airstrip had been constructed.

Today there are several upmarket lodges along the eastern shores of the Luangwa River and although accessible by motor vehicle most safari operators meet their clients at Lusaka airport and fly them in to the airstrip just outside Mfuwe, the main gate. Flights from Lilongwe in nearby Malawi and Harare in Zimbabwe are now also available. The private camps all offer the excitement of both day and night game drives in open vehicles as well as the opportunity for walking safaris ranging from a few hours to three or more days.

With the recent opening of North Luangwa National Park, which lies across the Munyamadzi Corridor, to the safari industry, the rationalization of air services to the region and community-based conservation programmes, the Luangwa Valley seems well set to deliver the promise of the 19th century missionary explorer David Livingstone: 'I will make this beautiful land better known to man that it may become one of their haunts. It is impossible to describe its luxuriance.'

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