tordenmalm

Hi,
I'm hoping to get some suggestions from knowledgable people on this board. Me and my wife had originally planned a Zim safari next June/July, but while we would be perfectly happy to go there today the situation next summer is difficult to predict and we're now exploring a Zambian option.

Our difficulty is that we are on a tight budget. We're looking at spending EUR 1500-2000 per person for close to two weeks, excluding international airfare. If possible we'd like to fit in 6-7 days of game viewing and a visit to Vic Falls. Some days would be lost in transfers, and then we'd like to just hang out a few days.

South Luangwa seems like a must and as we would like to do canoe safaris as well, Lower Zambezi should probably be in our itinerary. We realize that we will not be able to squeeze in the smaller, more exclusive camps/lodges in our budget, but hope that you can suggest lower cost alternatives that still offer good game viewing possibilities.

Anyone up for this challenge ;-)?

matnikstym

check out www.flatdogscamp.com for a reasonable place in South Luangwa. The airfare going to/from SL and LZ is what is going to eat up your budget. You can take a bus from Lusaka to Vic Falls and possibly one to Mfuwe, SL but that will take up a lot of your time.

luangwablondes

If you use FlatDogs, Wildlife Camp or Track and Trail River Camp as your base at SLNP, they do all the usual game drives. Wildlife has some good alternatives to look at.

For a LZNP canoe trip, Zambezi Breezers just became associated with SafPar, and their canoe trips will start at their camp.
zambezibreezers.googlepages.com
Contact Anne-Marie there. She is very helpful. Mention luangwablondes. These should all be within your budget.

The transfers will be an issue with you I imagine. The Zambian Safari Company has a bus that does the trip in the morning and afternoon at a reasonable price.

If you are young at heart, you can start at Livingstone in the AM, take the Zambian Safari Company bus to the Chirundu turnoff, and you will have no problems getting a ride to Chirundu. Zambezi Breezers is just 6kms from Chirundu and you can arrange a pickup with them in advance. Then do the canoe trip.
Have Anne-Marie help with the road transfer to Lusaka.
Or if you review $$ at this point, I think you may find that the flights LZNP-SLNP-Lusaka maybe possible.

tordenmalm

Thanks very much matnikstym and luangwablondes! With your suggestions it seems we should definitely be within budget.

The SafPar Great Zambezi canoe safari seems great. Is there anyone who has been on any of their canoeing safaris?

Not sure about the Zambian Safari Company bus route from Livingstone though. It seems it doesn't go to the Chirundu turnoff though. Did you mean the turnoff near Kafue, luangwablondes?

luangwablondes

I was thinking in terms if you were going on the Livingston to Lusaka bus. Looking at a map, the highway comes to a 'T' intersection. Left to the towns of Kafue and Lusaka. Right to Chirundu. You arrange to get off there and flag a bus, hitch a ride, might even have a taxi stop and you may be forced to pay $20 bucks or so if your negotiation skills are not up to snuff. Its quite safe and many of the 20 something crowd, backpackers do this. Its a midday thing, lots of traffic and only about 80kms to Chirundu- 65 miles. Little over an hour downhill.

1.1kms (1100metres or about 11 football fields) to the left is a police road block. Direction of Lusaka. Everyone stops here. 525 meters to the right- Chirundu direction- is a petrol station. It may seem you are in the middle of nowhere, but you aren't.

You don't need to go in this order, it was just easier to explain this way. One short inconvenient, cheap transfer and all good ones after that.

tordenmalm

Thanks again for the very good suggestions. After researching I again need to ask for advise.

When we started to check out the options in more detail, it turned out that SafPar does not offer its Great Zambezi Trail as advertised on the website. We were very interested in their 4D/3N safari with lodge accomodation, but it has been converted into a longer camping safari. I'm sure it's excellent, but for personal reasons we need to stay at lodges.

On the recommendation of luangwablondes I contacted Anne-Marie at Zambezi Breezers. She has been very helpful trying to arrange a canoe safari similar to the original SafPar one. It seems the rates at lodges in or near the LZ park have increased substantially though, and to keep costs down, Anne-Marie has suggested a 4D/3N safari starting at Kariba and ending near the LZNP.

It's clear that there wouldn't be much game viewing the first two days, and I'm trying to understand how much better the safari would be if we instead started somewhere between Kariba and LZNP, and ended inside the park. Lodges in the park seem to be priced at USD 450 pppn, so staying just one night in/near the park would increase the cost substantially.

Anne-Marie is very helpful, but I don't want to take up too much of her time, and hope I can get comments and suggestions from some of the experience people on this board.