To all of you who replied so quickly to my posting a big thank you. I will take some time later today to look over all of the suggestions and look up the lodges. I will definitely be posting again as you are all the most helpful group.

atravelynn
I talked to my husband about the hiking part and he was not to excited. Canoeing is definitely a possibility. He is having some difficulty with one knee and I think the hiking could become an issue I would rather avoid.

OPPS. One more question at the moment. Are the prices different if you use a travel agent or do the booking yourself. My daughter-in-laws mother is a travel agent and obvioulsy says she can set up any trip I want.

Thanks again for the information

Using this itinerary (posted above) as an example ---

1 night Kariba in a lodge.
Transfer by road to....
2 nights Chitake Springs
2 nights Mana Pools.
Return to Kariba by road then air charter to Musango Camp http://www.musango.com/whymusango.htmin Matusadona for 3 nights
Air charter to...
3 nights Hwange at The Hide
Road transfer to....
2 nights Illala Lodge, Vic Falls

If my international airfare is in/out of JNB, I am trying to get a 'rough estimate' of what the additional flights would be per person for the above itinerary vs. say a Botswana itinerary that started in Maun and ended af VF?

Getting a grasp on those numbers would be a huge help.

Thanks

In using an agent, which I usually do, I'd only pick one that specializes in Africa.

luangwablondes:
I agree about the long road trip. I definitely do not want to do that. I would rather fly between the different areas whenever possible. Also how do you determine how far the lodges are from where you actually go to view the game. Are they all right there or do you drive hours to find their locations? Are some of the lodges located closer to the key areas than others?

Thats a loaded quesion.

There are the lodges near the bridge(main gate)at Mfuwe and inside the park close to the gate. Many of these lodges game drive-day and early evening- close to the the main gate-estimate maybe within 15 kms or less. Maybe someone else will give a better radius. I self drive. But the game viewing is excellent regardless. Just more vehicles in this area. So I would recommend lodges not using the main gate for game drives.

There is a pontoon to the south. So some lodges have private use of this to get into the park. The game viewing again is excellent without the many game viewing vehicles you see near the bridge.

Let me clarify. Anything near the Luangwa River normally has good viewing. Its the water source during the dry season as there is few other places for the game to seek water.

Then you have the camps inside the park located from South to North (generalization) along the Luangwa River or close.

Then to the North a similar situation with a couple lodges/camps accessing the otherside with their own boats or pontoon.

In the end, most likely you will see game before you even enter the park. Many lodges outside the park will be visited sometime during the day or nite. Its just a game rich area.

In the end, I would suggest you pick the lodge and/or campsite that fits your fancy the most. If willing to pay the extra amount, maybe one that has a guide/owner involved such as Robin Pope, Derek Shenton, Phil Berry, or John Coppinger in SLNP, and Rod Tether in NLNP. They make sure their guides are good. Otherwise, alot of the guides float around to different camps and I couldn't give a recommendation. This is just generalizations.

If you like the feeling of remoteness, Don't pick a lodge near the main gate area inside the park, or one outside the park that uses the bridge for game drives. The camps inside the park are located far enough away from the gate not to have this problem.