From the thrilling sight of a leopard skulking through the grass to the dazzling red flash of a carmine bee-eater, South Luangwa will bowl you over with its wildlife. This is one of the finest game-viewing destinations in southern Africa, home to impalas and giraffes, lions, elephants, hippos and more than 400 species of bird. Hidden deep in the bush, private tented camps are among the finest places to take in the action, many of them overlooking the park’s marshy lagoons or the lifegiving currents of the Luangwa River.

Behold one of Africa’s most unspoilt national parks, an Eden of rich floodplains and streams that nourish its namesake river. Until 1983, the Lower Zambezi was the private reserve of the Zambian president, and entirely off-limits to visitors, promising an unforgettable safari experience barely touched by tourism. Head out from your secluded camp on drives, walks and canoe trips beneath the mahogany and mopane trees in search of elephants and hippos, lions, buffalos and wild dogs, with scarcely another human in sight.