Zikomo Safari is built on the banks of the Luangwa River in the Nsefu sector of South Luangwa National Park. The Nsefu sector is wild and has few camps in its boundaries. This means it is not congested the way many popular wildlife areas in Southern Africa are.
A canopy of large indigenous shade trees provides homes for the bountiful array of birds. In the South Luangwa area there are over 450 types of beautiful, colourful birds. Wild dog packs, solitary leopards and prides of lions are just a few of the amazing mammals in the area. Our resident wild bull elephant Cheeky can frequently be found picking up winter thorn pods in the camp.
Walking safaris go right out of the camp and across our crossing point into South Luangwa National Park. Drives with our amazing guides on the adjacent island and into the wilder areas of the park bring an array of surprises.
One of our guests said it best; “Zikomo is a authentic African bush camp that is still wonderfully comfortable.” That is exactly what we were going for when we built it. We wanted to encompass the things we liked best when we were tourists and leave off what we didn’t.
Zikomo has eight chalets, two of which are family chalets sleeping four to six and each with two bathrooms and the other six consist of doubles with either raised porches and totally enclosed rooms or ground units with outdoor showers.
Zikomo operates from May 15th until November 15th but will soon be opening for rainy season from January 15th until April 15th.
The Luangwa River during rainy season is perfect for river safaris. Birding is at its best and everywhere you look is a lush emerald color.
Zikomo started in 2007 when land was given by Senior Chief Nsefu to the Wallace family. The camp is family owned and run and that is how we hope our guests feel, like they have come home.
The location is magical, staff is friendly, guides are top of the line and the food from our two incredible chefs is always a delight.
We are now in our sixth season and many guests are returning for their second or third time. We don’t take that for granted and try to make Zikomo better every year.
Zikomo is an eco friendly camp with fresh filtered safe drinking water, solar energy, our own garden although we are not totally free of generators yet, we soon will be.
It is an honour and a privilege to support the wildlife and environment and to that end we started a conservation organisation; Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation, which is a donor based operation with a branch in San Diego, California and the other here in Zambia. Fifty percent of everything raised goes toward anti-poaching and the rest towards community projects and education.
With our experienced guides we offer morning and afternoon game drives. A whole day drive is an option that we offer. It includes a visit to the salt pan and the hot springs which is a good place to see big flocks of grey crowned cranes, high chances of sighting the wild dogs and Coockson’s wildebeest that is endemic to South Luangwa National Park.
We also offer walking safari to have more of feel of being close to nature and sighting the bits and pieces that you will not experience on the game drives and all the activities takes about 4 hours but it also depends where you go with our guides.
*For more information visit zikomosafari.com
