The Luangwa River of eastern Zambia is 1,100 km (684 miles) in length and one of the longest free-flowing rivers in Africa. A pre-feasibility study to construct a dam to generate hydroelectric power (and decimate the National Parks along its length) was cancelled in 2019 after significant pressure from national and international conservation groups. The river’s headwaters are near the Zambia-Tanzania-Malawi border in northeast Zambia and the river ends with its confluence with the Zambezi River. In the area of the South Luangwa River National Park, the floodplain of the river is 10 km wide contained within a valley that is 100 km wide.
South Luangwa River National Park has an extent of over 9,000 square km. The eastern boundary is the Luangwa River and the western boundary is the escarpment of the Luangwa Rift Valley, a southern extension of the East African Rift Valley which extends from Ethiopia to Mozambique. The dominant feature of the park is the flood plain of the Luangwa River where the river meanders across a wide flood plain with associated lagoons, cutoffs, and ox bow lakes and depressions.
The main ecoregion is that of Woodlands Savannah comprised of Mopane woodland containing large sections of grassland plains. The dominant tree species are mopane, lead wood, winterthorn, marula, tamarind, African mahogany, sausage tree, and the occasional baobab. There are also ivory palms introduced into the area by Arab slave traders long ago.
The Luangwa River teems with hippos and crocodiles and there are large populations (especially in the dry season) of Thornicrofts giraffe, Cape buffalo, and elephants. The black Rhino was poached to extinction in the 1970s. However, a highly guarded small population has been reintroduced into the North Luangwa Nation Park (very few visitors tour this park and are not allowed into the rhino preserve) and appears to be growing in size. The park is especially well-known for its prolific number of large predators, especially the leopard (which was our main purpose for visiting).
The photo below show the width of the (very shallow) river, savannah grasslands, lagoon, and mixed woodland.
