In the peak-season month of August, I ran one of my Two Valleys photo safaris which incorporates the South Luangwa & Lower Zambezi National Parks. In the South Luangwa, we stay at Lion Camp (one of my all-time favourites) and in the Lower Zambezi, we use Anabezi, a classy lodge in the centre of the park, with access to the best wildlife areas.
August is a superb time of year, with the dry conditions leading to concentrated sightings and the accumulated dust in the air creates great light. Both Lion Camp and Anabezi are well placed to allow us to make the best of these conditions and this trip proved to be just as successful as in previous years. I am running a couple of these trips in 2025, both of which are fully booked, and I have space for 4 people on one in September 2026. You can also read the reports of similar trips in past years on the Trip Reports page.
We started at Lion Camp. At this time of year, it’s almost guaranteed that the sightings will be brilliant; as I arrived in camp, I was met by the guiding team who updated me on the sightings from that morning. As well as all the usual game sightings around the camp, there were several top-line predator sightings that we could follow up on from the morning. We hit the ground running and the pace did not let up until the last morning when we followed a leopard as she hunted all along the Luangwa river before hopping into a tree and giving us the ideal leopard-in-tree set up! Take a look through the following album to sample the sightings from 5 nights at Lion Camp in the peak of the season.
From Lion Camp, we took the short flight from Mfuwe into the Lower Zambezi, and started our safari at Anabezi. The team at Anabezi always do whatever they can to make my safaris as smooth as possible, and it shows in the results. In fact, we arrived mid-afternoon and they turned us round so quickly that we were able to fit in a short afternoon safari; we only had a couple of hours, but we found elephants reaching into the trees, a snoozing lion and a lovely sunset. Camps that are responsive and flexible to guests’ needs are so much appreciated by photographers who place so much value on the early and late hours of the day. Over the next 4 days, we maximised the time in the winterthorn forests and along the channels that make the area so rich. The water levels were very low so we weren’t able to boat into all the channels, but we still had an excellent boat safari on two occasions. Have a look through the album of images to see the possible sightings in just 3 whole days in this amazing area. As always, we prioritise light and photography over species, so we are always searching for interesting light rather than simply pursuing the big cats; though, as you see, we weren’t short of great sightings!
Thank you to all the guests who joined me on this trip. 1 of them has travelled with me since 2016 and the other 3 have booked to travel with me in 2025 again. If you would like to add Zambia to your list of photo-safari destinations, please get in touch.
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