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Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali

Reviews of Nkwali

Wildlife sightings and reviews

241 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Nkwali and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Apr-2018, 63 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Nkwali.
Lion

89% success

Leopard

93% success

Wild dog

64% success

Hippo

100% success

Elephant

98% success

Giraffe

98% success

Zebra

98% success

Buffalo

87% success

Spotted Hyena

85% success

Wildebeest

26% success

Eland

8% success

Roan antelope

6% success

Aardvark

4% success

Sable antelope

4% success

Pangolin

0% success

Showing 31-40 of 241
Duration
Arrival date
Mr J
Edinburgh

"Nkwali review"

2 nights Arrived 23 Jun 2022
"This was my first ever Safari experience and I was utterly blown away from start to finish.

The cabin was v comfortable and on arrival I was delighted to be able to see monkeys, and a bush buck rights outside my door. It was very close to the river so you are able to hear the sound of hippos all day long. I hadn't realised just how abundant and diverse the wildlife would be - I had hoped that it would be a trip of a lifetime and it was.

All the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful. They made it all feel relaxed but it's clear that a huge amount of work was going on to ensure that I had the best holiday experience. The food is excellent, the guides are incredibly knowledgable and wildlife - the stars of the show was beyond what I could have hoped for. Seeing two lioness up close is an experience that I'll never forget - utterly amazing." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Lion

4 sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mr Logan
Singapore

"Nkwali review"

3 nights Arrived 18 Jun 2022
"Excellent guiding and great location, easy access to the park." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Eland

1 sighting

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Globetrotters
Belgium

"Nkwali review"

3 nights Arrived 29 May 2022
"Our guide Perry did a great job. Even though we had seen all animals in Nsefu we were again treated to seeing them all again.

The Nkwali facility is much roomier than Nsefu although the lighting in the bathrooms could use reviewing. It was still pretty cold there.

As usual the Robin Pope cooks are top chefs. A bonus was meeting Emily who writes the weekly "Its Monday"." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Ms S.
Missouri

"Nkwali review"

4 nights Arrived 17 May 2022
"Just about a perfect experience at Nkwali. Robin Pope exceeds expectations when it comes to personal service of all the staff, such a warm and friendly place….wonderful meals, fantastic game drives, creativity of experiences with some sort of little surprise nearly every day. Also really loved the smaller size of the camp, made it feel very exclusive.

My only complaint is that the rooms are open air, which allows the baboons to wreck pure havoc on your personal belongings. Really wish there had been an option for a screened partition to keep the baboons out of the rooms. I realize the open air shower area also provides access to the baboons with the tree branches overhead. It is indeed a difficult situation to remedy.

It’s a lovely camp, my first impression of the open air concept was very positive, until I learned about the habits of the baboons in camp. In future I will definitely inquire whether there is some way to prevent larger animals from entering the rooms/tents. I do not mean this to be disparaging in any way against Nkwali camp.

It’s a unique experience and the South Luangwa NP is stunning and exciting to visit. Just be aware of the situation and make an informed decision." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia; 5n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Mr N.
London

"Nkwali review"

4 nights Arrived 21 Apr 2022
"The rooms feel slightly tired but fundamentally, one comes for the game drives and those were top notch.

Excellent guides and the camp is in a very good area for game.

Regularly saw leopards and wild dogs in the area." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Miss P
London

"Nkwali review"

7 nights Arrived 10 Apr 2022
"I've slightly lost track of the number of times I've visited Nkwali, and it definitely feels like home now.

It's always such a friendly and welcoming camp.  At this time of year, it's lovely to see a mixture of faces from all the RPS camps and even the mobiles.  The location on the river can't be beaten, and the rooms really make the best of the views and bring the outdoors in. I also love the amount of wildlife around the camp, from the cheeky vervets bounding between the rafters in the room, to the elephants visiting the lagoon during lunch time, to the beautiful bushbuck in front of my chalet during siesta time.

This is traditionally thought of as a weaker time of the year for game viewing, and certainly the big cats are not as prolific as in dry season, but the wild dog sightings were exceptional (as they were last time I visited at this time of year) and the birding is great too, so personally I think it's much under-rated.  We saw a big pack of 20 dogs almost every day, including a sighting of a full hunt and kill of a puku from start to finish.  The park is also really stunning at this time of year. We had only one leopard sighting but it was a really excellent one, with the leopard trying to hunt a rock monitor and then being chased off by zebras. Other guests who made more of an effort to find leopards saw several more, but I was quite happy to spend time with the dogs.

This is my second trip to South Luangwa during green season, and if Luangwa River Camp had been open I would have split my time between the two camps.  However, the Nkwali location is very central for accessing all of the area that is possible to drive in at this time of year, by using the boat crossing to enter the park directly and occasionally driving up to the main gate.  The dogs were mainly up in the area around the main gate which is a bit further from Nkwali but the guides were always happy to adjust game drive times to leave earlier in the afternoons. I had Obi as my guide, and he was excellent.

Finding options for walking can be tricky as many areas are boggy and those that aren't are used for driving, but we did manage to do a nice morning walk by taking a boat up to the area where the pontoon usually enters the park.

Overall, a superb stay." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

3 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wild dog

10 sightings

Wildebeest

2 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Ms T.
Ness Ziona

"Great place to stay"

3 nights Arrived 27 Jul 2021
"Great camp, loved the option of staying as a family together ( 2 adults and 2 teenage kids).
Amazing food and very attentive staff.
Had the pleasure of being guided by Kiki with whom we loved sharing stories and laughs as well as great sightings.
This sectors has blessed us with amazing sightings, of hyenas, leopards, lions and of course plenty of hippos, elephants, kudu, puku and impalas.
Night drives were great, finding owls, genets, and mongroose- among the rest." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

A&J
San Francisco

"Nkwali review"

2 nights Arrived 19 Jun 2021
"Nkwali was a beautiful camp by the river. We were the only guests and were hosted and guided by Kiki. The guiding in Zambia was the best we have ever experienced and Kiki immediately showed off his expertise. On the first day, we saw a leopard with a kill in a tree, and another leopard during the night drive where he expertly positioned the vehicle multiple times for the best vantage point.

Not only was Kiki a great guide, but he was also a very humorous and interesting conversationalist. Over dinner he told us about the matrilineal tradition of his people, the Kunda, and some funny stories of his girls growing up with their cousins. We exchanged travel stories – us with other trips in Africa, and he with trips to the US. The first place he visited in the US was Minneapolis in February! Believe it or not, he also spent time in Menlo Park California, which happens to be where I grew up. What a small world!

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Nkwali. Our room was beautiful and comfortable, with a view of the river and hippo chorus serenading us every night. Food was fresh and delicious. The camp has a very convenient boat that can cross the river into the park without having to drive to the main gate bridge. South Luangwa park in June was stunningly beautiful – lush and green with plenty of wetlands, beautiful birds and butterflies, and teeming with wildlife. What a great start to our trip!" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mrs M & Mr D
Germany

"Nkwali review"

4 nights Arrived 5 Oct 2020
"What a treat to stay at Robin’s House ! We were looked after so well and the kitchen & house-keeping crew pampered us from early morning till dawn. They even prepared a brunch in the bush just for the two of us - what a lovely surprise and for sure our earliest G&T ever 😊 Thank you so much Michael, Chico, Daniel and Perry !
The wildlife in the Mfuwe area was during our stay slightly less active than at Nsefu, but maybe it only felt like it after being on safari for already quite a while. We also felt that compared to Nsfeu the area might attract a little bit more traffic due to the higher number of lodges and self-drivers. But of course now due to Covid, it was not busy at all. Amongst the usual *stuff”, we spotted 4 leopards, a very photogenic porcupine and as the highlight of our stay even an aardvark – still can’t believe it ! Now only an aardwolf and a pangolin is left on our list of rare sightings." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Aardvark

1 sighting

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

4 sightings

Lion

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Wildebeest

1 sighting

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mr & Mrs R
Glos

"Good safari at Nkwali "

4 nights Arrived 18 Mar 2020
"Off the boat from Nsefu and straight into viewing a female leopard who had walked past Braston as he waited on the river bank for us. The viewings, especially of leopards, were exceptional on this second visit to Nkwali. We also saw the other pack of wild dogs.

We had a shared car for these last days which was ok but curtailed the photography somewhat. Service in camp improved because the camp host was called away to look after luangwa house so Kiki stepped in. He was excellent in sorting out the changed arrangements for getting home and printed off the new flight details for us, which was a god send in the bedlam at Johannesburg.

The only problem was the room. We were in room 5 and the mattress was infested with bugs so we were bitten to death each night. If we had stayed we would have asked to move back to 6, but the holiday was, sadly, ended prematurely because of covid19." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Poor
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Elephant

6 sightings

Giraffe

4 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

4 sightings

Spotted Hyena

4 sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Zebra

10 sightings

Showing 31-40 of 241
96%
241 reviews of Nkwali by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
202
34
5
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0
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