South Luangwa National Park Tour Companies

Overall, I had a very mixed experience travelling with Lochinvar Safaris, which I feel I must share so that other travelers can be forewarned and hopefully avoid some of the negative aspects that I encountered on my tour. To begin with, the guides (Fines, Alick, and Renford) were excellent and a true pleasure to be with. They are great and hardworking guides and will greatly enhance your visit to Zambia. Unfortunately, however, the accommodation choices, as well as the ultimate behavior of the company director/owner, was extremely problematic, bordering on fraudulent/"bait and switch" business tactics, which I will outline below. Despite being in good contact on TourRadar and WhatsApp ahead of my travel, I was surprised when I landed in Zambia to learn that several "changes" had been made to my itinerary, without prior discussion or approval. For example, in Lower Zambezi NP, I was informed that the promised canoe tour would not be possible due to the low water level (Zambia IS currently experiencing a significant drought, which is also playing havoc with their power supply, which depends on hydroelectric generation). While this was certainly understandable, I wish it could have been communicated in advance, and/or replaced with a motorized boat tour (of which I saw many plying the river during my stay). In terms of the accommodation choice in Lower Zambezi, I was very disappointed to learn that the chosen lodge was a solid 3/3.5 hour drive from the park entrance, meaning that we left at 5:30am, only to arrive in the park around 9am, which is already a bit too late in the morning to see animals during their time of peak activity. This was extremely disappointing and reflected poor planning and communication on Lochinvar's part, especially as there was only that one day dedicated to game viewing in the park. This said, the most significant and egregious of these (never discussed in advance) "changes" to my itinerary pertained to the portion of my trip in South Luangwa NP. While my itinerary indicated that I would be staying in a tourist class lodge on the banks of the Luangwa River (and just a 5 minute drive from the park entrance), upon arrival in Lusaka I was told that due to the heat, I had been "upgraded" to an AirCon room (without ever indicating that I would need/desire such a change in the first place). And oh boy, was this a shambolic change. This new "hotel" turned out to be a solid 45 minute drive away from the park entrance, was still in the process of being built (giving off the ambiance of a construction site), and lacked solar power or its own generator to deal with the frequent load shedding caused by the drought referenced above. After 1 night, I could not tolerate the location any more, and I booked myself a room in one of the lodges on Expedia (one that was originally indicted in my itinerary to begin with!) This lodge had its own solar power--a critical factor to look out for if one is concerned about the heat. When I gently suggested that Lochinvar reimburse me for this out-of-pocket cost, Mark, the owner/tour director, flipped out, feeding me some line about "not appreciating the Zambian reality" and then subsequently avoided any and all future attempts to communicate for the remainder of my trip (i.e. ignoring my WhatsApp messages, despite previously utilizing the app as our primary communication tool). This shirking of responsibility and/or any communication at all has continued since my return home, and is perhaps one of the most disappointing aspects of my trip (and frankly, reflects shocking and unprofessional conduct from a tour operator towards an "active client"). In addition, while my itinerary made reference to "nature walking tours" (South Luangwa NP is famous for its "walking safaris"), upon arrival there/in Mfuwe, I learned that no such tour had been booked for me, and that, I would not, in fact, be taking any "nature walking tours." Much like the aborted canoe ride previously, this was very disappointing, and again, something that could have clearly been communicated to me in advance of my tour. While Mark has been able to hide and avoid any responsibility for my own restoration of the original itinerary, I was extremely happy to have been able to change my hotel (despite the additional out of pocket expense) as the original lodge from the itinerary was a significant class above the one Mark stuck me in, and I had good access to the park, delicious food and a steady fan/supply of power (not to mention the breeze coming off of the river, and wild animals walking directly across the river to the Lodge's grounds.) So in the end, by paying out of pocket, I managed to salvage an otherwise untenable situation, but the extent to which Mark is now avoiding me leads me to believe that there is more shadiness/crooked business practice taking place than I had wanted to believe. The tour indeed did not offer good value for money, and the disparity in accommodation quality (and prices! A quick online search can bring up the comparison) led me to feel that I was taken advantage of, and I would urge other travelers to look carefully at all of the Zambia tours and options before choosing to book with Lochinvar. That said, I can't fault the guides on the ground for the decisions/actions taken by the head office/Mark, and do want to emphasize again that they were generally great. So again, I had an overall mixed trip, but on the whole, the lack of communication and seeming dishonesty was a huge turn off, and I can't in good conscious recommend this company based on my experience. Of course every person's trip is subjective, and in reading some of the other reviews on this site, I suspect that if one were to travel on one of their more well-beaten paths (e.g. Lusaka-Livingston) that the experience could have been quite different. Unfortunately, I was just unlucky and encountered enough price differentials between what was promised and ultimately delivered that it felt like a classic "bait and switch." Travel carefully, my friends, but Zambia is ultimately a wonderful place.