Sundowner: Autumn/Winter 2019

WHERE WILDEBEEST WANDER:
KING LEWANIKA, LIUWA PLAIN, ZAMBIA
AFRICA
THE WILD THINGS:
From October to November, the open vistas of the pancake-flat Liuwa Plain
are stippled with colour as the wildflowers bloom, then turn silver with the
backs of 45,000 wildebeest, as the region is consumed by Africa’s second
largest wildebeest migration (only the Masai Mara-Serengeti movement is
bigger). The hoof-thundering wildebeest arrive from the north (to where
they migrated in June-July) to calve and in a few short weeks, herd numbers
swell with new life. As well as wildebeest, cheetah, hyena, lion, tsessebe, and
300 bird varieties make their home in the Liuwa Plain area.
THE LODGE, IN A NUTSHELL:
Located in the Liuwa Plain, traditionally the official hunting grounds of the
king of the Lozi people, King Lewanika Lodge – named for the Lozi king
who agreed to make his lands a British protectorate in 1890 – is the first
and only luxury place to stay in this national park. The height of exclusivity,
there are only five twin villas and one family villa here.
SUITED TO: Luxury-loving Africaphiles.
WHEN YOU’RE NOT ON A GAME DRIVE:
Walk, canoe, or swoop over on a helicopter trip. Sleep out under the stars
and listen to the stories of Mambeti, daughter of King Lewanika’s steward,
who was said to frequent a particular grove; and Lady Liuwa, a lovedby-the-locals,
legendary lioness, who for many years was the area’s last
surviving big cat and a frequent visitor to the same spot.
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