Spend four nights at safari camps in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, where elephants, leopards, and more than 400 species of birds inhabit open grasslands, stands of ebony trees, and the expansive Luangwa River system. Robin Pope Safaris, named after the guide who founded the company in 1986, has developed a strong relationship with the area’s Kunda people. The company has renovated schools in nearby communities, paid teachers’ salaries, and funded a health care clinic. Learn about the locals’ daily life during a visit to the village of Kawaza and, if you wish, dine in the home of a Kunda family. Then fly northeast to Robin Pope’s new Mkulumadzi Lodge in Malawi’s Majete National Park. Surrounded by a 175,000-acre conservation area, eight contemporary chalets front a river filled with hippos. Finish with three nights at the Pumulani resort on the quiet, sandy shores of Lake Malawi.
Robin Pope Safaris, 265/(0) 177-0540. This appeared in the May/June 2011 issue.