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vanderlust
Mumbai, India

My favourite place in the world

5.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed Jan 6, 2017via mobile
My first tryst with Norman Carr. And it all started with Luwi Bush Camp. I don't have words to describe how pretty this place is. The hut supported by the tree trunk, the open shower, the bar, the sitting area, and all in the middle of such picturesque wilderness, it feels like a dream.
Frank was a great host, and we never got tired of his G&T's and other sundowners.

And now, let me come to Lawrence Banda. It was our first walk and Lawrence was our guide. And with him, he had Phillip, his protege, who was getting trained.
Mr Banda is a scholar, you won't find many , who can match his knowledge of the woods. E.g.: he would look at a small piece of poop and that's enough for him to tell us which animal it was, its age, sex, exactly how fresh the poop was, etc etc. And then he will prove it as well. We felt very safe walking with Mr Banda and Amon, the scout assisting him.

I will strongly recommend the sleep out. We set up tents and slept a night on the Luwi river bed (we went in August when the river dries up) looking at the stars. Fires were lit and we could see 2 herds of cape buffaloes watching us with curiosity. As the night grew older, we heard a leopard growling next to my tent. I will never forget that night.

Like all Norman Carr camps, Luwi work on solar. It's my favourite place in Africa and is a must if you love to walk.

We kept waiting for the Big Boy, but he never showed up, I hope he is doing fine.
Date of stay: August 2016
Trip type: Traveled with friends
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19 - 24 of 70 reviews
Reviewed November 20, 2016

What an amazing start to our first ever African safari, almost certainly enhanced by our mind-blowing close encounter with a pride of lionesses across the river bed on our first morning and a pack of hunting dogs on our second morning. Luwi is out in the middle of nowhere and our stay there was exactly what we’d hoped it would be - a perfect old-fashioned safari – and so much more. We were so well looked after by Charles and his team. We loved guide John and scout Goodson, both of whom had an astonishing eye for detail. On our concluding seven km walk to Nsolo – highly recommended for a whole different experience – Goodson picked out the lions two hundred meters away with his naked eye, simply by noting the faint change in the lion track on which we were walking. Incredible. But back to Luwi with its comfortable ‘rooms’ and open shower and loo. The sense of adventure of getting up for a pee in the middle of the night in complete darkness, (I chose not to use the lights!), with only the sounds of the bush for company and only a thin fence of dried grass between you and the outside world, will stay with me a very long time. The day routine was the same at all three camps we visited – including Nsolo (our favourite) and Kakuli. Dawn start, breakfast around the fire, morning drive, early lunch, a nice long siesta, afternoon game drive with a break for sundowners before the evening drive, and finish with dinner back at the camp. Food was consistently delicious (as it was at all the camps) and they catered beautifully for my celiac problem. We can’t recommend this place and the whole experience highly enough. I shall say this in all my reviews: the whole Norman Carr operation is a class act and I can’t imagine doing a better safari with anyone else, anywhere else.

Date of stay: October 2016
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Service
1  Thank harry-and-kate
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 14, 2016

Luwi will always be special as it was the first camp we stayed in during our visit to the South Luangwa. We would go on to two other Norman Carr camps after this one. First let me say that the camp was small and intimate....and secluded! Which when you are there to see wildlife makes it perfect. It sits on the Luwi river which is completely dry in September which is when we were there. But that doesn't mean you don't see wildlife in front of camp, because there are plenty of animals in the dry riverbed. I'd wake up each morning and look out over impala and puku, and elephants and baboons. It was always an amazing view. The rooms are comfortable and very open air!! Was very glad for the mosquito nets. Not because there were mosquitos necessarily, but it just gives you a feeling of security that any kind of creepy crawlies wouldn't be visiting you during the night. Actually, we didn't see any bugs...or other things in our rooms. The bathrooms are completely open air and it's wonderful to take a shower outside while looking out at the scenery and wildlife. It's something I still remember how serene the feeling was. We were there for 3 nights and had arranged for a photographic guide to be with us, Edward Selfe. So our group of 3 women had our own vehicle, including Edward and a Norman Carr guide, Friday, for the entire time at Luwi. They were wonderful guides and by the time we had to say goodbye to Edward and Friday, we felt like they were friends and were very sad to be moving on. Charles is the camp manager/host and he was fantastic. He saw to our every need, especially making sure our luggage found us (Emirates had left it in Dubai). But by the time we got back from our first evening game drive, the luggage was in our rooms. We also had wonderful food at Luwi and service in general was top notch. Our wildlife encounters at Luwi were also fantastic. We were able to spend time with the Wild dogs twice, the Luwi lion pride, huge numbers of elephants and saw many other animals and birds. It definitely lived up to our expectations of wildlife in the South Luangwa. If you are looking for luxury, pools, bathtubs, etc., then this may not be your cup of tea, but if you want an authentic experience in a very comfortable bush camp, then you will love Luwi. Thanks to Charles and team for a wonderful stay!!! Oh and even though we didn't have Lawrence as a guide, just want to say that he was always fun to talk to at meals and I would have liked to spend time with him. He was always laughing! Finally, if you are interested in photography, I can't imagine that you can do any better in the South Luangwa than Edward Selfe. He was amazing as a photographer, teacher, and especially as a guide. He's not associated with Norman Carr Camps, but is familiar with all the camps and was completely comfortable working with the Camp guides and staff.

Date of stay: September 2016
  • Trip type: Traveled with friends
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Service
3  Thank SharonV1
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed September 18, 2016

Our first visit to south Luangwa, first visit to Zambia and first visit to Africa. Luwi bush camp was the perfect introduction. Peaceful, stunning animal sightings, great food, night drives, excellent guiding, fascinating walks, and friendly staff. Can't recommend Norman Carr Bush Camps highly enough!

Date of stay: September 2016
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
    • Location
    • Rooms
    • Service
1  Thank DeeBee88
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed July 28, 2016

This camp is very secluded. The "main lodge" overlooks an open field. The thatched huts are basic but very nice. No plugs, but had lights, toilet and hot water. It had an "gate" front that was opened during the day and closed at night. The net over the bed was a must as critters come and go from the hut. There were no chairs in the hut to sit an enjoy the amazing view, which was bummer (they were on order b/c the old ones were washed away in a flood). The food was very good and our guide, John, was awesome and so was our scout, Goodson. We did two walking safaris, which I highly recommend. The driving safaris did not have as much wildlife as Nsolo, but we did visit two awesome hippo holes.

I highly recommend this camp; however, it is basic/secluded so be prepared for that. No phone or internet and the only electrical charging station was in the "main lodge."

Date of stay: July 2016
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
    • Value
    • Sleep Quality
    • Service
1  Thank William F
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 30, 2015

2 nights here. Lovely remote feel to the camp and good walks and sightings. Hide is a nice place to spend some time in the afternoon between walks/drives. Julius was very informative on the walks even though he tried to convince me I had found a rhino footprint! Philip the trainee guide was also helpful with bird recognition at the hide.
Had the camp to myself and enjoyed the company of Frank and all the staff.
The walk to Nsolo was done early morning and is a pleasant stroll.

Date of stay: October 2015
Trip type: Traveled solo
Thank don b
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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