The Luangwa Valley is a very special place to go on safari and Nsefu is an ideal lodge. Overlooking a bend of the Luangwa River you can often sit on your verandah and watch a family of elephants crossing.
The chalets are all very understated, keeping that feeling of ‘bush’ whilst offering welcome comfort. The food is outstanding and the atmosphere very warm - you settle in very quickly!
Under the umbrella of Robin Pope Safaris, this lodge is typical of their high standard of … well everything really. Vehicles, guides, food, accommodation. This is just a lovely place to stay.
Regarding the game viewing, there is a wonderful balance of woodland and open spaces. The game is spectacular with wonderful sightings of leopard, lion and elephant as well as countless birds and the usuals (impala, warthog, zebra, giraffe, baboon, hippo, crocodile) as well as some rarer or downright unusual (kudu, bushbuck and puku). The guides are quite excellent, tuning their knowledge to your interests, whether it be walking, driving, birds etc.
We went with our two teenagers (17 and 15) and Nsefu really fitted the bill.

During the wet season we reached Nsefu camp by boat. The camp is lovely. The rooms are small and round, but with great bathrooms. The front porch and bar are both great places to sit , relax, and watch hippo, elephant and impala. From Nsefu we did walking safaris - I was extraordinarily impressed with the professionalism of Jackson the armed guard who accompanied us on all walks. Go here to relax and enjoy Africa.

We were greeted with cool cloths unfortunately they stank of mildew. The woman greeting us had on a dirty skirt. There are traces of peanut in their sugar so if you're allergic don't even think of going there. There were ants crawling up the table and onto the bottom of the plates of food on the table. The food was awful. On the way to our room you can see other people sleeping on their beds inside their rooms. There is absolutely no privacy. There are two twin beds crammed into the small room. There was no room to put your suitcase. There is no electricity. There generator gets turned off at night. You are given one small solar lamp for your room. There are no curtains on the open windows, no screens just widely placed bars. You can hear all conversations from the rooms next to you. The bathroom is open from about shoulder height to the roof with no screens or curtains. We had our guides take us to another camp right away.

For our second safari in Africa, we chose to go to Zambia with Robin Pope Safaris. We chose to stay 2 nights at Nsefu, 2 nights on a bush walk camp with Debs Tittle, and 1 night in Kawaza village.

We had a wonderful time at Nsefu - the game and diversity of scenery in the South Luangwa made it very worth while. Within the first 15 minutes of our drive into the park towards the camp, we spotted the Nsefu pride of lions. We saw so many wonderful things (if you're a bird lover, this is a place for you), and our ranger Braston was very thoughtful and knowledgeable about the bush. We had the entire vehicle to ourselves during our 2 night stay which made it very private. We were also blessed with seeing the honey badger, only the 2nd or 3rd sighting of the animal since the beginning of the dry season. The staff were all very courteous and friendly, and they conversed easily with us.

The accomodations are very comfortable but not highly luxurious when compared to some of the very pricey camps in Botswana or South Africa. That didn't matter much to us; we were there for the game. We loved sleeping to the sounds of the bush and waking up every day to breakfast by the river where the hippos and elephants were. The food is quite basic but nutritious and wholesome.

The highlight was the 2 nights we spent with Debs on the walking bush camp. I learned so much on those walks with her - i loved taking the time to pause, touch and smell everything around you. We had some dicey moments, including dodging about 30 elephants in a span of an hour, and being mock charged by a young bull in the vehicle but we always felt safe with Debs. It was also on those walks and sleepovers in the tents that we had our closest encounters with leopards. We did not visibly see any but their presence was felt. Debs even took us on a special excursion to spot the elusive eland - so difficult to spot but we found them.

The only thing we didn't enjoy as much were the night drives. they weren't the most productive for the most part and due to the long days, we found mid way through them we were falling asleep. however, that is just a personal opinion.
We have wonderful memories from here, and I feel that i have truly experienced the heart of africa by visiting here.