There is such an abundance of animals in this park that it could be called crowded! Antelopes, wildebeest and zebra congregate along the river and on the open savannah grasslands in the north, where most safari camps are located.

The muddy Luangwa is home to hundreds of crocs and often over 100 hippo in a single pool. The Nile Crocodile is the world's largest reptile - maxing at around 15ft ( metres) long and 100 years old.

Night drives are renowned for sightings of leopard and lion on the hunt. Baboons and vervet monkeys seem to be everywhere and even rarely seen animals like the honey badger and civet, are likely to be seen.

Large hunting packs of African wild dog - who require a large traversing area - travel easily through this park and are a special sight due to their endangered status.

Thornicroft's giraffe are indigenous to the park, and are one of 8 different races of giraffe in Africa. They have darker muzzles and are slightly smaller than their cousins.

Even the zebras are a sub-species of the common plains (or Burchell's) zebra, and lack the muddy-brown shadow stripe of its neighbours.

With over 400 species of birds recorded here you could easily see over 100 different species in a three day visit.

Some particularly beautiful ones are; carmine bee-eaters, kingfishers, lilac-breasted rollers, bateleur eagles, saddle-billed storks, crowned cranes and fish eagles.