Puku Ridge

Puku Ridge is the most luxurious tented camp in Zambia, rebuilt from the ground up in 2020 on a ridge deep inside the South Luangwa National Park with one of the finest outlooks in the park: an open floodplain below where puku, elephant and buffalo graze in front of camp all day. Eight tented suites each have air conditioning and a ceiling fan inside the mosquito net, a huge bath, indoor and outdoor showers, multi-national plug points, Starlink and a private sleep-out tower above the plain.

It has taken the World Travel Awards title for Zambia's best safari property three years running and a Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice award, but the substance is the guiding: the same hand-picked, annually re-trained team that runs Chiawa Camp and Old Mondoro, and the same two-spotlight protocol on night drives that keeps wildlife behaving naturally.

Days run to day and night game drives, walking safaris for guests aged 12 and over, photography from the hide, and visits to Conservation South Luangwa, Project Luangwa and the community curio markets. Guests also have use of the gym, spa and gift shop at neighbouring Chichele Presidential. The camp is certified Climate Positive and runs on mains hydro power with a generator backup. Rates are per adult per night sharing and include all meals, house beverages and laundry, guided activities and transfers between Chiawa Safaris camps and airfields.