Luangwa,Luxury,Private,House,Zambia,Safari,Cook

A stunning house, magnificent in design and sitting majestically on the banks of a watering hole the Luangwa Safari House provides superb, contemporary living in one of Africa’s greatest parks

Designed by Neil Rocher, the architect of Shompole, this stunning private house is situated in Nkwali, roughly one kilometre from Robin Pope’s lodge of the same name. Built on the edge of a seasonal lagoon and with the Chindeni Hills as backdrop, the game including herds of elephant and journeys of giraffe, use this area to feed and water throughout the day. The Luangwa National Parks have a distinctly ‘wilder’ feel to most in Africa - roads are cut anew each season, visitors are fewer in number and game behaves more naturally - which results in a much more rewarding experience, especially when on foot face-to-face with a lion!

The house is built around twenty-five ancient, weathered leadwood trees creating a powerful impression of natural strength. The entrance is grand, evoking the atmosphere of a hunting lodge or even a castle, faced as it is with stone from neighbouring hills. A massive door opens into the Great Room and one is instantly confronted with the incredible views behind the house which is completely open on that side.

Each room is decorated and furnished in an individual style. The Great Room, dominated by large comfy sofas and a huge marble dining table, reaches up some twelve metres to the thatched roof with twin wooden staircases rising to the apartments upstairs. There are many fittings of hand-made metalwork, including a huge chandelier which dominates the Great Room and lends a suitably baronial feel to proceedings.
The open-sided room gives onto a quartz-tiled terrace in which sits a large plunge pool at one side. From here a raised walkway leads to a wooden game viewing deck surrounding a group of huge ebony trees, in the middle of the lagoon. There is a large leather sofa and a hanging chair plus dining table and chairs for al fresco meals. From here the waterhole is nearby and sitting quietly one will be close to families of elephant that come to bathe.

Each of the four bedrooms has a style of its own. Extra large beds, all of different design - with posts or suspended by chains! - may be arranged as doubles or twins according to requirements. All the materials used in the bedrooms are hand-painted and designed locally by the considerable craftspeople of Luangwa. The bathrooms too are creative extravaganzas from the hand made copper bath in the ‘Coral room’ to the judicious use of recycled, sand-blasted aluminium in the ‘Blue Agate’ room!

On the upper floor, bedrooms have a suspended wooden balcony, where one can sit out at night to enjoy the  moonlit view over the bush to the distant Chindeni Hills. Evenings are spent dining al fresco after long sundowners on the terrace, reflecting on the day’s safari by boat, canoe, over land or on foot and making plans for the next.