Kafunta River Lodge
Raised chalets · Floodplain edge, 10 km south of Mfuwe gate · Ron and Anke Cowan
Photo: Kafunta Safaris
High-end
In the GMA
Owner/family-run
Ron and Anke Cowan drove to Africa in a Land Rover in 1990 and never went home; they built this lodge in 1998 and still run it. There is a hide under the main deck looking onto a floodlit waterhole, and a geothermal hot tub fed by a natural spring, which nowhere else in the valley has.
Why you'd pick it
- Ground-level hide under the deck on a floodlit waterhole
- The valley's only natural hot spring tub
- Resident owners since 1998
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. South Luangwa National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entry$25 if you are in an operator vehicle instead of self-driving.
- $30per person, per day
- VehicleUnder 3 tonnes, foreign registered.
- $15per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $225 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
There is no single park fee here. On top of the gate fee, camps pass on vehicle fees, guide fees and bed levies, and what applies depends on whether the camp sits inside the national park or in the Game Management Area alongside it. Kafunta Safaris, who charge one combined figure covering the government levies, told us it comes to $60 per person per night at their two GMA camps and $90 at their camp inside the park. Treat that as the shape of it rather than a universal rate: the amounts move with each operator's lease.
The full fee schedule for South Luangwa National ParkRates
From $470 pppn. Up to $710 in peak season; long-stay rates from 5 nights. Park fees $60 pppn extra, a single charge covering the government levies for a GMA camp.
All inclusive. The rate covers meals, drinks, activities and the transfers named below. Park fees are charged separately.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Indicative 2026 rates from operators' own rate cards, gathered July 2026. Rates change by season and year, so always confirm with the lodge. Park fees are extra almost everywhere: budget about $30 per person per day, plus vehicle fees.