Chichele Presidential Lodge

This stunning hilltop lodge was built in the 1970s for Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia. It has thankfully retained its original colonial style, and outside the grand dining room a long veranda stretches with views down the valley to the Luangwa River itself. On warm evenings, dinner is served outside near roaring fires that all adds to the atmosphere. Dinner is often accompanied by the grunt of lions or the saw of leopards in the wooded valleys that surround the lodge.

Each of the ten suites at Chichele comes complete with a four-poster bed, air conditioning, luxurious bathroom and every amenity guests could wish for – all in the middle of the African bush. As with the rest of the lodge, the suites are decorated in an understated and elegant Victorian style. Watching the sun rise over the Luangwa Valley from a private suite is a rare privilege and well worth getting up early for.

From Chichele Presidential Lodge, you also have the particular privilege of being able to go on night game drives, when it is possible to see all sorts of animals that are seldom seen by day – such as leopard, hyena and bush baby.