The elephants loved the tracts of mopane woods that dotted the landscape. Staring at an elephant from ground level, unprotected by the steel of a game vehicle, makes for an experience to test nerves of steel. Hippos are another beastly attraction. As numerous as their land-based brethren, they wallow in the lagoons where the river twists. With 15,000 churning up the mud, the Luangwa banks are one of the best spots for viewing Hippos out of the water.
Crocodiles also laze in the muddy flow.
Two of the rarer animals sharing the woods and grasslands are the white impala and Thornicroft's giraffe. Greater Kudu graze along the river, and a park extension east of the river offers good opportunities for seeing Cookson's wildebeest, a subspecies unique to the valley. Buffalo, zebra, puku, and waterbuck also live off the grasses. Lions, leopards, and hyenas watch the herds of grasseaters in the valley. All told, over 50 mammals call Luangwa home.