Zambia
overview
The southern Africa landlocked country is famed for its rugged terrain and diverse wildlife, with many parks and safari areas. Its offerings range from spectacular waterways for adrenaline junks to walking safaris that enable face to face encounters with wildlife. Zambia is host to 20 national parks and 34 game management areas. The parks and game management areas vary in sizes from large to small and account for about 30 percent of the country’s total area.






Why visit Zambezi?
Places to Visit/ Not to miss:
Kafue National Park
Nestled in the centre of Western Zambia, Kafue National Park is the oldest and largest national park in Zambia. At a massive 22,400 km2, Kafue is also one of the largest national parks in the whole of Africa. Despite its size and prominent location only two-hour drive from Livingstone, it remains little-known and largely unexplored with vast tracts of its virgin bush still untouched. Thanks to its size and variety of habitat types the Kafue holds a fantastic diversity of wildlife. The best time to visit is during the dry season which runs from June to October. During the wet season (November to April) the park is widely inaccessible.
Activities:
- Night Drives- an opportunity to see the parks, nocturnal creatures.
- Day Drives- a guide will accompany your drive and show you what to look out for.
- Specialist Birding Drives- a must for all the birding enthusiasts with more than 494 bird species.
- Boating Excursions- there are a few rivers and dams to enjoy a boat- trip on.
- Fishing- pike, barbel and bream are often caught in the park’s waters.
- Canoeing- share the water with crocodiles and hippos!
- Walking Safaris- you will get to experience the African bush at its most intense. These safaris are usually overnight, so you can camp in the bush.
- Balloon Flights- at certain times of the year you can explore the Park from an aerial perspective offering spectacular views of the terrain and wildlife.
- Boat Safaris- the Kafue River offers a wonderful vantage point to view game coming to the river’s edge to drink or encounter water birds, hippos and crocodiles close-up (quite safely!)
The Zambezi River
The Zambezi river is not only the 4th largest on the continent, it brings life to six countries on its journey from central Africa to the Indian Ocean. Its unique value is that it is less developed than others in terms of the human settlement and many areas along its banks enjoy protected status. The 22 000Km long water source has attracted visitors from all over the world for centuries and it continues to this day. The river is divided into 3 sections with each section making unique and own offerings that evoke excitement and mystery.
The Upper Zambezi section offers activities such as kayaking, canoe trips, river cruises and daily floats on both Zimbabwe and Zambian sides. This is a spectacular section of the river with many islands and channels, clear waters, and sandy beaches. It teams with birds and wildlife.
The Middle Zambezi section of the river is the hive of water commercial white-water rafting with a grading of 5 which is the highest grading a river can get in the sport.
Climate:
There are three seasons – cool and dry from May to August, hot and dry from September to November, and warm and wet from December to April. Only in the Valleys of the Zambezi and Luangwa is there excessive heat, particularly in October and, in the wet season, a high humidity. In the warm wet season, frequent heavy showers and thunderstorms occur, followed by spells of bright sunshine. Plants grow profusely, and rivers and streams fill up almost overnight. During the cool dry season, night frosts may occur in places sheltered from the wind. The countryside dries up gradually and grass fires, fanned by high winds are a feature of this time of the year. In depressions, frost can occur on cloudless nights. Temperatures rise high during the hot, dry season but new leaves appear on the trees before the start of the rains and new grass brightens the countryside. The main growing period of woody vegetation is between August and November.