Zambia
The birthplace of the walking safari, South Luangwa's leopard-dense oxbow lagoons, and canoe safaris among elephant and hippo on the Lower Zambezi.
Overview
The walking safari, as most of the industry now practises it, was pioneered in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park in the 1950s, and it remains the park's signature activity alongside conventional game drives, its oxbow lagoons and riverine forest holding one of the highest leopard densities anywhere in Africa.
The Lower Zambezi National Park, downstream from Victoria Falls, is usually explored by canoe as much as by vehicle, drifting past elephant and pods of hippo along the river's floodplain. Kafue National Park, one of the largest parks in Africa, is far less visited than either, open country for travellers who want to get away from other vehicles entirely.
Many camps in Zambia close for part of the wet season, so timing matters here more than in most of the countries on this list. We build the route around when you can travel, book the camps and arrange the transfers and guiding.
Highlights
- Walking safaris in South Luangwa National Park
- Leopard-dense oxbow lagoons and riverine forest
- Canoe safaris among elephant and hippo, Lower Zambezi
- Kafue National Park, vast and lightly visited
Best time to visit
May through October is the dry season and peak walking-safari season; many camps close during the wettest months, roughly November through April.
Getting there
Lusaka and Livingstone (for Victoria Falls) both have international airports; South Luangwa is usually reached via a short flight to Mfuwe airstrip.
How we arrange it
We don't guide inside Zambia ourselves, and we don't publish a fixed Zambia itinerary the way we do for Kenya: no set trips exist yet for this country, so we build each one individually rather than invent a day-by-day plan that isn't real. What we do is put the trip together end to end, flights in and out, the right lodges and camps for your budget and interests, road or light-aircraft transfers between them, and a private guide on the ground who knows that particular park well.
Tell us what you want to see and how many days you have, and we'll draw up an itinerary and put you in touch with the people who can deliver it, with Nissa as your single point of contact throughout.
Outside Kenya we work through ground operators licensed in their own country, and they hold the permits and guiding accreditation required there. Nissa Safaris plans the trip, books it and stays your single point of contact throughout; the local operator runs the vehicles and guides on the ground.
Ready to plan Zambia?
Send us your travel dates and we'll put together a Zambia itinerary around them, flights, lodges and a guide on the ground.
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