Afrinkong
Nature & Landscapes
The Zambezi Valley
Escarpment, floodplain and winterthorn forest, with the river braiding through the middle of all of it.
Southern Africa · Afrinkong
Zambia
The real wilderness.
Victoria Falls from the side that gets wet, the walking safari where it was invented, the Lower Zambezi by canoe, and parks with almost no traffic in them.
Where it is
Africa · Southern Africa · Zambia
The land in brief
- Spans
- 1,250 km E–W, 1,090 km N–S
- Latitude
- 8°S to 18°S
- Borders
- 8 countries
- Sea
- Landlocked
- Best time
- Walking safaris run in the dry season; many camps close for the rains.
Also in Southern Africa
AngolaThe Kalandula falls, and a coast nobody has seenBotswanaA delta that never reaches the seaEswatiniSmall, and full of everythingLesothoThe kingdom in the skyMalawiA lake with more fish species than any other
Compare Zambia with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
Walking safaris run in the dry season; many camps close for the rains.
01Highlights
What Zambia is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Nature & Landscapes
Leopard Country
The South Luangwa has one of the densest leopard populations in Africa, and the best chance of seeing one hunting.
Mountains
The Nyika Plateau
Two thousand metres of rolling montane grassland on the Malawi border, with roan antelope and no heat.
Beaches & Coast
Lake Tanganyika Shore
Clear freshwater, sand and forested hills at Nsumbu, about as far from anywhere as Zambia gets.
Miombo and Winterthorn
Miombo woodland turning red at the start of the rains, and the winterthorn groves the elephants feed under.
Culture
Lozi, Bemba, Tonga
Seventy-three ethnic groups, seven official languages, and a royal barge ceremony older than the country.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Zambia with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- The Zambezi ValleyEscarpment, floodplain and winterthorn forest, with the river braiding through the middle of all of it.
- The Nyika PlateauTwo thousand metres of rolling montane grassland on the Malawi border, with roan antelope and no heat.
- Victoria and KalamboVictoria Falls needs no introduction; Kalambo, on the Tanzanian border, drops 235 metres in a single uninterrupted fall.
- Zambezi, Kafue, TanganyikaThree great river systems and the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika, the second deepest lake on earth.
- Lake Tanganyika ShoreClear freshwater, sand and forested hills at Nsumbu, about as far from anywhere as Zambia gets.
- Miombo and WinterthornMiombo woodland turning red at the start of the rains, and the winterthorn groves the elephants feed under.
Wildlife
- Leopard CountryThe South Luangwa has one of the densest leopard populations in Africa, and the best chance of seeing one hunting.
- The Walking SafariInvented in the Luangwa in the 1950s: no vehicle, an armed scout, and everything at eye level.
- Kafue and the CarnivoresKafue is the size of Wales; the conservation programmes there fund anti-poaching across the whole Greater Kafue system.
- Canoeing the Lower ZambeziThree days downstream past hippo pods and elephant crossings, camping on islands, no engine at any point.
People and culture
- Lozi, Bemba, TongaSeventy-three ethnic groups, seven official languages, and a royal barge ceremony older than the country.
- The Barotse FloodplainThe Lozi live with the flood — moving cattle, homes and the king himself when the Zambezi rises.
- KuombokaWhen the floodplain fills, the Litunga is paddled to high ground on the Nalikwanda barge, drummed the whole way.
- Basketry and CopperTight coiled baskets from the Western Province, and copper worked on the belt that built the economy.
- Nshima and KapentaMaize nshima with relish, dried kapenta from the lakes, and fresh bream out of the Zambezi.
- Village Around the ParkCommunity campsites and craft cooperatives on the Luangwa boundary, funded by the same beds that fill the lodges.
- Markets and the Great North RoadRoadside charcoal and tomatoes, long-haul trucks to the copperbelt, and a bus that leaves when it fills.
Places
- LusakaThe centre of everything: Kabwata market, the Great East Road, and the flights that get you to the parks.
- Livingstone's VerandasCorrugated iron and deep colonial verandas along Mosi-oa-Tunya Road, built for heat and never modernised.
- LivingstoneThe old colonial capital above the falls, its museum, and the tree where the man himself is said to have camped.
- Mosi-oa-Tunya, UNESCOWorld Heritage since 1989, shared with Zimbabwe, and named by the Kololo long before anyone renamed it.
Ways to travel
- Devil's Pool and the GorgeSwim to the lip of Victoria Falls in low water, then raft the grade five rapids in the Batoka gorge below it.
- Bush Camps, Six BedsSeasonal bush camps in the Luangwa that take six guests, close at the rains, and are walked between.
- Luangwa at Last LightThe river bends, the hippo surface and the dust goes gold about forty minutes before the drive has to end.
- Liuwa PlainThe second largest wildebeest migration in Africa, on a plain almost nobody has heard of, reachable only in the dry.
03Why go
The case for Zambia.
Why Visit This Country
Wilderness, Still Unmanaged
Zambia kept the walking safari, the small camp and the empty park while its neighbours scaled up.
Hidden Gems
Liuwa Plain
The second largest wildebeest migration in Africa, on a plain almost nobody has heard of, reachable only in the dry.
Eco Tourism
Kafue and the Carnivores
Kafue is the size of Wales; the conservation programmes there fund anti-poaching across the whole Greater Kafue system.
Heritage
Mosi-oa-Tunya, UNESCO
World Heritage since 1989, shared with Zimbabwe, and named by the Kololo long before anyone renamed it.
04Go deeper
All of Zambia, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Zambia starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.