The Locals Guide To Zambia

Kafue National Park is the oldest park in Zambia.  It was established by Norman Carr in the 1950’s.  At 22 400Km2 (about the size of Wales) this is the largest of Zambia’s parks and one of the largest national parks in Africa and indeed, the world. 

Kariba dam wall was constructed on the Zambezi River to supply hydroelectric power to Zambia and Zimbabwe.  This massive lake, the world’s largest man made reservoir, is 226km long and at its widest, 40km wide, up to 100 metres deep, covering 5500km2, and holding more than 180 billion tonnes of water.  When you are out on the dam the sheer size is quite spectacular.

Our guide to Kasanka National Park by our Zambia local expert - Kasanka National Park is rapidly gaining worldwide fame for the annual “Bat Migration”, the second largest mammal concentration in the world and considered one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles, as well for the huge diversity in flora and fauna including Zambia’s tallest tree. It is often overlooked by visitors planning a trip to Zambia, but never ceases to impress when they arrive and leave with fond memories.

This vibrant town has an economy based around tourism, adventure activities and the spectacular Victoria Falls.  There is an exciting buzz around the town and surrounding areas with tourist vehicles nipping around, vendors and curio sellers offering their wares from beautiful carvings and beadwork to dodgy items of questionable origin.  This is a place to see and do and then settle down over a refreshing sundowner and compare notes and experiences with fellow travellers, and listen to fascinating tales recounted by your host before planning your next exciting experience.

Lochinvar National Park is another of the smaller parks, there is no abundance of larger mammals but certainly an outstanding birding area with 449 recorded species.  It is also well known for the large herds of Kafue lechwe, unique to the Kafue flats.  The area, formerly a privately owned cattle ranch, was purchased by the Government and proclaimed a National Park in 1972.

The Lower Zambezi National Park, covers 4200 Km2 along the north western bank of the Zambezi River.  The LZNP, combined with Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools on the opposite bank are a world heritage site.

Lusaka is the capital city of Zambia.  Home to almost 2 million people with an unemployment rate of around 60% Lusaka is actually a relatively safe city with most people doing their best to make a living in the "informal" sector.  Every set of traffic lights has a number of vendors trying to sell everything from plastic clothes pegs to knocked off Monopoly sets.  The roads are busy and one suspects a fair few of the drivers are holding driving licences of questionable origin.  Never assume that because the traffic light is red the traffic will stop!  Most motorists drive slowly, probably too slowly, but this does at least leave time to react when someone does something a bit silly.

The South Luangwa National Park is the second largest of the 19 national parks in Zambia, covering approximately 9,050km2.  This is one of the premier tourist destinations in Africa and arguably, the world.  The Park lies in the Luangwa Valley,  part of the Great East African Rift Valley fault line with the Muchinga Escarpment forming the Western and North-West boundary and the Luangwa River a natural boundary on the East of the park.

The Victoria Falls, whilst not the highest waterfall in the world, nor the widest but, in full flood this is the largest sheet of falling water in the world.  The Falls are the location of a number of high adrenaline activities such as white water rafting and bungee jumping but, for those who wish to relax, a sundowner cruise or boat trip on the river above the Falls are not to be missed.