Six Zambia safari packages from 6 to 12 nights — South Luangwa, Kafue, the Lower Zambezi and Livingstone, from US$6,100 per person sharing.
A Zambia safari is walking, canoeing and small camps rather than crowded game drives. South Luangwa is where the walking safari began, Kafue is one of the largest national parks in Africa, and the Lower Zambezi is explored by canoe along the river opposite Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools. Our Zambia safari packages run from US$6,100 per person sharing for six nights to a ten night luxury fly-in from US$9,440.
Zambia is landlocked and large — almost twice the size of Zimbabwe — with the Zambezi River forming much of its southern border. Livingstone sits on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls, and the river runs east from there past Lake Kariba to the Lower Zambezi National Park, which faces Mana Pools across the water. The Luangwa Valley in the east holds South Luangwa, and Kafue National Park spreads across the west-centre of the country.
English is the official language. The local currency is the kwacha, but safari camps and lodges quote and bill in US dollars. The time zone is UTC+2 year-round, the same as Zimbabwe and Botswana. Lusaka is the main international gateway for the parks, with Livingstone the entry point for Victoria Falls.
Distances between the parks are long and many roads are rough, so Zambia is sold either as a guided road circuit — slower, cheaper per night, and you see the country between the parks — or as a fly-in safari on light aircraft between airstrips. We run both.
Four things Zambia does better than almost anywhere else.
The guided walking safari was pioneered in the Luangwa Valley, and South Luangwa is still where it is done best — on foot with an armed scout and a specialist guide, reading tracks and following game at walking pace. The valley also holds some of the highest concentrations of leopard in Africa, seen most often on night drives.
Kafue is one of the largest national parks in Africa, and one of the least visited. Our guided circuits cover both ends of it — the Kafue River in the north, with boat cruises and fishing, and the seasonal floodplains of the remote south — which few itineraries attempt.
On the Lower Zambezi the river is the activity. Canoeing along the channels, game-viewing cruises and tiger fishing sit alongside drives and walks, with elephant, buffalo and hippo along the banks all year and Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools on the far shore.
The Zambian side gives you a closer, more dramatic view of the falls, and at low water the chance to swim in Devil’s Pool on the lip itself. Several of our Zambia safaris open in Livingstone with a guided falls tour, a sunset cruise and, on some, a helicopter flight.
Six itineraries from 6 to 12 nights, guided by road or flown between parks, with published rates per person sharing.
Zambia’s two best-known parks, flown between: walking in the Luangwa, canoeing on the Zambezi.
Both ends of Kafue, the falls from Livingstone, then the Chobe riverfront.
Livingstone, southern and northern Kafue, Lusaka and the Lower Zambezi with one guide.
The Royal Livingstone, Kafue, Royal Zambezi and Nkwali in the Luangwa, all flown.
The longer guided circuit, with Devil’s Pool and three nights on the Kafue River.
Our longest Zambia safari: four nights on the Luangwa and three on the Zambezi.
Yes, and it is one of the least crowded safari countries in Africa. The walking safari was pioneered in South Luangwa, Kafue is one of the largest national parks on the continent, and the Lower Zambezi can be explored by canoe as well as by vehicle. Camps are small, and you rarely share a sighting with another vehicle.
Six nights is enough for South Luangwa and the Lower Zambezi if you fly between them — see the six night fly-in. A guided road circuit through Kafue, Livingstone and the Lower Zambezi needs ten to eleven nights, because the distances are long and the drives between parks are part of the safari.
Our Zambia safaris start at US$6,100 per person sharing for six nights flying between South Luangwa and the Lower Zambezi. Guided road circuits of nine to eleven nights run from US$6,130 to US$6,800 per person sharing, and a ten night luxury fly-in is from US$9,440. The twelve night Lusaka, Kafue, South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi safari is priced on request.
June to October is the strongest game viewing, as the bush dries out and animals concentrate on the rivers and lagoons — though October is very hot in the Luangwa Valley. Several remote bush camps close through the rains, roughly December to March, and some roads become impassable, so our guided circuits run March to December.
Many nationalities, including UK, EU and US passport holders, can currently enter Zambia without a visa, and others receive one on arrival. If your trip crosses into Zimbabwe, the KAZA UniVisa covers both countries on one entry. Visa rules change, so verify against your own passport before you travel. More in the travel guide.
Yes. Livingstone sits on the Zambian side, and several of our Zambia safaris start or finish there with a guided falls tour, a Zambezi sunset cruise and, on some itineraries, a helicopter flight. At low water, usually from around mid August to January, Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island is open for swimming at the lip of the falls. See Zambia or Zimbabwe?
Road circuit or fly-in, six nights or twelve — tell us your dates and we route it around the camps that are open and the season you are travelling in.
