ZAMBIA

Luxury Zambia Safari Tours Zambia Safaris

What makes our Luxury Zambia Safari Tours unforgettable? Zambia’s immense wilderness encompasses nineteen national parks teeming with abundant wildlife. The rich landscape varies between huge lakes, wide rivers, thundering waterfalls, vast wetlands, grassy plains, and lush forests. With some of the finest game sanctuaries in Africa, Zambia Safaris offer a wide range of Safaris in open vehicles, on foot, by boat or canoe, on horseback, or by micro light. Walking Safaris were pioneered in Zambia and enable intense close-up encounters with wildlife.

Zambia has some of the best views of the magnificent Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Zambia’s share of Lake Tanganyika forms part of the Great Rift Valley, edged by the Sumbu National Park, the harbor Town of Mpulungu, and the spectacular Kalambo Falls, the second highest Waterfall in Africa. Lake Kariba is conveniently situate only 120 miles south of Lusaka and features a magnificent setting combined with a relaxing and friendly atmosphere. A short distance downstream of Lake Kariba, the Zambezi Valley, fringed by rugged escarpment, forms a veritable wildlife menagerie. Lush floodplains, verdant woodlands, and permanent water attract elephant, buffalo, and antelope known to move in big herds.

Additionally, the combination of the Zambezi River and diverse land habitats has resulted in a wide and prolific range of bird species. The breathtakingly scenic Lower Zambezi National Park guarantees the absolute experience of “The Real Africa”.

The capital city of Lusaka sits at the heart of the country and the crossroads of Southern Africa. It is a hive of commercial fervor and free enterprise, bustling with unique character and energy. The colorful local markets burst at the seams, selling everything from fruit and vegetables to print cloth and curios. The city’s many nightspots offer the exotic taste of local rhythms, music, and dancing.

Zambia is a land of vast wilderness, rich cultures, prolific wildlife, and friendly people. Its diverse tribal and cultural heritage is evident in the fine craft-work, basketry, sculpture, and traditional ceremonies held all over the country each year.

The soul of Zambia lies in its music, dance, and rich tradition of oral history, capturing the beat and rhythm of a vibrant continent as well as the mystery and magic of Zambia’s complex tribal history.

Here is a PDF of Zambia pretour information/requirements/tips for planning your safari to Zambia that you may print at your convenience. Why Safari In Zambia?

Planning to go on a safari in Zambia? Zambia is less often visited than its neighbor Botswana but a Zambian safari vacation has much to offer. For many potential travelers to Africa, the first thing that comes to mind with regard to Zambia is the magnificent Victoria Falls. However, there are many national Parks: Kafue National Park, Livingstone & Victoria Falls, South Luangwa National Park to name but a few.

Zambia is known for great WALKING SAFARIS with highly qualified safari guides to accompany you as well as traditional safaris in 4WD landrovers offering game drives during the day and night in all national parks as well as BOATING SAFARIS.

Walking and boating safaris afford completely different perspectives to game viewing. You are at one with the game which can be exhilarating and exciting. Walks are usually conducted in small groups of 3-7. TOP REASONS TO VISIT ZAMBIA:

• Best known for Walking safaris • Boating safaris on the Mighty Zambezi • The Victoria Falls • South Luangwa Valley • Kafue National Park • Fishing • The Kasanka Bat Migration in October every year if you are batty about bats! • Dr. Livingstone, I presume? Best time to go to Zambia?

Optimal game viewing and therefore the “Peak Season” is during the Zambian winter which runs June through August. The mornings and evenings can be very cold but the days are usually warm and sunny and dry.

Zambia’s “Emerald Season” is December through March which is the rainy season often making roads impossible to drive on and for this reason many camps are closed. However due to the excessive rains the best time to visit Victoria Falls for the greatest flow of water. KAFUE NATIONAL PARK

If you are interested in booking a Kafue National Park Safari Tour, you will be surprised how much this national Safari park can offer. Zambia’s Kafue National Park is one of the largest safari Park in Africa, covering almost 14,000 square miles. The northern section of this park serves as the perfect location for camps with its remote and diverse wilderness. The northernmost sector is drained by two perennial rivers, the Lunga and Lufupa. Both serve as important tributaries of the Kafue River for which the park is named.

The Lunga drains the northeastern section and beyond its narrow strip of lush riverine forest the landscape is patterned with broad-leafed woodland, open plains, floodplains, and island thickets. The Lufupa by contrast enters the park in the northwest and forms the Busanga Swamp. This papyrus dominated wetland gives way to the vast floodplain of the Busanga Plains, a seasonally inundated grassland dotted with tree islands and fringed by stands of broad-leafed miombo woodland.

Birdlife is abundant and includes many species that do not occur elsewhere in southern Africa. The plains provide good concentrations of both Wattled and Grey Crowned Cranes, as well as floodplain specialists like Rosy-throated and Fulleborn’s Longclaws and Locust Finch. The riverine woodlands of the Lunga harbor exciting species such as Black-throated Wattle-Eye, Bohm’s Bee-eater and Schalow’s and Ross’s Turacos. Zambia’s only endemic bird species, Chaplin’s Barbet, is almost entirely restricted to the Kafue system and can also be found at Lunga where it favors fruiting fig trees, but perhaps the biggest thrill is to be found in the diversity and abundance of nearly 500 recorded species.

With more than 150 species recorded, mammals are equally diverse. The Busanga Plains, provide fantastic concentrations of common species like puku, lechwe, buffalo, and wildebeest, but also comparative rarities not easily viewed in many places in southern Africa such as roan, oribi, and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest. A high density of lion dominates the predator guild on the plains while species like cheetah and wild dog utilize those areas where lion are not present. Leopard and elephant are better viewed at Lunga where the woodlands provide both cover and foraging opportunities. Here as well, puku and wildebeest, together with impala are common, with some more unusual species such as tree hyrax and yellow baboon also occurring.

Please follow this link to see our Kafue National Park Camps and Lodges LIVINGSTONE

Livingstone is located in the south-west corner of Zambia, the Victoria Falls and Zambezi River have resulted in an area of scenic beauty: from the Falls themselves to the broad picturesque course of the Zambezi River upstream, the rainforest atmosphere adjacent, and the stark jagged gorge downstream, the power and timelessness of Nature’s forces are evident throughout.

Wildlife at Livingstone

Wildlife also abounds in the area with baboons frequently seen on the path to the Falls and antelope and warthogs found in the surrounding rainforests.

Zambia Livingstone Safari Tours have prolific Birdlife and elephants are often seen swimming in the mighty river.

The principle town on the Zambian bank of the Zambezi is Livingstone. With its adrenalin sports like abseiling, white water rafting, and canoeing, it is rapidly becoming known as the “Adventure Center” of southern Africa.

Other activities to be enjoyed include cruises on the Zambezi, traditional African dancing, elephant rides, the “flight of the angels” over the Falls, and bungee jumping.

Please follow this link to see our Livingstone Camps and Lodges LOWER ZAMBEZI NATIONAL PARK

The Lower Zambezi National Park lies on the north bank of the Zambezi River in south eastern Zambia. It gently slopes from the Zambezi Escarpment down to the river, straddling two main woodland savannah regions distinguished by the dominant types of tree, Miombo and Mopane.

The famous Mana Pools Reserve in Zimbabwe lies on the opposite side of Lower Zambezi National Park. The whole area on both sides of the Zambezi River is a massive wildlife sanctuary.

The Southern Miombo woodlands lie on higher ground in the north while the Zambezian and Mopane woodlands on lower slopes in the south. At the edge of the river lies floodplain habitat.

Most large mammals in the national park congregate on the floodplain, including buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard and many antelope, crocodiles and hippo.

Please follow this link to see our Lower Zambezi National Park Camps and Lodges SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK

South Luangwa National Park is one of Africa’s finest wildlife sanctuaries in Africa. It is here that walking safaris were pioneered in the 1950’s and the variety of habitats, from the cool hills of the Muchinga Escarpment to the spectacular oxbow lagoons and open sandbanks of the Luangwa River, supporting one of the most diverse and concentrated populations of wild animals in the world.

Please follow this link to see our South Luangwa Camps and Lodges Zambia ANNUAL WEATHER

Predicting weather even in this day and age is at best a calculated guess, so the following should be taken as a guideline only.

A general trend for rainfall is for this to cease in May and resume in November with a peak in January and February. Zambia experiences very high rainfall during the summer months with an average of 1 250 mm (50 inches) or more a year in the north, and slightly less in Lusaka where it is about 750 mm (30 inches) annually. Combine this with the soil structure of the Kafue National Park and it makes these areas practically inaccessible over the high rainfall summer months. It is for this reason our camps are closed in the Kafue between 30th November and 1st May every year.

The general altitude of Zambia imparts a pleasant climate. The country typically has three seasons – cool and dry from May to August, hot and dry from September to November, warm and wet from December to April. In the wet season, high levels of humidity can be experienced; rain is frequent with heavy showers followed by bright spells of 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 occur at this time of the year.

Whilst temperatures are high during the hot season, new leaves appear on the trees before the rains, so that the main growth period for this woody vegetation is between August and November, creating a supply of nutrients for the browsers during the drier months.