Planning your trip to Zambia

Zambia is renowned for being the birthplace of walking safaris. In Zambia, huge numbers  of raw African wildlife, beautiful views of Victoria Falls and for the adventurous traveller the Zambezi River await. Zambia is rich in history and culture. The city of Livingstone, named after David Livingstone the British explorer who was the first European to explore the area, has a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls just 10km north of the Zambezi River.

Many of the safari camps we use for your Zambia safari are close to water, meaning canoeing and boat cruises offer close encounters with crocs and hippos, as well as perfect views of African animals grazing the lush Zambian riverbanks. It’s a very tranquil and rewarding way to view all varieties of African wildlife.

Zambia is a vast country expanding 752,000 square kilometres, the combined the size of Switzerland, France, Belgium and Holland. This huge expanse of land allows Zambia to have large game reserves and safari parks, creating the perfect destination for an African safari. Zambia is well known for having high quality safari guides. Many of the guides have lived in Zambia their entire lives and have a passion for African wildlife and Zambia, ensuring a high quality and professional Zambian safari.

Zambia being such a large country we will plan your internal flights and endeavour to ensure a memorable safari itinerary for you.

Weather in Zambia – Times to Travel

Zambia has three main seasons:

Cool and dry:

May to August the cool and dry winter is excellent for game spotting at waterholes as the bush dries up making it easier to spot the wildlife. During this time wind grows stronger and it can sometimes get a bit dusty. The nights can get pretty cold with even a touch of frost.

Hot and dry:

September to October/November it can get really hot in the Zambezi and Luangwa valleys (in the high 30’s°C) and once the rains arrive so does the humidity.

Warm and wet:

December to March/April, in the wet season it can rain 7 days out of 10, mostly as afternoon thunderstorms followed by bright sunshine. The heaviest rainfall is in the northern areas (where we will not be sending you), reducing the further south you go towards Victoria Falls.

What to Bring on your Safari

During your Zambian safari it’s likely that you’ll be walking in the bush, canoeing on a river, going on game drives and sitting around a camp fire. A Zambian safari introduces you to a true African safari experience, so forget about interior design and silver service; think practical and casual:

• Khaki clothing is always best to help you blend into the background
• Long sleeve cotton shirts and long cotton pants will serve you well in the evenings as will clothes with lots of pockets
• Walking shoes and sturdy sandals
• We’ll always plan some days of R&R after your main safari, so don’t forget your swimwear, sarong, sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, casual evening wear and a good book.
• Bring mosquito repellent and something to sooth bites
• Please pack your clothes into soft-sided luggage as you will probably be doing a couple of transfers in small planes. We’ll confirm the weight limit when we finalise your itinerary.

Health in Zambia

Malaria is prevalent in Zambia, especially during the hot rainy season from December to March, when mosquitoes breed in pools of rainwater. The people living there do suffer from malaria on a regular basis but are used to it – you aren’t so you need to take precautions.

A yellow fever certificate is mandatory if you are travelling from an infected area – check with your travel clinic.

As you will be in some safari camps very far from any shops, you should take medicines you may personally need, for example something against headache/pain, tummy upset, mosquito spray, cream to sooth bites, etc.

You should have medical /travel insurance.

We always advise guests to drink bottled water. 

Moving Around in Zambia

Let us arrange your internal flights in small planes between safari lodges, so that you spend as little time as possible on roads that are renowned for potholes. We will keep most of your driving experiences for game drives!