Welcome to Zambia! Are you hoping to go on safari in Zambia and looking to get more information about Zambia?
In the first instance, we recommend that anyone wishing to travel to Zambia obtain current travel information from their national Foreign Offices and Embassies. These government sectors will provide you with updated travel, health and safety information on Zambia before any travel.
Your next point of call to seek out an expert’s opinion about Zambia, is Chiawa Safaris.
Zambia is located in the Northern part of a region referred to as Southern Africa and is comparatively large in size – about 750,000 km². Zambia has many National Parks and Game management areas that make up almost 50% of its total area.
The population of Zambia is roughly 10 million and about 10% of the people live in the country’s capital Lusaka. The official language in Zambia is English, the other main languages spoken are Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Bemba, Kaonde and Nyanja. The Zambian people are extremely friendly and treat visitors with warmth and hospitality.
For a more informative look at Zambia we recommend that you purchase The Bradt Travel Guide for ZAMBIA, written by Chris McIntyre. You can purchase it from Amazon.com here.
Click here for a detailed visitors attractions map of Zambia.
Lusaka will most likely be your first entry point into Zambia, as the smaller flights that gently take you to our camps in the Lower Zambezi and South Luangwa, depart from here.
There are three main hotels in Lusaka –
Alternatively you might opt for one of the Private Game Park Lodges near Lusaka:
There are several main markets in Lusaka that you may wish to visit for authentic Zambian curios to take home.
Like any market you must be vigilant and do not take valuables with you, these markets are relatively safe if you use common sense and always pay attention to your safety. Chiawa has a small shop with a selection of curios, which we sell on behalf of the local crafts people.
The people of Zambia are renowned for their welcoming nature and tolerance, however, they are conservative in many aspects, often favouring traditional customs and practices over what might be the norm in the developed world. The Laws of Zambia are explicit and should be followed at all times, and discretion should be practiced in the event of same sex couples.
We might be biased, but the Chiawa Safaris luxury lodges and bush camps, tick all the boxes for the best safari lodges in Zambia.
We have Old Mondoro, an African bush camp unlike any other in the region, where remote and rustic authenticity meet luxury, for a Zambian lodge that has everything you need – and nothing you don’t. Traveling with kids or family? Head down river to the pioneer safari lodge of the Lower Zambezi, Chiawa Camp, for the gathering of quiet luxury and supreme safety – and the best safari guides in the business – amongst other long-standing awards.
What can you do on safari in the Lower Zambezi? Classic game drives replete with wildlife, immersive walking safaris and of course a sojourn down the mighty Zambezi river, the lifeblood of the region.
No trip to Zambia would be complete without a visit to the ultimate luxury safari lodge, Puku Ridge. Perched along its own private plain, teeming with wildlife throughout the day as they come to slake their thirst at the hide-front watering hole, guests at our luxury safari camp won’t have other lodge vehicles to disturb their view. What the Luangwa lacks in river frontage, is surely makes up for with incredible safari experiences with Puku Ridge as your base.
Zambia, formerly named Northern Rhodesia, dates back to the African Stone Age, an integral part of the cradle of humanity stretching along the Great Rift Valley from Ethiopia to South Africa. But arguably what put Zambia truly on the map (or at least the European maps) was Scottish physician and missionary David Livingstone. In his search to find the source of the elusive Nile River, he found himself drawn to the shores of Lake Tanganyika in the early 19th century.
Despite urbanisation, much of Zambia remains vastly underdeveloped and wild, which we are quite partial to! The large percentage of unspoilt land is credited to the Government and its many National Parks and Game Management Reserves. Zambia is exceptionally water rich, in comparison with many of Africa’s other countries, with 5 lakes, 3 major rivers (with countless tributaries), 17 waterfalls and a number of wetland areas. A landlocked country, Zambia is bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north / northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe to the south, Botswana and Namibia to the southwest and Angola to the west. A rather large country, Zambia is about the size of European countries France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland combined.
While Zambia most certainly has the Big Five, the rhino is quite rare and only found in the Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) and North Luangwa National Parks. But travelers to Zambia won’t be disappointed, as when you visit our camps in the Lower Zambezi and the South Luangwa, you’ll be provided ample opportunity to see Elephant, Buffalo, Lion and (hopefully) the elusive Leopard.
Not withstanding the allure of ticking off the #Big5 bucket list, the wildlife in Zambia is more than these five favorites. Rare and endemic species abound in Zambia, from the Crawshay’s Zebra to the Black Lechwe and Thornicroft’s Giraffe. As most Zambian camps are closed during the wet season, we can expect that these exceptionally rainy conditions for part of the year make for excellent fishing opportunities along with thriving pods of hippo and slippery crocodile.
When the weather is drier (which is more pleasant for you too with the lower winter temps), the vegetation thins out, making for excellent wildlife viewing in Zambia from May to October. From November, the rains come – and most camps indeed close during this time in any case.
