Overview
Zambia has excellent national parks teeming with birds and other animals, as well as the spectacular Victoria Falls and Zambezi River. Apart from sightseeing, these places are also centres for activities ranging from canoeing to white-water rafting and bungee jumping.
(Click the images to enlarge)
Before you go!
When to go
If you want to spot wildlife, August to October is the best time to visit, though an average of around 32°C (89°F) during the day by the end of that period, especially in low-lying areas - which includes the major national parks. If you want cooler weather and greener landscapes, visit during the cool, dry months of May to August. During the November to April rainy season some national parks are closed, and animals are harder to spot because of the lush vegetation, although the lodges that remain open offer very attractive rates and you have the parks virtually to yourself. Getting around at this time is also harder as many rural roads become impassable rivers of mud. Zambia is an excellent place for bird-watchers; November to December is the best time, although conditions are good year-round.
Visas
Most visitors need visas, which are good for three months, plus an International Health Certificate showing proof of a yellow fever vaccination within the past 10 years, though you're unlikely to be asked for this. For many nationalities, visas are available on arrival, though regulations do change so check before you turn up. Visa fees also vary for different nationalities, though for most it's 25.00 for a single entry. British passport holders are the notable exception - it will cost you guys 65.00.
Weather
Zambia's altitude creates a temperate climate. There are three distinct seasons: the dry season (mid-April to August), when temperatures drop at night and the landscape is green and lush; the hot season (September to mid-November), which is the best time to see wildlife as flora is sparse; and the wet season (mid-November to mid-April). Temperatures climb up to 29 to 30°C (84-86°F) during the day with quite cold nights throughout the year. Overall temperatures are slightly cooler in the middle of the year, which, along with sparse rainfall, make things quite pleasant.
Getting around
getting there and away
Europe has frequent air connections with Zambia. British Airways, KLM and Air France all have regular services to Lusaka. African carriers flying to the capital include Air Zimbabwe, Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways and South African Airways. Lusaka Airport is 20km (12mi) east of the centre. There's no airport bus, but taxis and hotel courtesy vans meet international flights. A growing number of tourists fly directly to Livingstone, near Victoria Falls. South African budget airlines fly to Livingstone and Lusaka from Johannesburg - Nationwide has the most flights. Mfuwe, the town nearest to South Luangwa National Park, also takes occasional international flights.
Read more...HideThe most fabulous way of entering Zambia by road is over the Victoria Falls Bridge from Zimbabwe. The main route between Lusaka and Bulawayo, from where you can reach Harare, crosses the border here. The other main border points with Zimbabwe are Chirundu and Kariba, where you cross between Zambia and Zimbawe over the massive Kariba Dam.
From Malawi, the main crossing point is east of Chipata, on the main road between Lusaka and Lilongwe. The only crossing point between Zambia and Botswana is the ferry across the Zambezi River at Kazungula, about 60km (37mi) west of Victoria Falls, though there are plans to build a bridge here. From Namibia, buses run from Windhoek to the Namibian outpost town of Katima Mulilo. From here you can cross the border into Zambia, go over the Zambezi on a ferry, then go via Sesheke to Livingstone. An easier option from Katima Mulilo is the bus, which runs through Botswana to Victoria Falls in Zimbawe, from where you can easily cross the border to Zambia.
Hidegetting around
For backpackers and independent travellers, buses are relatively good by regional standards but still get pretty crowded (large buses have five seats across, not the usual four). Road conditions have improved markedly in recent years but trips are still long, and often bumpy, making bus travel wearisome. All the bus companies are privately owned, but prices are relatively standardised and most services run fairly regularly. Minibuses are available for shorter runs and tend to be faster and slightly more expensive than regular buses. The train is a good alternative if you don't plan on going far from the Livingstone-Lusaka-Nakonde corridor, and you're not in a hurry. There's a train that goes from Lusaka to Kitwe, which is very slow. The Lusaka-Livingstone route (theoretically) has an express three times a week and a local daily, but departures can be inconsistent.
Read more...HideThe best way of getting around is undeniably by vehicle, preferably a 4WD. There are several rental agencies in Lusaka and a few in Ndola, north of Lusaka on the Congo (Zaïre) border. With Lusaka at the hub, main roads radiate out to Chipata (in the east), Livingstone (in the south), Mongu (in the west), Nakonde (on the Tanzanian border in the northeast) and to Mpulungu (on Lake Tanganyika in the north). Conditions vary, and range from new smooth tar to appalling potholes. Dirt roads range from bad to impassable, especially after the rains. If you haven't driven in Africa before, this is no place to start. All drivers need an International Driver's Licence. Driving is officially on the left, but you wouldn't always know it. Drive defensively and be prepared for anything. Domestic flights and charter planes serve Lusaka, Livingstone, the Copperbelt towns of Ndola and Kitwe, and various national parks. For visitors short on time these can be the most efficient way of getting around.
Your final option for getting around is by organised safari. Using air, boat and road transport, safaris can take the trouble out of travel, and be ideal for visitors new to Africa or who have little time. Travel agents in Lusaka can arrange things, and there are several Zambia specialists in Europe (notably Britain) and North America who can set up packages and tailor-made trips. Safaris can also be organised within Zambia.
HideCulture
Pre 20th Century
Zambia's history goes back to the debut of Homo sapiens: evidence of human habitation going back 100,000 years has been found at Kabwe, north of Lusaka. Beginning around 1000 AD, Swahili-Arab slave-traders gradually penetrated the region from their city-states on the eastern coast of Africa. Between the 14th and 16th centuries a Bantu-speaking group known as the Maravi migrated from present-day Congo (Zaïre) and established kingdoms in eastern and southeastern Zambia.
Read more...HideIn the 18th century, Portuguese explorers following the routes of Swahili-Arab slavers from the coast into the interior became the first known European visitors. After the Zulu nation to the south began scattering its neighbours, victims of the Difaqane (forced migration) began arriving in Zambia in the early 19th century. Squeezed out of Zimbabwe, the Makalolo people moved into southern Zambia, pushing the Tonga out of the way and grabbing Lozi territory on the upper Zambezi River.
The celebrated British explorer David Livingstone travelled up the Zambezi in the 1850s, searching for a route into the interior of southern Africa, hoping to introduce Christianity and European civilisation to combat the horrors of the slave trade. Livingstone's efforts attracted missionaries, who in turn brought hunters and prospectors in their wake. In the 1890s much of Zambia came under the control of the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which sought to prevent further Portuguese expansion in the area.
HideModern times
Under the BSAC, the area became Northern Rhodesia in 1911. At about the same time, vast copper ore deposits were discovered in the north-central part of the territory (the area now called the Copperbelt). Large-scale mining operations were set up and local Africans employed as labourers. They had little choice: they needed money to pay the hut tax introduced by the Europeans, and their only other source of income vanished when much of their farmland was appropriated by European settlers. The colony was put under direct British control in 1924.
Read more...HideSettlers began pushing for federation with Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Malawi) - an arrangement delayed by WWII until 1953. Meanwhile, African nationalism spread throughout the country. British rule ended in 1963, when the federation dissolved and Northern Rhodesia took the name Zambia, after the Zambezi River. The new country suffered from a legacy of British rule under which the Brits taxed Zambians to the bone, and spent most of that money on Southern Rhodesia - a drain that continued to plague the country well into the 1990s.
Following independence, Kenneth Kaunda led Zambia for 27 years, a feat he accomplished by declaring the UNIP the only legal party and himself as the sole presidential candidate. Calling his mix of Marxism and traditional African values 'humanism', Kaunda rapidly bankrupted the country with a bloated civil service and a nationalisation scheme wracked by corruption and mismanagement. Falling copper prices and rising fuel prices accelerated the slide, and by the end of the 1970s Zambia was one of the poorest countries in the world. Not content to fiddle at home, Kaunda stuck his nose in the domestic political spats of several of his neighbours, including Ian Smith's Rhodesia, who promptly restricted Zambia's imports and exports by closing its rail routes to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Desperate by the mid-1980s, Kaunda turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose severe conditions for aid - withdrawing basic food subsidies and floating the currency - sent prices skyrocketing and touched off nationwide riots that killed thousands. A further round of price hikes in the early 1990s led to more rioting, but this time Zambians demanded a cure rather than a salve: bring back multiparty democracy. Kaunda capitulated with an amended constitution, legalised opposition parties and full elections in October 1991. When labour leader Frederick Chiluba won a landslide victory as president, Kaunda had the good grace to bow out peacefully - an all too rare occurrence in African politics. Chiluba immediately began to woo the IMF, the World Bank and private investors, introducing austerity measures that drove food prices up and the value of the kwacha down. Chiluba also set about reforming the civil service and reprivatising or closing failed government enterprises.
With Chiluba's popularity plummeting, Kaunda briefly threatened to return to the political stage. However, in May of 1996, Parliament passed a bill that limited a president's service to two terms, hence thwarting Kaunda's political aspirations. Chiluba effectively eliminated all serious opposition and triumphed handily. Two independent election monitors who dared to suggest that the election was neither free nor fair were arrested, and journalists were suspended for showing insufficient enthusiasm for Chiluba's victory. A group of dissatisfied army officers staged a failed coup attempt in October 1997, to which Chiluba responded by declaring a state of emergency for several months and charging over 100 people with treason. Regional troubles moved in a new direction in 1999, when the Angolan government accused Zambia of backing the UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) rebels in that country's ongoing civil war. Zambia in turn stated that Angola's accusations were the result of Zambia's refusal to get involved in the conflict by denying permission to Angola to battle UNITA rebels on Zambian land.
HideRecent times
Despite fears that Chiluba would overstay his welcome, he was replaced at the December 2001 elections. His party, the MUD, was not. Chiluba's hand-picked successor Levy Mwanawasa won the vote, amid opposition claims of electoral fraud.
Read more...HideDespite the political chaos, the election, however flawed, returned one of the most broadly based democratic parliaments the country has seen, putting an end to the rubber-stamp, one-party system that has ruled since independence. Equally refreshing was Mwanawasa's decision to pursue corrupt officials, a campaign that would eventually focus on Chiliba himself, even though the former president was immune from prosecution.
Zambia is far from a model democracy, and the levels of poverty and disease remain disturbingly high. Yet strong copper prices and an extended period of stability and relative prosperity (with emphasis on the relative) mean there is palpable optimism in the country.
HidePoints of Interest
South Luangwa National ParkFor scenery, variety of animals, accessibility and choice of accommodation, South Luangwa is the best park in Zambia and one of the most majestic in Africa. Amongst the varied terrain of dense woodland, oxbow pools and open grassy plains lurk beasts of all shapes and sizes, from massive elephants to pesky tsetse flies. Take precautions against malaria.
Kafue National ParkCovering more than 22,500 sq km (8687 sq mi), this is the largest park in Zambia and one of the biggest in the world. With terrain ranging from the lush riverine forest of the Kafue River to the vast grassland of the Busanga Plains, the park rewards wildlife enthusiasts with glimpses of various carnivores and their nimble prey.
Victoria FallsThe Victoria Falls are one of the world's most spectacular plunges. The 2km(1.2mi)-wide Zambezi River drops more than 100m (328ft) into a steeply-walled gorge. The Zambian side of Victoria Falls has long played second fiddle to its better-known Zimbabwean counterpart, but trouble next door means Livingstone is positively booming.
