Zambia holidays

South Luangwa is the country's most-celebrated park and the trip's typical centrepiece. The 9,050 sq km park in eastern Zambia stretches 200km along the Luangwa River (the major tributary of the Zambezi). The walking-safari tradition began here under Norman Carr in the 1950s — Carr was the first British colonial-period game warden to argue that walking safari (rather than vehicle safari) was the appropriate way to experience African wilderness, and he founded the walking-safari operational model that has since been adopted across Zambia, Tanzania, and Botswana. The walking experience requires armed scouts and is rated easy-to-moderate physically — most operators schedule 2-4 hour walks at dawn or late afternoon, with vehicles available for travel between camps. The wildlife focus is on the smaller details that walking enables — tracking, plant identification, insect behaviour, the geology and ecology of the river ecosystem — rather than on big-game sightings (though those happen too, including encounters with elephants and lions). The seasonal cycle is dramatic: the Luangwa River floods November-April, breaking many of the simpler walking-safari camps; the river then shrinks August-October to a series of pools where wildlife concentrates intensely. October is the peak game-viewing month (the heat is intense, but the wildlife at the few remaining pools is extraordinary). The "Emerald Season" (December-March, the green season) brings rain, lush vegetation, baby animals, migrant birds, and very different wildlife experience.

Lower Zambezi National Park offers Zambia's most-distinctive water-based safari. The 4,000 sq km park sits along a 100km stretch of the Zambezi River in southern Zambia — the river forms the international boundary with Zimbabwe's Mana Pools, and the two parks effectively share the ecosystem. The canoe-safari is the trip's defining experience — a 2-3 day paddle downstream in 2-person Canadian-style canoes, with the guides paddling lead-and-rear, passing hippo pods (the most-dangerous wildlife in Africa for human deaths, treated very seriously by the canoe guides), elephant herds drinking at the riverside, lone bull elephants crossing the river, and the famous "swimming elephants" that occasionally swim between islands. Walking safaris from the camps complement the canoe activity. The fishing is genuine — tigerfish (the legendary Hydrocynus vittatus, the "river piranha" with the fanged appearance and aggressive fight) are caught here as catch-and-release. The camps along the river include some of Africa's most-romantic riverside settings — Time + Tide Sausage Tree Camp's individual sausage-tree shaded tented suites, Old Mondoro's the original "mokuto" eco-bush-camp.

Victoria Falls — the Zambian side — offers some experiences the Zimbabwean side doesn't. The Royal Livingstone Hotel's location right at the falls' edge means guests can walk to the falls' viewpoints in 5 minutes from the hotel. The Knife-Edge Bridge on the Zambian side gives the closest perspective to the actual cascading water — getting soaked is unavoidable. The Devil's Pool seasonal swim (August-January only, when the river level allows safe access) is the once-in-a-lifetime adventure — guides walk you from Livingstone Island to the pool, you swim in the natural rock pool right at the falls' edge with the 108m drop a metre away (a 4ft-high rock lip stops the water from going over the edge with you), and the photograph from the lip looking over the falls' edge is genuinely impossible to forget. The Boiling Pot viewpoint below the falls (after the 100-step descent) gives the dramatic underneath-the-falls perspective and the Zambezi River churning at the base. The microlight aircraft tour (a small open-cockpit propeller aircraft) is Zambia-exclusive — 15 minutes over the falls and the Batoka Gorge at low altitude.

UK travellers can apply for a visa on arrival ($50 USD, single entry) or the KAZA UNI-Visa ($50, valid for Zambia and Zimbabwe + day-trips to Botswana for 30 days — the better choice if visiting Victoria Falls from both sides). Zambia uses the Kwacha (ZMW); cards work in major tourist hotels and Livingstone, cash for safari camp tips (USD recommended). English is the official language; Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga and Lozi are major indigenous languages. The food: nshima (the cornmeal-porridge staple eaten daily), Kapenta (small dried fish from Lake Kariba), Bream from the rivers, the village chicken stews, traditional groundnut sauces, plus exceptional fresh-river fish — Tigerfish (catch-and-release in the Lower Zambezi), Bream from any of the rivers.

Best for: second-time Africa travellers who want a walking-safari experience after a first vehicle-based safari (Zambia is the natural step-up after a Kenya/South Africa first), photographers (South Luangwa has exceptional leopard sightings, the Lower Zambezi canoe perspective is unique), birdwatchers (Kafue and South Luangwa are world-class with 400+ species each), couples seeking a remote-Africa retreat, conservation-driven travellers, those willing to fly between camps in light aircraft. Often combined with Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls Zim-side), Botswana (Chobe and Okavango via the Kasane crossing), Malawi (Lake Malawi finish via the Mfuwe-Lilongwe direct route), or Kenya/Tanzania for an East-Southern Africa headline trip.