Photo: Todd J, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Zambia tours are smaller, more owner-run and more seasonal than those of its neighbours. Zambia’s safari industry is smaller, more owner-run and more seasonal than those of its neighbours. That produces a distinctive product — small camps, strong guiding, walking as a core activity — and a set of booking questions that matter more here than elsewhere.

What Zambia tours are like

Three things set Zambia apart from the regional norm.

• Walking is central, not an add-on. The guided walking safari was developed in the Luangwa Valley and Zambian guide training reflects that. The walking licence here is a serious qualification.
• Night drives are permitted in national parks, which changes what you see — leopard, genet, civet, porcupine and honey badger all become realistic.
• Camps are small and often seasonal. A four-to-eight-bed bush camp that closes for the rains is a normal Zambian property, not an eccentric one.

Zambia tours: the kinds on offer

Where Zambia tours actually go

In practice, the overwhelming majority of Zambian safari itineraries use some combination of four areas: the Luangwa Valley, the Lower Zambezi, Kafue and Livingstone. Everything else — Liuwa, Bangweulu, Kasanka, Nsumbu — is a specialist add-on with its own season.

What to ask before you book Zambia tours

Six questions matter more on Zambia tours than they do elsewhere.

• Is the camp open on my dates? Ask this first. A great many Zambian properties close for months, and a booking engine does not always know.
• What is actually included? Park fees, conservation levies, transfers, drinks and laundry are included by some operators and not others. The headline rate can be misleading in both directions.
• Who is guiding, and what licence do they hold? For a walking safari this is the single most important question.
• How many people per vehicle or walking group? Zambian camps are small, but group sizes still vary.
• What happens if the water is wrong? Rafting, Devil’s Pool, canoeing and Busanga access are all water-dependent. Ask what the operator does when conditions cancel an activity.
• Where does the conservation money go? Several Zambian parks are managed under partnerships with non-profit organisations, and the better operators can tell you precisely how a stay contributes.

Where to go next

Sources

Facts and figures on this page are drawn from the following. Where sources disagree we say so in the text.

• Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Zambia
• African Parks — Liuwa Plain
• Frankfurt Zoological Society — North Luangwa National Park