e have a real affection for Lusaka. It is busy, sometimes chaotic and growing at an extraordinary pace, but beneath all of that it has a calmness and friendliness that is very easy to warm to.
What we like most is the contrast. One minute you are in traffic surrounded by roadside traders, minibuses and the noise of a rapidly developing African city, and not long afterwards you can be sitting in a beautiful garden having coffee or lunch. Sugarbush Café, out on the edge of the city, is one of our favourite examples — relaxed, green and full of flowers, and a lovely escape from the bustle.
Lusaka also has a surprisingly good food and social scene, with excellent restaurants, cafés and bars scattered across the city. It can feel very African and very modern at the same time, and that is part of what makes it interesting.
The people are a huge part of the city’s character. Zambia has more than 70 ethnic groups, and Lusaka brings people together from all over the country, so there is no single tribe or culture that defines it. Instead, you get this wonderful mix of languages, backgrounds and traditions. Zambians are rightly proud of being peaceful, kind and welcoming people, and Lusaka generally feels friendly and safe, with the same common sense you would use in any major city.
There are a few places we think are worth seeing if time allows, including the Lusaka National Museum, Chilenje House 394, once home to Kenneth Kaunda, and the Oliver Tambo Heritage House, which tells part of Zambia’s important role in the southern African liberation movements.
Then, just outside the city, there is Lusaka National Park, with rhino, giraffe, zebra, sable and other wildlife, as well as the Game Rangers International Elephant Nursery, where orphaned young elephants are cared for before progressing towards eventual release.
For us, Lusaka is not really about sightseeing in the conventional sense. It is more about the feel of the place — the colour and movement of everyday life, gardens hidden behind walls, good food, coffee under the trees, and the warmth of the people.
It is modern Africa, traditional Africa and developing Africa all mixed together. Sometimes untidy, occasionally frustrating, but always full of life — and very easy to like.
Set in Zambia, the Kafue National Park is the largest park in the country and the second-largest in Africa. The contrasting landscape of the Central Kafue features riverine bush, miombo and savannah woodlands, vast open plains and majestic granite outcrops. Visitors can enjoy the pristine natural beauty of the diverse scenery and its natural, unspoilt beauty. Drive along the Spinal Road for a chance to discover the most remote parts of the Central Kafue National Park. Don't miss the opportunity to spot a wide range of African wildlife with regular sightings of puku, impala and bushbuck and catch a glimpse of the countless bird species that call this area home.
The vast and remote Liuwa Plain National Park is one of Africa's last untouched wilderness areas situated on the upper Zambezi floodplains of western Zambia and is bounded by the Luambimba and Luanginga Rivers.
It has a long and rich history, having originally been proclaimed a protected area by the King of the Lozi people in the 1880s. The Monarch is called the Litunga, meaning 'keeper or guardian of the earth'. It is the only National Park in Zambia where people live inside the Park as well as in the surrounding areas and the Lozi people of the area were originally placed in the park by the Litunga as his official gamekeepers.
Since 2003, the Park has been managed by conservation non-profit, African Parks, in partnership with the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Barotse Royal Establishment.
In addition to its famed lions, Liuwa is home to the second biggest wildebeest migration in Africa. Every year tens of thousands of blue wildebeest graze their way north (starting early July) and then when the rains build up in late October they head southwards again following the numerous pans and nutritious forage they offer.
The Park hosts a burgeoning cheetah population, the apex predator, hyena, in clans of up to 50 individuals, abundant zebra, red lechwe and tessebe herds and more than 300 bird species including rare and endangered wattled cranes.
The landscape holds a special magic, with dramatic thunderstorms gathering on the horizon to build up to an awe-inspiring spectacle (Oct/Nov) and the stark contrast of green and gold grasslands against the dark and ominous blue of a rising storm.
Liuwa Plain is home to the second largest wildebeest migration in Africa and seasonal floods transform the flat grasslands into a wetland paradise. Hisotrically used as a royal hunting ground, it now a protected area and the people here are the custodians of the reserve and its wildlife – including the famous Liuwa lions, hyenas and cheetahs.
The park’s s growing wildebeest population of between 40,000 and 50,000 individuals migrate within the broader Liuwa system, moving between the numerous pans and following seasonal burns. They are joined by herds of zebra, tsessebe and lechwe, and predators such as wild dog, hyaena, cheetah and lion.
The park has a large population of hyaena, with an estimated 200 in the park and a population of between 400 and 500 in the broader landscape. In the absence of a significant lion population, the hyaena rapidly ascended to the position of apex predator in the park.
Many other species of antelope are flourishing in the park, including zebra, red lechwe and tsessebe.
As previously described
As previously described
As previously described
