The whole Luangwa Valley is a prime habitat for wildlife & as such, one of the best natural sanctuaries in Africa. Not only for animals, but equally birds too are in abundance with in excess of 450 species sightings documented. The Luangwa Valley is a part of the Great Rift Valley so the scenery is dramatic. The valley floor dips down some 800m below the lip of the surrounding plateau & it is definitely much hotter & more humid at the Luangwa River level. The eco-systems vary from dense woods to area of open grassy savannah. Many oxbow lagoons remain long after the river levels drop in the dry season, making them a magnet for all manner of fish, bird, mammal & reptile. The valley itself is home to vast elephant herds, & the inevitable cavalcade of antelope species : impala, kudu, puku, bushbuck & waterbuck being common. Whilst there is a good smattering of lion & leopard, night time game drives will unveil great opportunities to see civet, servals, hyenas & bush babies who dart from tree to tree making prodigious leaps that defy their apparent size to weight ratio.

A few kilometres from Livingstone, the former capital city of Zambia, lies Mosi-Oa-Tunya. A very thin strip of river frontage & although less than 70 sq kms, this National Park provides a permanent home for giraffe, zebra, many species of riverine antelope & white rhino.

Naturally the best point of access is from Livingstone which itself has quite a lot to interest the visitor especially those interested in history. The museum possesses many journals & letters from the colonial past & the Railway museum has great displays of a history steeped in steam engines & railway memorabilia.

One tends to hear more about Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe perspective but do not discount the Falls from the Zambian side as the views from here are in fact, better in terms of perspective. Declared a World Heritage Site the falls are a place of myth, legend & romance.

After paying a nominal Park fee, a network of well prepared & maintained walking trails allow access to the very edge of the abyss & one can walk out along a narrow bridge onto the island in the middle of the river ( you´ll get drenched but that´s all part of the fun) as from here, a real appreciation of the awesome power of mother natures interplay with water can truly be appreciated.
The Zambezi river is at its highest levels from April through May & during this time, the spray rises at least 100m into the air surrounding the Devils Cataract or gorge part of Victoria Falls.

Kafue is Zambia´s oldest National Park & by far & away its largest with some 22400 sq kms. The park has been endowed with a spectacular array of eco-systems, ranging from the Busanga Plains in the NW quadrant, to the wetlands & dambos in the south. With those hidden gems, comes a vast array of all manner of birds, animals, reptiles & insect species. The plains are dotted with herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, puku, roan & sable antelopes. Here too the inevitable cast of villains – the predator cats species & the raptors who prey on carrion that is left in their wake. Elephant frequent the wetlands in the south where you will likely find them peacefully wading chest deep in search of succulent river grass.