Zambia Travel Guide

Hustlers thieves, officials,police,ruin what would otherwise be a wonderful tourist destination

Zambia is a beautiful country with so much to offer, but traveling up from Botswana, there is a stark difference -the official's police and the Botswana people are friendly and efficient, (been several times) , have never been hustled in Botswana -the moment you arrive in Zambia there will be a hustler at your door -the Botswana officials expedite you quickly and efficiently -The Zambian side will keep you for hours -But that we can deal with.Livingstone(Vic Falls,) was empty this year of tourists, one would think they would welcome the ones who do come,but there we felt immediately like we were a mark, and constantly harassed and hustled, beware of the money exchangers and hustlers, do NOT deal with them,even if it costs a bit more, use a bank or ATM, where you are nor surrounded -they will come at you in gangs and try to distract you as others steal from you -this happened to us with our international guests who had money stolen, the police are no help,so don't expect any help there, we did go to the Livingstone police but they laughed at us and said we most probably dropped the money ourselves -so they find it a joke and obviously are not there to help tourists -our guests said it spoilt their experience there, and I doubt will recommend anyone else to go there

because, i liked it.

Everything was real u see the wildlife, the vegetation so green the waters so blue which makes the scenery beautiful

Beautiful spot on the River

The safari overall was spectacular, just so much fun seeing all the animals in their natural habitats. The time we were there (mid October) was very hot, we felt it and so did the animals. So because of the heat many of the animals were not out and about, but still very much enjoyed everything Lower Zambezi had to offer!

Even better than expected, we had a wonderful but too short visit to South Luangwa.

We have travelled a lot in Southern and Eastern Africa visiting most of the great parks and South Luangwa stands out as one of our favourites after a previous visit. An Eden of scenic beauty and this time during high season there was wildlife everywhere and something to see behind each corner. And the park is never crowded. Flatdogs and Nkonzi are truly nice places, well managed with excellent food and comfortable safari tents. Elefants and hippos sharing the camp grounds are part of the bush feel. Guiding was superb including walking safaris and night drives.

Superb

I used Gondwana Tours to organise my entire tour, and it was absolutely superb. July is a brilliant time to visit South Luangwa, with cool mornings, warm afternoons and mild evenings, all perfect for wildlife watching. Accommodation with Flatdogs Camp and Nkonzi Bush Camp was to a brilliant standard, with great food, comfortable beds and knowledgeable, insightful guides. Wildlife density and diversity are both excellent, including four of the Big Five. My absolute highlight was being able to get really close to leopards, providing some amazing opportunities for photos with these beautiful cats. I would go back in an instant!

Excellent experience!

We used Luciano Tours and Travels to book our vacation and everything was fantastic. They were even able to help with some immigration issues and were very good about checking in with us to make sure everything was going smoothly. Zambia is a beautiful country, Livingstone and the Falls is always a pleasure and cannot say enough good things about South Luangwa national park. Highly recommend!

African safari as it should be

We visited Zambia for our Honeymoon in this October.
I decided to travel back here after an incredible first visit 5 years ago. We visited Kafue, both Luangwa Parks and of course livingstone and the falls: What a wonderful and rewarding experience !!
- wildlife viewing was superb : we just missed cheetah and rhino but saw 7 leaopards during our trips, lion, loads of hippos, Elephants, koudous impalas, pukus , zebras and buffaloes and encountered less common species such as sable antelope, hartebeest, a pack of 20 wild dogs (in south luangwa), bushpigs. Except near the Mfue gate we had the animals for ourselves!
Whats really liked in parks such as Kafue is that we had to really search game : find some clues (footprints), track them down and in the end...we were rewarded
- Safaris and guidings were excellent: our guide in North Luangwa was able to find lion footprints, we followed these footprints and we able to discover a lone male Lion that roares and jumped from a busm just 20m ahead of us! Moreover guides are friendly, very accessible and give great explanations. We mixed, game drives, night drives canoe and walking safaris.
- Accomodation was exclusive, rustic (made from natural materials) : we were 100% part of the wilderness
- Food was 100% hand cooked and really delicious


All in all what is so special with Zambia is that you do not feel the commercial aspect of the safari industry : you have excellent and dedicated guides for yourself (no tourist buses here), you feel the bush vibe (no tared roads, no fences), tourists densities are low (in Kafue we were alone in our camp) and some of the industry benefits are dedicated to local communities which is great

We absolutely recommend this marvellous country !!

Want to come back again!

Wildlife and birds are exiting. We saw a lot.
Camp site was also exiting, so close to wildlife and unexpectedly clean and comfortable.
Food was also nice, thanks to our nice guide, Daniel who knows a lot about nature.