We round up the bucket list experiences to include in every itinerary.

Walking Safari

The South Luangwa National Park is said to be the birthplace of walking safaris and still offers some of the continent's best bush walking experiences. 

A walking safari allows travellers to experience the bush up close and personal. Ade Coley, owner of Flatdog Camps, explains: “To this day, a walking safari remains one of the best ways to experience the African bush. The Luangwa has some of the best guides in the world and they will impart immense knowledge and a great understanding of the bush they live and work in.”

Saskia Brown, spokesperson for The River Club echoes this: “[Zambia’s] walking guides are also some of the most experienced and knowledgeable in Africa.” Brown adds that Zambia offers spectacular walking safaris in some of the most untouched and remote areas with a huge diversity of wildlife. 



Coley says Livingstone Island on the edge of the mighty Victoria Falls is well worth a visit. “You get to be right on the edge of one of the biggest natural waterfalls, which is one of the wonders of the world, with no safety barriers or anything different from when David Livingstone found the island and witnessed the Falls for the first time in 1855.”

The Bat Migration

Andy Hogg, co-founder of the Bushcamp Company, says a visit to Kasanka National Park to witness the bat migration should be on the bucket list of everyone visiting Zambia. He says the Kasanka migration is the biggest bat migration in the world and sees over 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats converge in the park.

The bats are attracted to the fruits of the local trees and literally cover the trunks of the trees during the day. At sunset, they all take off and fly out, covering the sky with bats. 

The Wildebeest Migration

“A trip to Liuwa Plains during the migration of wildebeest is a must-do experience,” says Grant Cumings, owner of Chiawa Camp. He says the Liuwa Plains wildebeest migration is the second biggest migration in Africa but it remains an ‘undiscovered gem’ that few get to experience. 

Liuwa Plains is a remote park in the far west, which still offers an ‘untouched‘ wilderness, which is largely uncommercialised. The park covers 3 660 square kilometres of vast wooded islands and is home to a variety of animals. Much of the huge Liuwa Plains become flooded between December and April. This flooding drives the wildebeest migration, as the herds move out of the woodlands to the north and on to the open plains for new, fresh grazing.

Canoe Safaris

Canoe safaris in the Lower Zambezi National Park are conducted in an unspoilt wildlife and habitat-rich environment, says Cumings. 

A Lower Zambezi Canoeing Safari offers a relaxed experience, as travellers canoe at their own pace through a quiet section of the Zambezi that is flanked by national parks on both sides. Hippos are always in sight and elephant, zebra, puku, impala, buffalo, kudu, waterbuck, baboons and crocodiles can be seen from the canoe, browsing on the banks.

 “Visitors can idly drift down the Zambezi and watch as elephant and buffalo come to drink and cool off in the river,” says Coley. “They can camp on the banks of the river and experience it like the great explorers did in the 19th century.”

    

Cycling Safaris

Tafika Camp in South Luangwa is the ‘Remote Africa Safaris’ base camp. From here, travellers can experience mountain bike safaris through the South Luangwa. 

When sitting in a game-viewing vehicle just doesn’t cut it for travellers, they can opt for a cycling safari through the African bush. From Tafika Camp, an experienced guide, who, in most cases, is the owner, John Coppinger, will accompany cycling fanatics. Travellers will follow the tracks and paths of the Game Management Area, adjacent to Tafika Camp and into the park along the main roads. 

The pursuit of the Shoebill storks

Zambia is home to the elusive Shoebill stork, an unusual prehistoric-looking bird. 

This extremely rare and strange-looking bird can be seen around the Bangwelu Swamps in the northern region of Zambia. It is one of just a few remaining natural habitats where visitors can spot them. The best time to see them is quite early in the dry winter season from March to August. 

The shallow wetlands of Bangwelu are the ideal feeding grounds for all indigenous birds and other wildlife. Besides the Shoebill stork, other great sights on the plains include massive herds of endemic Black lechwe antelope (in the tens of thousands), tsessebe and buffalo.

Looking for leopard at night

A night drive in the South Luangwa National Park will allow visitors to almost effortlessly spot the elusive leopard. Coley says there are probably more leopard sightings in the South Luangwa National Park than anywhere else in the world. 

 “Experiencing a night drive in the park can be one of the most exciting game experiences you will ever have,” says Coley. “Leopards hunt more often at night (although they are seen here regularly during the day as well), and if you are lucky enough to see the hunt you will never forget it.”

Night game drives will also allow visitors to see other nocturnal species, such as genet, civet, porcupine, several mongooses and occasionally aardvark and honey badger.

The Kuomboka Ceremony

Kuomboka, which in Lozi literally means ‘to get out of water’, refers to a traditional cultural ceremony that takes place in Zambia at the end of the rainy season when the upper Zambezi River floods the plains of the Western Province. 

The festival celebrates the event where the Litunga, the king of the Lozi people, moves from his compound at Lealui in the Barotse floodplain of the Zambezi River to Limulunga on higher ground.

It is a colourful and exciting event that attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world. The ceremony is preceded by heavy drumming of the royal Maoma drums, which echo around the royal capital the day before Kuomboka.

The Kuomboka ceremony is a unique cultural event in Zambia, says Cumings. He warns, however, that timing is never certain as it is based on the water levels and not a set date.