Kafue National Park

Unique!

Whistle stop trip but had some lovely wildlife sightings.

We travelled to Kafue National Park for a 4 night whistle stop trip over Christmas. We drove ourselves from Lusaka airport which was a very easy journey with supermarkets found on route from the airport and once you are out of the city the roads are very easy to drive. We stayed at Mayukuyuku Camp located right on the edge of Kafue River. We had two person tents pitched for our arrival right beside the river with the hippos actually passing in front of them during the night. When we weren't out in the bush we were able to fish beside the stunning river. We often had dinner cooked at the camp where we ate under a nice open bush hut with the other guests. The food was very nice and at an affordable price (dinner $30 dollars that consisted of a starter, main and desert). We drove ourselves within the park and found once we were off the tar road on the side loops the wildlife was great. Animals can still be seen from the tar road but the speed limit is still high there so you have to be aware of other drivers passing through. We were there during the wet season but even off the tar road the roads were manageable and we only got stuck once but were able to get out ourselves. It might have been the time of year but there were fewer tourists in the park than I expected and you didn't have the large volume of vehicles that you often find in other parks which meant that a lot of the sightings were very personal with just one vehicle present. The game in the park was lovely to see. Although we didn't see the leopard that frequented the camp we saw elephants in most areas and had a great sighting of lions. The most special sighting of the trip, however, was coming across a pack of wild dogs that were completely relaxed around us and ended up lying down around our vehicle. At the end of the trip we had to start taking game drives with a guide as our fuel was low. If you're staying along the tar road there aren't many options for refuelling. Our guide however was very knowledgeable about the wildlife in the park and showed a real passion for the wildlife. Overall we had a lovely relaxing trip and will definitely visit again.

It's a very big park with few accommodations but beautifully located along the Kafue River.
If you don't want to see any other safari jeeps on your game drives, you should got there !

A rugged place with beautiful rivers.

My wife and I went in November at the beginning of the rainy season. The weather was generally good, and not too hot. We saw a good number of animals, but with the coming rains they were often staying in the forest more. However, we did see cheetahs, lions, giraffes, hippos and a variety of birds. They come down to the river more during the dry season.

The river camp we were in was in a beautiful spot, with permanent tents and an open covered common area. The staff was very accommodating and the food was good. The guides tried very hard to find the animals for us to see, but they were scarce at times. We also cruised on the Kafue River and some people went fishing. The river was pristine and quite beautiful.

The Busanga plains in the northern part of the park was a highlight for me. It’s absolutely beautiful, with amazing sunrises and sunsets. It should be a UNESCO world heritage site.

stunning location, remote, true africa!

I can say, I'm quite an experience Africa Traveller (many safaris over the last 15 years in Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana, Southafrica, Kenya). With the time my research for places with few tourists, an intact wildlife and a stunning scenery became always more sophisticated and so I decided this time for a safari in Zambia. The Kafue National Park, I stayed in the Busanga plains, have for sure been one of my most exciting safari experiences: in a park as big as the whole region of Tuscany there are merely a few camps (in the part where I stayed there where just 3 of them with a maximum of about 8 guests each). It is hard to meet another car out in the wild, not to speak about situations like in the serengeti, where you can find 25 car around a single lion...
I don't know whether it's ufficially permitted, however, the very experienced drivers go often offroad to take you closer to the animals - surely with few cars in this wast area this is not a problem. And it gives you uncredible photographic opurtunities. We came accross some lions hunting a hippo. We saw many elephants and also rare animals as the serval cat.
Of course also the "simple" luxury of the camp, the great food, the stunning location (elephants visit our tent many times, antilopes are grazing always in front of the camp in the great swamp area, added something to the feeling of "out of Africa". A highlight of course was the balloon flight.
The only real disturbing thing in the Kafue are the Tsetse flies. They where the first animal greeting us as soon as our plane landed and the pilot opened the window. That is when I got my first bite, many others followed. The area around the airstrip is worse, the guides know that and avoid it. But also in other places tsetse can be found (I never saw one in the camp). If I ever plan to return to Kafue I will prepare very well with even better safari cloths then those I already had and some really good repellent (but I'm not sure if it exists - autan and others do not help).

Potentially One of the Finest National Parks in Africa

I just spent 11 days in Kafue National Park and loved it. In fact I feel that with better overall management it could be and deserves to be one of the finest National Parks in Africa.

I saw lions,elephants,hippos, herds of red lechwe, oribi and bush pigs,sable and roan. I also saw a leopard. The birding was just fantastic.

I stayed at Mukambi Plains and Musekese Camp. I just loved the hosting and thought that the guiding was exceptional in both of them. The wilderness " exceptional".

The reason why I don't rate it even higher is because I feel that Kafue needs better overall management. I am happy that Paul Tudor Jones is really opening up a lodge and that hopefully African Parks will come in and manage it. This is a great park and I really admire the work that Tyrone Mckeith, Phillip Jeffrey, the Van Der Heides, and others are doing to support the local community and conservation.

Kafue National Park - A classic African safari destination

Kafue is Zambia's largest park, and one of the largest in Africa. It encompasses a range of habitats, but is dominated by Miombo woodland and seasonal 'Dambo' Savannah. The wildlife in Kafue remains very prolific. It is extremely good for elephants, and large herds can be seen throughout the year. Other ungulates, including Impala, Eland, Kudu and Puku are also common. Most 'typical' African carnivores (Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Hyena, Wild dog) can be seen in Kafue, although none are particularly common and an element of luck is usually required to spot these. In all, most 'classic' safari species can be seen in Kafue with the exception of Rhinocerous (formerly occured, now extinct) and Giraffe. The birdwatching possibilities in Kafue are excellent, and the Nanzilla plains in the South are one of the few places where the Black-cheeked Lovebird can be observed. Kafue is not a well-visited destination and remains somewhat off the beaten track. Consequently the infrastructure is limited and independent travellers will need to prepare much of what they need for their trip in advance. (Some good accomodation possibilities exist around the parks periphary, although almost nothing is available in the interior). However, the quiet nature of Kafue is also one of its biggest appeals. A visitor can travel large distances without seeing a single other tourist, and will have vast landscapes and abundant African wildlife to themselves. In all, Kafue in something of a challenging safari destination, although will reward adventurous travellers with a classic African landscape which they will be able to enjoy almost entirely to themselves.