Kafue National Park

Kafue National Park is Zambia’s largest national park and it is vast, about the size of Wales to be precise, and provides an off-beat wilderness experience which is second to none. The exact area is a mind boggling 22,400 square-kilometres – the second largest park in Africa, home to over 55 difference species of game. Established in 1924 and named after the Kafue River, the park occupies a huge chunk of the southern section of Zambia, the northernmost part being some 800 kilometres from Victoria Falls. 

It is the lesser known of Zambia’s national game parks and boasts a wide variety of scenery which varies considerably from North to South. The landscape transforms from flat open grasslands to dense woodland interspersed with towering granite hills. The permanent Kafue River also changes dramatically as it makes its way through the park, starting as a slow-moving channel in the north and ending as fast flowing rapids crashing around granite boulders in the south before emptying into a man-made Lake. 

Safaris in Kafue focus on the North of the park. Northern Kafue, otherwise known as the Busanga Plains and swamps, is a mosaic of woodland and tributaries of the Kafue River with grasslands dotted with wild date palms and fig trees. The Busanga Plains is about as remote as you will find in Africa and you will only find a very few select and intimate camps making this a genuine out of Africa experience reminiscent of the explorers of a by gone era. The wildlife here is superb with huge herds of red lechwe, puku, buffalo, zebra and other plains game.  The lion prides here are also well documented for their tree-climbing antics and the wide-open grasslands make this a haven for wild dog and cheetah who thrive in this habitat. The birdlife is also first class with around 495 species recorded making it arguably the richest birdlife in Zambia. 

You either get the point of Africa or you don’t. What draws me backyear after year is that it is like the world with the lid off.
AA Gill