Kafue National Park
The Kafue National Park is the largest park in Zambia and the second largest in Africa and home to 55 species of animals in an area of 22,550 square kilometres - similar in size to Wales. The park has been named after the Kafue River and stretches over three provinces.
The park is untouched by mass tourism and although it is now more accessible with daily charter flights, it is still very much an area of remote wilderness which sustains a great diversity of wildlife, offering visitors excellent game viewing, bird watching and fishing opportunities.
The Kafue River and its tributaries are a life sustaining water supply to a large diversity of habitats. Extensive riparian woodlands open to large grassy areas known as dambos. The landscape which is generally flat or gently undulating is accentuated with termite mounds, phoenix palms and fig trees.
A highlight to a Zambia safari in the Kafue National Park – in the north - is the Busanga Plains, with huge herds of red lechwe, puku and roan antelope as well as the rare sitatunga antelope and plenty of big cats roaming the wide open floodplains.
The game rich plains are a predator’s paradise and it is the only park in Zambia where you can see cheetah. The lion sightings are superb and night drive offers the opportunity to see the elusive leopard. Packs of African wild dog are also present and the Kafue is also home to 490 species of birds including the endemic Chaplin’s Barbet. The rivers are teeming with hippos and crocodiles.
The south of the park is characterised by its dense double canopy forests with tall mopane woodlands and Kalahari sandveld. The wide Ninzhila Plains are dotted with baobab trees and rocky outcrops.
Game viewing is at its best in the dry season from April to October but the parks outstanding natural scenery is best admired after the rains in the first half of the year. Many of the parks internal roads are inaccessible between November and April.
Game at Kafue is best sighted in the dry season from April to October, but the beauty of the park is at its best after the rains in the first half of the year. Many of Kafue's internal roads are inaccessible between November and April.
Activities include game drives, guided walking and birding safaris in the remote bush, fishing, river cruises.
