Zambia's parks, compared
3 parks on wildlife, activities, cost, access and health. Every rating opens to show why.
Three parks side by side reads best. Tap a park to swap it in or out.
| Compare | Lower ZambeziBest for on the water | KafueBest for birding | South LuangwaBest for big game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4September and October | 4Aug to Oct, park-wide | 5Sept to Oct | |
4September and OctoberElephant sightings: 100% of trips; Lion sightings: 96% of trips; Leopard sightings: 88% of trips | 4Aug to Oct, park-wideAntelope species: 21; Elephant: ±4,800, increasing; Lion: 200+ | 5bestSept to OctLeopard density: 8.5 per 100 km²; Hippo: 42 per river km; Luangwa giraffe: 651–890 left | |
| Elephant | Guaranteed | Likely | Guaranteed |
| Lion | Likely | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Leopard | Likely | Fair chance | Likely |
| Buffalo | Likely | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Wild dog | Fair chance | Rare | Fair chance |
| Cheetah | Absent | Fair chance | Absent |
| Hippo | Guaranteed | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
| Giraffe | Absent | Absent | Guaranteed |
2378 speciesAbout 378 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | 4best515 speciesAbout 515 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | 3400 speciesAbout 400 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | |
| 5Water | 5Night drives | 5Walking | |
4Walking is permitted with a guide and an armed scout, the Tusk & Mane fly-camps specialise in it and reach the escarpment foot, and under-12s are normally excluded. | 4Every walk goes out with an armed escort and camps set a minimum age of about 14; Musekese is built on walking and the park now runs three- and six-day self-catered wilderness trails. | 5bestWalking is the reason the park exists in its modern form: three to four hours with a guide and an armed scout, June to October, minimum age usually twelve, and multi-day trails between bush camps. | |
5Night drives are permitted and widely offered inside the park and the game management area through licensed operators until 20:00, and leopard is seen on 88 per cent of trips. | 5Zambia permits night drives inside national parks and Kafue's camps make full use of it, with red-filtered spotlights and an aardvark programme at Konkamoya. | 5Night drives are legal and run in every season through camps whose vehicles may stay out until 20:00; leopard density is 8.5 per 100 km² and camps report leopard on most nights of a three-night stay. | |
5bestCanoeing is the signature, from a couple of hours to multi-day trails at a $20 park fee, every river camp runs boat cruises, and tigerfishing is catch-and-release. | 4Boat safaris on the Kafue, Lufupa and Lunga rivers and Lake Itezhi-Tezhi at a $20 daily boating fee, solar e-boats, and guided canoeing in parties of up to three canoes. | 2Boat safaris run only from January to April when the river is high, at a $20 park fee; the rest of the year there is not enough water. | |
2Self-driving is permitted on a $30 tariff, but the road is ±216 km and at least 5 h with the last hours on a rough Chiawa GMA track, a 4x4 is required and no bookable campsite inside the park could be traced. | 4bestThe M9 crosses the park on tar, 270 to 280 km and 3.5 to 5 h from Lusaka with no 4x4 needed to Mukambi; beyond the corridor a high-clearance 4x4 is required and Busanga adds 5 to 6 h of track. | 3Allowed on a $30 self-drive tier with tar all the way from Lusaka in 9 to 10 h, but a 4x4 and a closed vehicle are required, permits end at 18:00 and every campsite sits outside the gate. | |
| $200cheapest bed | $25cheapest bed | $15cheapest bed | |
$30International adult per day ({'name': 'DNPW park fee schedule, published via the Zambia Tourism Agency', 'url': 'https://www.zambiatourism.com/park-entry-fees/'}, 2026-07-27). | $20bestInternational adult per day ({'name': 'DNPW fee schedule, published via the Zambia Tourism Agency and the Kafue Park Operators Association', 'url': 'https://www.zambiatourism.com/park-entry-fees/'}, 2026-07-26). | $30International adult per day ({'name': 'DNPW park fee schedule, published via the Zambia Tourism Agency', 'url': 'https://www.zambiatourism.com/park-entry-fees/'}, 2026-07-26). | |
$200Lowest listed rate per person per night across 27 places; 5 are budget tier. | $25Lowest listed rate per person per night across 27 places; 6 are budget tier. | $15bestLowest listed rate per person per night across 31 places; 4 are budget tier. | |
$900Median of 16 priced places; top end $1,995. | $495bestMedian of 18 priced places; top end $1,600. | $731Median of 25 priced places; top end $6,578. | |
1Cheapest listed bed $200, 5 of 27 places in the budget tier, park fee $30 a day. | 4bestCheapest listed bed $25, 6 of 27 places in the budget tier, park fee $20 a day. | 3Cheapest listed bed $15, 4 of 31 places in the budget tier, park fee $30 a day. | |
| $3,550mid-range | $2,375mid-range | $2,770mid-range | |
$420bestBudget one: the GMA campsite base, the budget trip that actually exists | $655Budget one: self-drive camping at Kasabushi, the cheapest real version | $580Budget one: self-drive camping outside the gate, the cheapest real version | |
$3,550Budget two: mid-range, a tented chalet at Mvuu | $2,375bestBudget two: mid-range at Mukambi Safari Lodge | $2,770Budget two: mid-range at Flatdogs Camp | |
$10,060Budget three: fly-in to Anabezi, inside the park | $9,760Budget three: fly in to Shumba Camp on the Busanga Plains | $5,340bestBudget three: fly in to Kuyenda, the walking-safari top end | |
| Lusaka: ±35 min by air to Jekinearest airport | No scheduled flightsnearest airport | Mfuwe (MFU)nearest airport | |
Lusaka: ±35 min by air to Jeki, or ±5 h by roadFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | No scheduled flights; Lusaka 270 to 280 km, 3.5 to 5 h on the M9From the getting-there and flights pages. | Mfuwe (MFU), 35 to 45 min to the gate areaFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | |
Required inside the parkFrom the getting-there page. | Not needed on the M9 to Mukambi; high-clearance 4x4 beyondFrom the getting-there page. | Needed inside the park, absolutely so in the rainsFrom the getting-there page. | |
| September and Octoberpeak game viewing | Aug to Oct, park-widepeak game viewing | Sept to Octpeak game viewing | |
September and OctoberFrom the best-time page. | Aug to Oct, park-wideFrom the best-time page. | Sept to OctFrom the best-time page. | |
Camps ±April to mid-Nov; flights 1 May to 15 NovFrom the best-time page. | Busanga open early Jul to early Nov; some central and southern camps all yearFrom the best-time page. | Park never closes; bush camps closed ±16 Jan to 14 MarFrom the best-time page. | |
| High year-roundmalaria | High countrywidemalaria | High all yearmalaria | |
High year-round, whole country (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | High countrywide, worst in the rainsFrom the health page. | High all year; worst in the Nov to Apr rainsFrom the health page. | |
PresentPart of a Zambezi valley day, especially in thick bush away from the river; a comfort problem, mostly. | PresentSerious tsetse in the miombo and mopane woodland, worst on the long drives between camps such as the run north to Busanga. | PresentGenuine tsetse country in the mopane and miombo belts away from the river; far less of a presence around the Mfuwe camps. | |
October, 34.8°C mean daily maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | October, 35.0°C mean daily maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | October, 37.8°C mean daily maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | |
Mtendere Mission Hospital, Chirundu; real hospitals in LusakaAir evacuation: SES road and air ambulance, Lusaka based. | Mumbwa, about 2 h from Hook BridgeAir evacuation: SES air ambulance from Lusaka. | Chipata, about 2 h on tar; serious cases by air to Lusaka or JohannesburgAir evacuation: SES air ambulance to Lusaka or Johannesburg. | |
| 4First safari | 5Wilderness | 4First safari | |
3bestLolebezi and Chongwe Camp take all ages and Royal Zambezi has a kids' corner, but malaria is high all year, the camps are unfenced and children under 12 are normally kept off canoe and walking safaris. | 2Malaria is high all year, the miombo is serious tsetse country, much of the park has no phone signal and the nearest hospital is Mumbwa, about 2 h from Hook Bridge; Ila sets no age limit and Kasabushi prices children. | 3bestFlatdogs is the valley's family camp and Mfuwe Lodge, Chinzombo and Kakuli take all ages, but malaria is high all year, camps are unfenced by law and walking usually starts at twelve. | |
4bestElephant on 100 per cent of trips, lion on 96 and leopard on 88, and Proflight reaches Jeki in about 35 min from Lusaka, though only from 1 May to 15 Nov. | 3An ordinary car reaches the central sector in 3.5 to 5 h and lions are near-daily on Busanga from Aug to Oct, but elephant is only likely and the game is spread across 22,400 km². | 4bestElephant, hippo and Luangwa giraffe are guaranteed and leopard and lion likely, with Proflight 1 h 10 from Lusaka all year and the main camps 35 to 45 min from Mfuwe. | |
3Most of the 4,092 km² is escarpment with no drivable tourist network, so game drives work a narrow valley-floor strip and the interior is reached only by walking and fly-camp operators. | 5bestOne of the richest parks in Africa seen by remarkably few people, with the Busanga Plains holding six small camps of mostly four to six units. | 3Off-road driving is banned and the main camps cluster around Mfuwe, where September is the busiest month; the deep southern bush camps sit 3.5 to 4 h beyond Mfuwe Lodge. |
Each park in one line
Lower Zambezi Zambia's water park: canoes past hippo pods, elephants swimming between islands and leopard on night drives.
Kafue Zambia's giant: 22,400 km² of rivers, miombo and the Busanga Plains, cut by a tar highway.
South Luangwa The valley that invented the walking safari, with legal night drives and a measured leopard density to match.