Kafue National Park

Kafue is the oldest and largest of Zambia’s National Parks. Its 22 400²km occupies the centre of western Zambia. Established in the 1950s by Norman Carr it is also Africa’s largest park. A two hour drive from Livingstone gets you to the park’s main entrance. To this day it is generally little known and remains largely unexplored, yet it has an amazing variety of wildlife.
Safari camps and lodges have been added over the past decade and with it investments have resulted in improved infrastructure of roads and airstrips. Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) provide protection in collaboration with adjoining parks staff.

Best time to travel

June to October are the dry winter months and best to visit as the wetter summer period of November to April make most of the park inaccessible. There are however camps and lodges that stay open for the full year such as Mukambi Lodge and the Mayukuyuku and Musekese Camps in the central and northern park section.

The climate of Kafue is mild and temperate the result of its average altitude of 1 100m above sea level. The southern winter months of June to August bring the temperature down to sub-zero at times during the nights. There are a number of airstrips at Chunga, Ngoma and Lufupa.

A new airstrip at Busanga is operational since 2013 which will assist accessing other camps not operational during the wet months. The Busanga Plains area is a floodplain generally only accessible from July to November. The tour specialist at Kafue can advise as to the advisability of visiting and how to gain access during the green season. Since a tar road, the M9 or Monhu Road, dissects the Kafue area access even by 2 wheel drive to the park is no problem at all throughout the year. However any other roads are strictly accessible by 4 x 4 vehicle during the wet season especially the roads from Hook Bridge to Lufupa and those north to Moshi, Kabanga and Busanga.

Many of the river front camps and lodges operate boat cruises. Water levels in the area tend to change dramatically throughout the year and most of the park’s southern areas around Ngoma, Itezhi-Tezji, Dundemwezi and Nanzhila flood and local knowledge of access is essential.