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About Zambia

Zambia is a landlocked country in the central part of Southern Africa. It shares its borders with nine other countries and is easily accessible from Europe, Johannesburg, the town of Kasane in Botswana, and from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Most of the country is on a high plateau lying between 3,500 and 4,500 feet above sea level. The rest of the country is an extension of the “Great Rift Valley” that runs through Kenya and Tanzania all the way to the Lower Zambezi Valley. Here the elevations are under 2,000 feet and the river systems and lakes attract and support a wide variety of wildlife.

Zambia is one of the few remaining safari destinations that still provides a wonderful sense of remote Africa. Its expansive National Parks and wildlife reserves are still relatively undeveloped, with limited accommodations and access. Due to the lack of dependable roads and drive times, you will most often fly from one area to the next while on safari. Zambia also allows and encourages walking safaris in its National Parks. This is a unique privilege as walking is usually banned in National Parks in other countries and can only be undertaken on private reserves. Zambia's distinctive seasons provide visitors with different perspectives depending on the time of year. The Victoria Falls are spectacular in April and May after the rainy season At the end of the dry season, October to December, the water levels are low and one can see the magnificent rock formations. River rafting on the Zambezi is not safe when the river is in flood in the rainy season, so check with your agent on expected conditions if you are considering this. Wildlife viewing is excellent from June to August, but is best in September and October as game gather around perennial water holes or rivers. Due to the abundance of water after the rainy season, wildlife is scattered. Vegetation is lush, green and beautiful, but obscures game viewing and many of the safari camps and lodges are closed during this time.

Zambia has one of the lowest population to land ratios in Africa. Only 10 million people in a country half the size of Europe. The employment opportunities offered in the post independence era in the copper mines and associated industries led to a strong rural-urban migration. The result has been to make Zambia one of the most urbanized countries in Africa. About one fifth of the population lives on the Copper-belt to the north of the capital, but the biggest concentration of people is in Lusaka itself with an estimated population of over 2 million. This has resulted in massive tracts of uninhabited land across the country.

Zambia’s culture is a blend of values, material and spiritual traditions of more than 70 ethnically diverse people. Most of the tribes of Zambia moved into the area in a series of migratory waves a few centuries ago. They grew in numbers and many traveled in search of establishing new kingdoms, farming land and pastures. Before the colonial period, the region now known as Zambia was the home of a number of free states - Each having comprehensive economic links with each other and the outside world along trade routes to the east and west coast of Africa. The main exports were copper, ivory and slaves in exchange for textiles, jewelry, salt and hardware. Today copper and minerals are still important and tourism is one of the largest sources of foreign currency for the country.