About the same size as Wales, Kafue National Park is Zambia's largest park. It protects a wide variety of different environments on an undulating plateau veined by rivers. Safaris to Kafue are relatively uncommon when compared with safaris to the South Luangwa or the Lower Zambezi – but both contrast with the different experiences and safaris found here in Kafue National Park. Looking area by area, here we'll look at the wildlife of Kafue National Park and also its safari camps and lodges.

Safaris on the Busanga Plains

In the far north of Kafue National Park, the Lufupa River flows into the Busanga Swamps. During the rains (read about Zambia's weather…), this floods out over the adjacent Busanga Plains. Later, around May, when these waters recede, they leave behind a carpet of lush vegetation – which is irresistible to many herbivores. The Busanga Plains is certainly Kafue's most enticing area for the diversity and quantity of its big game.

Here you find flat grassland plains dotted with photogenic 'islands' of wild date palms, sausage trees and fig trees; it's a unique environment for Kafue. You'll often also find huge herds of red lechwe and puku, as well as buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and other antelope. The prides of lion residing here are known for their tree-climbing antics, it's Zambia's best area for cheetah and one of its best for wild dogs – and certainly the best game area in Kafue National Park.

Safari camps on the Busanga Plains

There are four main camps on the Busanga Plains, at the north end of Kafue National Park and each is run by Wilderness Safaris. The experience that they offer is broadly similar, though obviously their levels of comfort and ambience differ quite a lot:

Shumba Camp is, in many ways, the Wilderness's flagship camp in Kafue. It's a smart, luxurious camp with spacious rooms which use plenty of glass and stylish fittings. They're aiming firmly at the top end of the market here, and it's a far cry from the very basic camp that we started sending travellers to in 1995! (Read more about Shumba Camp… )

Kapinga Camp is very similar to Shumba: it's made to the same high quality, and costs the same. The main differences are that Kapinga is slightly smaller (four rooms, rather than Shumba's six rooms), and that Kapinga's main areas are round-shaped ... compared with the squares and rectangles which characterise Shumba's design (Read more about Kapinga Camp… )

Busanga Bushcamp has been a seasonal camp on Kafue's Busanga Plains for many years, and it was completely rebuilt around 2006. However, its essential small, fairly simple nature hasn't changed a lot. For a comfy camp on the plains, with the emphasis firmly on the game-viewing rather than the interior décor, Busanga Bush Camp is perhaps the best choice in Kafue National Park. (Read more about Busanga Bushcamp… )

Musanza Bushcamp is by far the simplest of the four camps on Kafue's Busanga Plains, although even this has quite sizeable walk-in tents. This is used primarily on week-long, guided small group trips, like our Puku Safari. Despite its simplicity, all of its tents have en-suite bathrooms. Note that for May 2008, Musanza is moving from the east side of the Plains to the southern side, and there are plans to base some animal researchers here, as well as guests. (Read more about Musanza Bushcamp… )

Other safaris in the north of Kafue National Park

Away from the vast Busanga Plains, the rest of the national park is a mosaic of miombo and riverine woodlands, dotted with occasional grassy pans, or dambos. This variety of habitats is perfect for game. Aside from the common species like impala, puku, zebra, blue wildebeest and kudu, Kafue's attractions include rarer antelope like roan, sable, eland, oribi and Defassa waterbuck. Lion, leopard and cheetah thrive, as do growing numbers of Africa's rarest large predators – wild dogs.

Kafue's Lufupa area is particularly worth noting for its leopard sightings; together with our travellers, we've been monitoring these for the last 13 years or so … and seldom been disappointed. The leopard-sightings during night drives from here can be phenomenal.

Safari camps and lodges in the north of Kafue National Park

Away from Busanga Plains, there are three camps to note. These are frequently used as necessary 'staging posts' en route to and from the Busanga Plains – although all would be worth a visit of 2-3 nights in their own right. The main base of operations in the centre of the northern half of Kafue National Park is Lufupa, and here the old Lufupa Lodge (which was run by Busanga Trails) has been completely changed and renovated into two new, separate but adjacent camps:

Lufupa Tented Camp caters for mostly overseas visitors here, and is set up to include your park fees for the national park, activities and meals. It has en-suite tented chalets notable for their airiness, and great river views. (Read more about Lufupa Tented Camp… )

Lufupa River Lodge is slightly upstream from the Tented Camp, and its tents are constructed in the same way. However, activities and meals aren't included here; it's really designed for visitors to Kafue who live in Zambia to drive their own 4WDs here. That said, it has a nice 'River café' that even guests of the Tented camp can drop into. (Read more about Lufupa River Lodge… )

On the north-eastern side of Kafue National Park, the permanent Lunga River is deep and always surrounded by a band of lush, green forest. It's a sublime river to boat along. The bird-watching here is first-class, and the game sightings can be excellent also. There's one camp here:

Lunga River Lodge in a secluded spot on beside the Lunga River, Lunga River Lodge has changed relatively little over recent years. Its six smart chalets have always been solid and a little exclusive, and they remain in very good order – all overlooking the river. A new outside dining area was added at the start of 2007, and a dining area on top of a termite mound! (Read more about Lunga River Lodge… )

There are three other camps in northern Kafue which haven't been used for a few years now, but watch this space to see if/when they will re-open: Kafwala Rapids Camp, Ntemwa Bushcamp and Moshi Bushcamp. All have interesting locations, and all are owned by Wilderness Safaris, but currently none are operating.

Safaris to the south of Kafue National Park

For many years Southern Kafue has been largely ignored. The reality is that the game can be quite patchy, clustered around areas where it has historically been best protected. These areas have been expanding recently though, and it's gradually becoming an area worth visiting for more old Africa hands who value the exploration as much as the game-sightings. Note that sometimes it makes more sense to be driven to Southern Kafue from Lusaka, rather than flying here.

Kaingu Lodge stands just south of a long-standing good area for game, Puku Pans. More interesting still, is stands beside one of the Kafue River's most beautiful stretches – where the river spreads out between a host of (Read more about Kaingu Lodge… )

There's now also a promising new camp on the Nanzhila Plains, in the far south of Kafue National Park; watch this space for more news.


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