Lower Zambezi National Park

Lower Zambezi National Park is in Zambia.

Understand

Location

Lower Zambezi National Park lies across from Mana Pools Reserve in Zimbabwe and 400 km downstream of the Victoria Falls. The park covers an area of 4092 km², and it contains a wide variety of wildlife including elephant, hippo, buffalo, zebra, lion, and leopard, together with a great variety of birds. Game drives and walks will often reveal big cats and on occasion, the African wild dog.

Get in

Visitors can drive into the park on their own but it is not recommended because it is very underdeveloped and not really structured for vehicle visitors. The existing lodges and canoeing operators provide the best access to the park. They all offer pick-ups from either Lusaka or Chirundu in Zambia or Kariba in Zimbabwe.

Fees and permits

As of 2016, the basic park fee is US$25 per day for non-Zambians. The fee allows for up to 24 hours of access to the park.

See

The best months to see game is July through September.

Do

Fishing is good along the river. Various private lodges offer day-long canoeing and fishing trips. Lodges offer safari tours, which are typically arranged at the crack of dawn (wake-up call before 6AM), in the late afternoon (past 4PM), and at night after sunset when high-powered spotlights are used to locate nocturnal animals.

Sleep

There are various lodges along the river.

• Ana Tree Lodge. $435-600 per night. 
• Kanyemba Lodge. Closest to Lusaka. Excellent guiding. Great meals. $220-340 per night. 
• Kasaka River Lodge. Very friendly tour guides coupled with home-cooked meals every night. $350-375 per night. 
• Kulefu Tented Camp. $130-475 per night. 
• Royal Zambezi Lodge. $450-500 per night.