Kafue National Park, Zambia, is the 5th largest park in Africa. It is one of the best wildlife experiences in Africa.

The Kafue national park is the biggest and oldest national park in Zambia, covering over 22,400 square kilometres (about the size of Wales) in central, north-western and southern provinces.

Key activities in Kafue National park

Visitors to the park can enjoy a number of activities, including; day and night game drives, walking safaris, angling, boating and canoeing, and specialised bird drives.

  • Kafue national park

Mean annual rainfall; from 510 mm (20 in) in the south to over 1,020 mm (40 in) in the north.

The annual mean temperature; is 21 °C (70 °F). July, the coolest month has a mean maximum of 26 °C (79 °F) and October the hottest month of the year, 33 °C (91 °F).

Best game viewing months; In the middle and end of the dry season, July to October. The bush is dried out and animals gather in limited water resources. The Busanga plains (wetlands) are inaccessible in the rainy season, November to April. However, the best time for viewing birds is from November to April, when migrants are present, and many birds have breeding plumage.

Accessing Kafue National park

Charter flights are available from Lusaka or Livingstone.

Nalusanga Gate is 200km from Lusaka along the eastern park boundary. Dundumwezi Gate is 198km from Livingstone, through Kalomo, on the southern boundary.

Key areas in Kafue National Park

  • Busanga Plains. The Busanga Plains are the home of National Geographic’s famous ‘Swamp Lions‘. they are found in the northern part of the park. The Getaway magazine mentioned the Busanga Plains as one of the ‘top 10 secret gems of Africa’.
  • Nanzhila Plains. The Nanzhila Plains are found in the southern part of the park. There are large numbers of game and stunning bird species.
  • Kafue River. The Kafue River attracts most of the animals found in the Kafue National Park. It is also home to hippos, crocodiles and a wide variety of fish.
  • Itezhi-Tezhi dam. The Itezhi-Tezhi dam attracts a wide variety of animals and birds.

Animals in Kafue National Park

Abundant (A), Common (C), Occasional (O), Rare (R)

Lions (O), elephants (C), leopards (O), buffalo (C).

African wild cat, cheetahs (O), cape wild dogs (R), caracal, honey badger, jackal, mongoose, otter, spotted hyena (O) (laughing hyena), striped polecat, servals, and weasels.

Baboon, bushbaby, vervet monkey.

Blue wildebeest (C), bushbucks, bushpig, duikers, elands, genet, grysboks, hare, hartebeest, impala, klipspringer, kudus, lechwe, oribi, puku, roan, reedbucks, sable, sitatunga, steenbok, warthogs, waterbucks, wildebeest, and zebras (C)

Aardvark, pangolin, porcupine.

Bats, canerat, dormouse, elephant-shrew, gerbil, hedgehog, hyraxes, more-rat, mice, night ape, rats, shrew, springhares, and squirrels.

Hippopotami (C)

It has 478 of Zambia’s 733-recorded bird species, including the African darter (C), African finfoot, African green pigeon (C), African wattled (R) and crowned Crane, black-cheeked lovebird,böhm’s bee-eater, brown-headed apalis, chaplin’s barbet, chestnut-backed sparrow-weaver, collared palm-thrush, denham’s bustard, fish eagle, goliath heron, grey crowned crane, grey-tit flycatcher, ground hornbill.

You also find the knysna turaco (R), malachite kingfisher (C), miombo pied barbet, miombo rock thrush, narina trogon, olive woodpecker, pale-billed hornbill, pel’s fishing-owl, purple-crested turaco (lourie), racket-tailed roller, ross’s turaco, saddle-billed stork, southern white-faced owl, Souza’s shrike, spotted creeper, woolly-necked stork, and yellow-throated leaf-love.

Notable fish species are Cyprinid, barbel, all 5 bream species, fresh-water pike, and Kafue Killifish.

Agama, black mamba, boomslang, cape centipede-eater, chameleon, cobras, egg-eaters, gaboon viper, geckos, nile crocodile, nile monitor, nightadder, puffadder, python, savanna monitor, skink, Eastern snake eater, terrapin, tortoise, various other snakes, and worm-lizards.

Bullfrogs, frogs, kassina, squeaker, snout burrower, and toads.

Kafue National Park
Kafue National Park

Flora in Kafue National park

Miombo tree species (Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands)

Small dambos

Mopane trees (Zambezian and Mopane woodlands)

Baikiaea (teak) and Cryptosepalum evergreen forest

Zambezian flooded grasslands

Lodges in Kafue National park

  • Musungwa Safari Lodge, in Shanjungu
  • Naumba Camp and Campsite, in Ngoma
  • Konkamoya Lodge, in Ngoma
  • Wilderness Safaris Shumba Camp
  • Kaingu Safari Lodge
  • Mukambi Safari Lodge
  • Hippo Lodge

Parks and Reserves

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