Zambia journeys into a wilderness without roads

A tailor-made Zambia round trip starts at €8,000 per person plus international flights – that covers seven days of camp-to-camp walking safari in South Luangwa. Routes across several regions sit above that: eleven days through South and North Luangwa into Kafue start at €9,350, the ten-day version with the Lower Zambezi and Victoria Falls at €11,950 per person. The biggest cost drivers are the category of camp, the number of charter flights between parks, and the season. Your personal proposal itemises every service included.

Zambia is regarded as the birthplace of the walking safari: you set out with a guide and an armed scout, follow tracks, and take in the bush through sound and scent rather than from a vehicle. If you want to try it without committing, choose a route built around game drives with individual days on foot. If you want to commit fully, you travel from camp to camp – as on our walking safari in South Luangwa, which winds down at Chinzombo lodge on the Luangwa after the days on foot. Game drives and night drives are part of every route: nocturnal animals such as genet, civet and honey badger only appear after sunset.

We recommend at least 10 days. In Zambia you fly between parks rather than drive, and the camps sit far enough apart that fewer than three nights per region rarely pays off – our own routes accordingly run 7, 10 and 11 days. With 11 to 14 days you can add a third region: Kafue with the Busanga Plains, the barely visited North Luangwa, or Livingstone and Victoria Falls as a finale.

No, most are seasonal. Time + Tide's bush camps in South Luangwa – Luwi, Nsolo, Kakuli and Mchenja – run roughly from late May to early November, Chikoko Tree Camp from late May to the end of October, and Mwaleshi Camp in North Luangwa only from mid-June to the end of October. Musekese Camp in Kafue opens from May to early December; operators confirm exact dates afresh each year. Permanent lodges such as Chinzombo on the Luangwa are bookable year-round. During the green season from November to April you trade walking safaris for boat trips and birding – some remote parks are then unreachable.

For the dry season from May to October we recommend enquiring 9 to 12 months ahead. The houses are genuinely small – Musekese Camp in Kafue has five chalets, Mwaleshi four, Chikoko Tree Camp three – and in the July-to-October high season individual dates go early. Outside the high season, shorter notice often works, particularly in May and the first half of November. Talk to us: we check camp availability before you plan any further.

Yes – provided you think of it as a safari rather than a self-drive tour. Zambia is travelled by light aircraft, the camps are small and far apart, and the entry price sits well above that of a self-drive country such as Namibia. In return, you share your sightings with almost no one. For a first visit we recommend a route built around game drives: South Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi and Victoria Falls, as on our Luxus Safari Sambia. The walking camps are the second step – anyone who has been on safari before can start there directly.

With older children yes, with small ones rather not. Many of the small bush camps set a minimum age – at Chikoko Tree Camp and Mwaleshi Camp it is 12 years, and most houses also apply an age limit to walking safaris, canoeing and sleepouts. So for families we plan differently: permanent lodges with family rooms instead of walking camps, more game drives and boat safaris, and where it makes sense a private vehicle with your own guide. Tell us how old your children are and we will tell you frankly which camps work and which do not.