Zambia
 

Hi.
My mates and I are going on a southern Africa trip in Aug 2010. We are busy with our route planning and at the moment we are just using Zambia as a gate to go to Malawi. Can anybody share their knowledge of Zambia and the places of interest to visit? We are going to enter from the Caprivi and go to Vic falls. From there we don’t really know cool sites to visit, any suggestions on places to see and on what border to use when entering Malawi?:thumbup1:

The border i always used was the obvious one....from Chipata head south east for a short distance to the border en route to Lilongwe (Malawi). Border town name eludes me possibly begins with an 'M'?

Easy border, not overly busy. Only problem was I was with a Hungarian and even tough now Hungary is now in EU they insisted he get a visa, which they said was no longer availale at border...through persistance we got a travel permit for him to goto Lilongwe and get a visa there. This was 18 months ago though.

I only visited Livingstone, Lusaka, Lower Zambezi Nat Park for some canoeing, Chipata, and of course South Luangwa Nat Park (awesome camp site at FLATDOGS).

Friendly people, but beware that fuel is hideously expensive in Zambia....was close to 2.50 us dollars a litre....yep, 2.50usd! Make sure you fill up in Zim or Naibia, or Botswana before entering. May have changed now though.

Word of advice...border from Zim to Zambia can be VERY busy, lots of freight coming through...some truckers had been sittng there for nearly a week! Some were headng upto DRC (Lumbmabashi), telling me that autorities get increasngly corrupt closer to DRC you ge (theres a surprise!)

Hey mate, I grew up in Chipata in the 80s and just want to confirm that the border to Malawi from there is super easy and straight forward. Sounds like things haven't changed much there. Roads were also in good condition.

Of course, you have to visit Luangwa Natl Park. The wildlife is very accessible. Saw lions hunting impala with my own eyes. Doesn't get better than that.

Dont know what else to recommend besides Vic falls and then the northern part of the country near Ndola gets a bit scenic but the drive from Lusaka to Chipata is pretty good with canyons and all.

Cheers :thumbup1:

This site has all the Zambia info you might need....

luangwablondes | A guide for the overseas self drive, self sufficient, vehicle dependent visitor in Africa

There was no more camping at Flatdogs when we were there in Sept 2009. Check out the accomodation section on the Hubb for Africa under Zambia.

We stayed at Croc valley, very close to Flatdogs, but a lot nicer, right on the river with loads of elephants and hippos coming through the camp.

Cheers

Thanx for all the info thus far.:thumbup1: If anyone have more info it would be of great help!!!!