Zambia
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Kate, Andrew and Lexie from Kent travelled to Zambia and South Africa
Hello Frances, thank you so much for putting together the itinerary for our fabulous trip to Zambia and South Africa. It was all marvelous. Standout highlights were Waterberry, Kambaku and Grootbos but it was all great. It’s hard when you’ve already had one wonderful safari holiday to even match or beat that first experience but Kambaku River Sands was amazing and, yes, I did get to see my leopard, up a tree with her impala dinner while a lone hyena circled beneath. We saw the big five but also a mature rock python, hyena pups, one only a few days old, a giraffe suckling and the elephants drinking from the swimming pool. Only the Zimbabwean elephants we saw from the sunset cruise on the banks of the Zambezi could match that. We were lucky with the weather in Cape Town and spent the day at the Kirstenbosch Gardens, Camps Bay and the Waterfront. Grootbos was absolutely fantastic and Lexie enjoyed 3 rides on her own with one of the guides. Many thanks for all your recommendations and help. We hope to plan another trip sometime.
Zambia
Beach Extensions
Beach extensions to a Zambia Safari
Zambia is a land-locked country and does not offer any kind of obvious ‘beach relaxation’ options. However, there are a variety of places within Zambia where you could enjoy a more relaxing end (or beginning) to your trip. In particular, Victoria Falls and the Upper Zambezi is a destination that can always be used as a relaxing base where you can spend time resting, reading a book and undertaking some gentle sight-seeing.
Some safari regions, such as the Lower Zambezi National Park, can be deliberately included as a more relaxing section of your holiday. If you wish to end (or begin) you safari in a beautiful setting where you can enjoy sitting, reading, sleeping, eating, sunbathing and gazing as opposed to rushing about on activities, then this is easy to engineer.
Beyond Zambia’s borders, several good beach destinations exist. Closest and most logical is Lake Malawi, which is easily accessible from the Luangwa Valley. Lake Malawi is a freshwater lake, and therefore does not offer an ‘ocean experience’, but the lake has crystal clear waters, beautiful beaches and an abundance of colourful cichlid fish which makes for interesting diving and snorkelling. Fishing, sailing and kayaking are all possible as well.
If you are looking for a more traditional beach destination to combine with Zambia, then many amazing beach locations can be comfortably reached via Johannesburg in South Africa, including Mozambique, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, or the Kenyan coast via Nairobi and Zanzibar via Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). Please go to the individual country pages for more information on these destinations.