Kafue National Park

Largely unexplored with pockets of pristine bush, Kafue National Park is the wild heart of western Zambia. Kafue was established in the 1950s by the legendary Norman Carr and is the country’s largest and oldest national park. Its wide collection of natural habitats house an incredible diversity and density of big game and bird life, including endangered species like the African wild dog and wattled crane.

Four of Africa’s Big 5 are found in Kafue (rhino is absent), with large numbers of buffalo and elephant seen near the Kafue River that has plenty of hippo and crocodile. Africa’s highest population of wild dog find refuge in Kafue as does another endangered predator species, the cheetah.

The riverbanks, wetlands, savannah and miombo woodland of Kafue bustle with the noise and colour of 478 of Zambia’s 733-recorded bird species. Among them are the wattled and crowned cranes, woolly-necked and saddle-billed storks, African fin foot, Pel’s fishing owl and purple-crested turaco.

The park is celebrated for having the greatest diversity of antelope in the world, which includes the much revered roan and sable antelopes, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, oribi and grysbok. Some of the smaller, charming animals you can spot in Kafue are the many mongoose and small cat species, bush baby, and aardvark.