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Travel to Zambia: A Quick Guide for Your Journey

  • Writer: Esther Mehesz
    Esther Mehesz
  • Jun 20, 2024
  • 8 min read

Updated: May 19

Hello friends! 


It's time for another birthday trip! By this time, people know that as soon as June rolls around, it's time for that mother-daughter birthday trip to take place. And here we are with one again!


Let's just say, when you think about planning a birthday trip, Zambia might not be the first destination that pops into your mind. Honestly, we (my mom and I) used to think the same — but thanks to a friend living there who helped craft the perfect itinerary, this turned out to be one of the most unforgettable trips of my life - I know I may have said this a few times but I promise, this trip is definitely in the top 5 of my favorites! 


Getting to Zambia: Not the Easiest Journey

Visiting Zambia isn't as simple as just booking a direct flight — especially when you're starting from Europe. Our route? We flew from Budapest to Cape Town, South Africa, then took a separate flight from Cape Town to Livingstone a day later. While it meant a few extra steps in our travel plans, reaching this beautiful country in the heart of southern Africa was completely worth it.


If you’re planning a trip yourself, know that Zambia is a landlocked country and international travel often involves connections through major hubs like Johannesburg or Cape Town. Also, don’t forget essentials like travel insurance, a valid passport, and knowing if you need a KAZA Univisa for your trip (a multiple-entry visa that lets you cross into Zimbabwe if you plan to see more of the seven natural wonders of the world — hello, Spectacular Victoria Falls!). One last thing, be up to date on your vaccines in your little vaccine booklet! Whether that be Yellow Fever (what we needed for Zambia), but it is good for 99 years apparently, and having your Malaria pills with you too. 


Tip! You most likely won't have any side effects if you were to get Malaria while in Africa, it would probably come about a little later. HOWEVER! At the pharmacies in Livingstone, you can buy Malaria tests for about $ 1.50 USD, compared to the $ 70 USD in Hungary for testing. Wherever you are traveling from, just buy the Malaria test in case you need it later, because you'll be saving yourself a lot more money buying it locally than back in your country of origin. 


First Impressions: Relaxing and Safe

We knew from the start that we wanted a mix of relaxation and adventure, and staying at the Radisson Blu in Livingstone hit all the right notes. Honestly, it was one of my favorite hotel rooms and properties — comfortable, safe, and with incredible views over the mighty Zambezi River (or as locals sometimes call it, the wild Zambezi River). It honestly felt like instead of people watching, we were constantly animal watching across the river, keeping an eye out for hippos or elephants that were crossing. 





Interestingly enough, even though the hotel sat right on the riverbank, mosquito bites weren't a problem during our stay — despite traveling during the dry season. (Of course, we did have our yellow fever vaccinations and brought plenty of insect repellents in addition to specific oil scents that mosquitoes don't like, all packed, just in case!) Nonetheless, the hotel rooms did have a mosquito net over the bed to sleep under for precautions.


What surprised us more? The occasional elephants wandering through the hotel property (yes - they do come onto the property and occasionally the power go out because of them too, or at least that's what we were told when the power would come and go throughout the evenings in the rooms) and even some monkeys playing around the mini-golf course. Less cute was the rattlesnake we spotted near the gym of the property — let’s just say that’s part of embracing the remote wilderness of Zambia! 


Building the Perfect Zambia Itinerary

With our friend's guidance (and insider tips from locals like our incredible guide Bright), we built a perfect mix of unique experiences and must-see highlights for our trip.

Here’s what we packed into our week:


  • Day trip to Chobe National Park for incredible game viewing (read my full post about the best safari in Botswana and the Chobe adventure).

  • Visiting Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, in my opinion, is way better than Niagara Falls, and got a once-in-a-lifetime view of the falls again from the plane window - if you're flying from Livingstone to Cape Town, sit on the side of the plane with seats C-D-E. 

  • Walking safaris to see rhinos in the wild — a bucket-list moment in a land of the legendary African walking safari.

  • Visiting rural areas, including a trip to Bright’s home village and a visit to an orphanage deep in the remote areas outside of Livingstone. This was definitely an emotional, meaningful part of the trip, which we knew we wanted to do before going to Zambia. 

  • A birthday dinner at the Elephant Café, dining by the Zambezi River with elephants casually roaming nearby — surreal and absolutely magical. The boat ride over on the Zambezi River was also memorable, with the choppy water and the hippos swimming alongside us. 

  • Visited local markets as well - from fish and all kinds of foods to souvenir markets as well, everything you could possibly imagine 





While we stayed mostly in Livingstone, Zambia is filled with other world-class national parks too — places like South Luangwa National Park, Lower Zambezi National Park, Kafue National Park, and Liuwa Plain National Park offer incredibly diverse wildlife experiences for those with more time. Definitely do some research to figure out what you're interested in and how you can plan everything, but our itinerary was a great combo of adventure and also some relaxation. 


Best Time to Visit Zambia

The beginning of June turned out to be the ideal time — falling right at the start of the dry season. The weather patterns were mild and sunny during the day with cooler daylight hours, and the water levels of the Zambezi were still impressively high thanks to the recent rainy season.


Peak season (July–October) is when game drives and safari camps are the busiest, so being there in early June gave us a perfect balance of incredible wildlife viewing without massive crowds. If you’re a safari lover, planning your travel plans around the time of year really matters!


What You Need to Know Before You Go

A few tips we learned firsthand:


  • The yellow fever vaccine is required (check with your airline and destination guidelines). Also, check to make sure that they have the yellow fever vaccine available wherever you get vaccines from in your home country. Sometimes these are in other doctors' offices and not just your normal go-to doctor's office. Plan accordingly and make your appointment ahead of time. You'll receive a little yellow book with vaccinations that you'll want to keep with your passport. The same goes for Malaria pills. Plan earlier to make sure they are in stock and you can pick them up in time before your travels (we had to phone around to 5 pharmacies in Budapest to find one that had them in stock)! 

  • Register with your country’s embassy or consulate before heading to Zambia. This is a smart and recommended step when traveling to Zambia (or anywhere internationally), especially for extended trips or solo travel. Why do this? Because you'll get important updates or alerts, like safety warnings or political changes, the embassy knows how to contact or assist you in an emergency, it helps your home country locate or support you if needed. Yes, it's an additional step before getting out and traveling, but it's important. 

  • Don't just carry some US dollars as cash, but have plenty of that— especially for smaller tips or in rural areas where credit cards and debit cards aren't accepted everywhere. Finding an ATM to take out local currency was not necessarily recommended either. With that being said, we ended up using cash more often than not during our week in Zambia. With that being said, 

  • Zambian kwacha is the local currency, and for shopping at the markets, we were able to exchange US dollars for kwacha 

  • Expect spotty cell phone service and slower internet, especially in remote areas — plan ahead for that. Even though I bought my eSim through MobiMatter and I had service about 80% of the time, don't expect to have service during your safaris, and at some points, just accept that you're in a remote part of the world. The elephants roaming around the hotel and on the cables don't do good for the service either. 

  • While major cities like Lusaka have good medical care, more remote wilderness areas may have limited access to health care or medical treatment, so pack prescription medications you might need. Do not worry though, Livingstone did have very European-like pharmacies but very minimal quantities of things. We did stop in one to pick up a Malaria test for ourselves in case we felt like a fever was coming on or anything, so that we would be able to test. Highly recommend buying one at the pharmacy in Livingstone, as it was about $1.50 US dollars per test as opposed to being $70 US dollar equivalent if I were to buy one in Budapest. The pharmacies are interesting - the shelves are definitely not stocked, and half the pharmacy is prescriptions for humans, the other half is food and prescriptions for animals. 

  • If you happen to stop at a local store, if you're from Europe or have been to Europe, they also have SPAR in Zambia, but the shelves are not over-stocked. You may find just one or two pieces of that particular product, but you can still find more or less of the things that you may need. If there is something that you are keen to have with you, bring it from home. 

  • It should go without saying, but respect local people, local laws, and traditional culture — Zambia is proud of its heritage and hospitality. These are some of the friendliest people, and they always have a smile on their faces. If you have an early morning safari, take an extra coffee for your guide if you can. The small gestures are kind, and they truly will appreciate it. 

  • If you do have an early safari, and your hotel has breakfast included, ask them the day before if they can pack a breakfast for you. More times than less, they pack such a full box of breakfast goods for you! And also in Livingstone, although my mom and I are not big breakfast people, we accommodated to the situation and made breakfast our main meal. We weren't interested in really wandering out trying to look for restaurants or cafes during the stay, we were more than pleased with the breakfast offering that the Radisson Blu in Livingstone offered. It could even go as far as saying one of the top breakfast spreads amongst hotels! 

  • Road conditions on main roads are decent, but secondary roads can be rough — especially during the wet season. But even during the dry season, don't be alarmed. 

  • Always use clean, fresh water (we did brush our teeth in the hotel sinks and we were fine), but any other water that we drank was always from bottled water. Since we went to the gym every morning, there was a big water filling station and we were able to take advantage of that - never underestimate a gym, it can be your best friend for refilling your bottles. 

  • Be more mindful of general risk areas for diseases like malaria, even if mosquito sightings are low.


Final Thoughts: Why Zambia Was the Perfect Birthday Trip

Visiting Zambia opened up a side of Africa that not everyone gets to experience. It's raw, real, and breathtakingly beautiful — from the remote islands along the Zambezi River, to the remote wilderness of villages and hidden safaris. Whether you're chasing game drives in national parks, watching the spray and the rainbows from the Spectacular Victoria Falls, or meeting local communities living far from major cities, Zambia shows you a kind of natural beauty that's humbling and unforgettable.



Walking safari to visit Rhinos in Zambia
On a walking Safari with Rhinos

If you’re looking for a detailed Zambia travel guide, just know this: Come with an open heart, a sense of adventure, and be ready for unique experiences that you’ll carry with you long after you leave. Zambia might not be the "easy" choice for a birthday trip — but it turned out to be the best way to celebrate 31! 


Still not over the elephants on our way out of the property, but off we go — onto the next wild and wonderful stop. 

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