About African Veil

Advice

Arts &Culture

Countries Covered

Entertainment

Events

Gay to Z Info

HIV/AIDS

Human Rights

Organisations

Question & Answer

Sex Talk

Tourism

Workplaces

Zambia main | Livingstone | Lusaka

Zambia, the 'air-conditioned' African state

The first humans to inhabit Zambia were the San or Bushmen. Their ancient rock-art is still being discovered in various parts of Zambia. The Bushmen then gave way to the Bantu people from the north. Tribal wars and the slave trade caused upheavals until the missionaries arrived, including Dr David Livingstone. Imperialist Cecil Rhodes followed in their wake, and in 1911, the country became the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, with the town of Livingstone as its capital.

The colonial regime was replaced, in 1953, by the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland ( now Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi), but the grouping collapsed after 10 years, paving the way for Zambian independence, as a Commonwealth republic under Dr Kenneth Kaunda, in October 1964. In 1972 Zambia was declared a one-party state but the country reverted back to multi-party politics in December 1990.

Geography
One overriding impression strikes visitors as they travel around Zambia- the country’s sheer size. Lying in the tropical belt of South central Africa, it covers some 750, 00 sq km- big enough to swallow up France, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary combined. Situated on a plateau 1,300 meters above sea level, Zambia is the source of two great African rivers, the Zaire and Zambezi, the latter running through two of the country’s outstanding features, the magnificent Victoria Falls and the vast man-made "inland sea" of Lake Kariba.

As well as the Falls, Zambia possesses two of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in Africa, the Luangwa Valley and Kafue National park. All together there are 19 National parks, covering eight percent of the country. The capital is Lusaka, but the town of Livingstone, near Victoria Falls, is a key tourist centre.

Climate
Zambia’s elevation on a plateau gives it a moderate climate, despite the fact it is within tropical latitudes. Indeed, the weather is so pleasant that Zambia has been nicknamed "the air-conditioned state". There are three seasons. Warm and wet from December to April; cool and dry from May to August; and hot and dry from September to November. Only during the wet season is there noticeable humidity and only in the river valleys of the Zambezi and Luangwa does it become very hot, mainly in a moth of October.

Zambia’s National Parks
Vast areas of unspoilt and virtually undiscovered protected wildness areas make Zambia undisputed favourite amongst dedicated safari fans.

KAFUE:
Covering 22,500 sq km – the size of Wales- Kafue is one of the world’s largest National Parks. Elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion an a large variety of antelope can be seen, as can 400 spices of birds.

KASANKA
At 420 sq km, Kasanka is one of the country’s smallest yet most attractive National parks. Since 1990 it has been privately managed, with profits from tourism channelled back into the community.

LOCHINVAR 
Lying to the south side of the kafue flats, lochinvar National park is divided into three zones- the northern floodplain, the central grassland and the southern woodlands. Despite its comparatively small size of just 410 sq km, lochinvar is one of the Africa’s finest bird sanctuaries sheltering an estimated 428 species.

LOWER ZAMBEZI 
 This 4,092 sq km of superb game country lies along the northern bank of the Zambezi River downstream from Victoria Falls. The waters of the Zambezi are a focal point for the abundant wildlife which includes elephant, hippo, buffalo, zebra, lion, leopard, various antelope species, baboon and varvet monkey together with a great variety of birds.

MOSI-OA-TUNYA 
This park was created not only to protect the greatest natural wonders of the world, the Victoria Falls, but the wildlife of the surrounding area. A few kilometres upstream of the falls, the park is best known for its white rhino.

Home Page

About African Veil