Zambia's Top Experiences

1. Experience The Smoke That Thunders

The Victoria Falls deserve their local name: 'The Smoke that Thunders'. Nothing quite prepares you for your first sight of the falls in full flood; one million litres per second roars over the island-studded lip and crashes into the Batoka Gorge, sending a 500m cloud of spray and mist into the air.

Wind your way through the dripping rainforest that clings to the cliffs to one of the lookout points that dot the edge of the gorge - and keep a lookout for the resident bushbuck, vervet monkeys and baboons.

The best time to see the falls is from March to May when the floodwaters have arrived from their catchment areas in Angola and Zambia. Be aware that the volume of water in the dry season (September to December) can be as little as 4% of the peak flow.

2. Go on a Big Game Safari

Zambia's oldest and largest park is the little known and remote Kafue National Park - and it covers an area bigger than Belgium.

Fed by rivers and boasting a hippo and crocodile-packed lake in the south, Kafue is home to a great range of large mammals and has over 400 recorded species of birds, and it's also managed to survived the ravaging effects of poaching.

Explore the north-east floodplains - hunting areas for cheetah and wild dog - and look for elephant and buffalo in the open woodlands of the central and southern regions.

There is good fishing in the Kafue and Lunga Rivers.

Game viewing is definitely better in the dry season (April to October) particularly as many parts of the park are inaccessible in the rainy season.

3. Paddle Past Hippo

Zambia's newest park lies on the banks of the Zambezi River and across from Zimbabwe's Mana Pools National Park.

A northern escarpment keeps the big herds of elephant and buffalo on the valley floor - an acacia-studded floodplain with large areas of mopane woodland. Lion patrol the grasslands and leopard stalk through the riverine forest that hugs the river bank.

But the real attraction here is the canoeing: take a trip of anything between one and five days and see just how close you can get to the animals either in or next to the river. Set up camp next to the Zambezi and fish for your supper in one of Africa's most beautiful parks.

4. Raft the Zambezi

With your head reeling with all the advice from the safety talk, and your heart pounding with a mixture of fear and excitement, you leave the glassy backwaters and descend the foaming rapids that punctuate the Zambezi as it hurtles downstream.

Calm interludes between rapids give you the chance to catch your breath and even do a bit of birding, but a distant roar soon becomes deafening and before you know it, it's time to paddle and head into the maw of a grade 5 rapid.

Instant friendships are formed and you will leave with memories that will last a lifetime.

5. Walk in the Wilderness

The banks of the Luangwa River are home to some of Africa's greatest concentrations of game while the river itself is packed with hippo and crocodile.

Guided bush walks lead through the floodplains and grasslands, dense woodland and open scrub of the the South Luangwa National Park, and you are accompanied by an armed professional guide.

Hold your breath and crouch as your ranger spots a browsing elephant or a herd of wary buffalo. It's a great country for predators: lion and leopard are often seen, and it's also a birders paradise with 400 recorded species of bird.

South Luangwa is best visited in the dry season - April to October - as the summer rains make much of the park inaccessible.

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