Northern Zambia is remote and little visited but contains some fabulous small parks and wildlife areas. It is also home to some of the most interesting natural animal movements such as the Black Lechwe herds migrating across the plains and swamps, the breeding of Shoebill Stork and the mind blowing fruit bat migration!
The region fills the northern most 'bulge' of Zambia when looking at a map on the top right, a large area which has suffered neglect over the years in terms of upkeep, finances and tourism. However, in recent years money has been coming in to develop guest lodges and camps and work has been done on anti-poaching so now many areas are coming back to life. The region borders Tanzania and Malawi, with the Nyika Plateau feeding rivers and valleys into the Luangwa Valley system, Nyika is easiest accessed from Malawi though the high plateau area is great for walking and escaping heat of the lower valleys and can easilly be combined with a Zambian safari.
Heading out of Luskaka North East on the 'Great North Road' takes you through days of endless roads and seemingly empty scenery through Kapiri Mposhi to Mpika, Kasama and Mbala to the far north with the borders into Tanzania. Off the main road is a fascinating area above the Mchinga (Luangwa) escarpment including the hot springs and Shiwa Ngandu.
One of the main attractions for wildlife enthusiasts is Kasanka National Park, see our seperate regional link for details. This is home to the famous bat migration around November each year and is the first privately managed national park in Zambia. Kasanka borders the southern edges of the Bangweulu Swamps (again see seperate region on our site) and is only 30km from the border with the Congo, it is almost completely flat and has high rainfall in the wet seasons.
Bangweulu is famous for being one of the best locations in Africa for the unusual Shoebill Stork and large herds of antelope at different times of year. Around this area there are also several historical monuments, including the site where David Livingstones heart was buried in 1873. There are several waterfalls, caves, pretty scenic walks and drives and the hot springs at Kapisha, the later being quite close to Shiwa Ng'andu (known as The Africa House), historical home of the Harvey family, built in the style of an old English country house. This is now a great base for horse riding and hiking.
This region can also be linked easily with a safari in North or South Luangwa, usually by charter flight but the more adventurous travelers can (at certain times of the year), transfer by road over the escarpment between the Great North Road and the Luangwa Valley.
Right up north at the Tanzanian border, Zambia meets the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika. Sumbu National Park covers over 2000 sq km to the south of the lake and now has a few small camps and lodges. This is a great birding location and there are plenty of large mammals recorded here, including hippo, elephant, buffalo and many antelope. Some species such as wild dogs have been recorded but sightings are not regular or accurate.
North of Lusaka, towards the Congo border is Zambia's main 'business district', the Copperbelt. Consisting of old colonial mining towns and wild areas, this is not really visited by tourists unless you have family connections - many Europeans worked in the Copperbelt at the turn of the last cetury as mining opened up and families often want to combine a trip down memory lane with a Zambian safari.
