By
Air
Airwaves
Zambia
is the major carrier of tourist within
Zambia. Airwaves Zambia flies to all major tourist destinations in Zambia
year-round, connecting to and from all major international carriers.
Connection timings are minimal in the Lusaka airport and Airwaves Zambia
provides a full meet-and-greet service to assist international tourists make
their way around all Zambian airports. Charters flights out of Lusaka and
out of South Luangwa are also available.
-
Lusaka/South Luangwa/Lusaka is serviced daily for $300 return.
-
Lusaka/Lower Zambezi/Lusaka is serviced daily for $180 return.
-
Lusaka/Livingstone/Lusaka is serviced 6 days/week for $260 return.
-
Lusaka/Ndola/Lusaka
is serviced daily for $150 return.
-
South
Luangwa/Livingstone/South Luangwa is serviced 6 days/week for $220
one-way.
-
Livingstone/Lower Zambezi/Livingstone is serviced 6 days/week for $240
one-way.
Zambian
Airways flies to Ndola, Kitwe, Livingstone, Mfuwe, Victoria Falls and any charter flights
Proflight flies to Mfuwe (South
Luangwa) and Livingstone and charters. Avocet has various routes
as well.
Various
air
charter companies will fly to any of the many airstrips around the country
and most of the areas worth visiting are accessible by air.
Migration Air
are flying
Livingstone/Lusaka return daily (USD 200)
Nationwide are flying Joburg/Livingstone/Lusaka
return 3 times a week, also connecting to the Airwaves Airlink flights
to/from Mfuwe. Nationwide are giving excellent net STO rates.
Domestic departure tax from
airports is $8
per person.
By Bus
Long range Buses frequently leave from
Lusaka to all the main towns. CR Coach will take you to Chipata,
Livingstone, Ndola, and Mongu. Go to the bus station behind Shoprite,
Cairo Rd and enquire as to the current times. You won't have to wait too
long. The busses are clean and the people who ride in them are well
groomed so make sure you are.
Amazing reports on how much better the bus
system is in Zambia nowadays. An easy ride from Chipata to Livingstone in
one day!!
Lusaka to Livingstone buses leave
from ShopRite in Cairo rd early in the morning - and again at noon. Book
early at the station.
Minibuses and taxis, local transport
- now all newly painted blue - can be jumped on at pretty much
any juncture. They're not expensive and you can always find a minibus that
won't cost too much to buy all the seats in it to get your own private
minibus to wherever you want to go but you'll have to negotiate so be
sharp about the value of money.
By Road
Zambia has 38 763kms of roads, 8200 kms of which are tarred
and another 8000 kms all weather gravel road. The rest range from reasonable to bad dirt
roads.
If you've come into Zambia without a vehicle, you can hire
a chauffeur driven vehicle to get around town or around the country. See
Car Hire Companies
Once you cross into Zambia from the south, be prepared for
a radical change in road conditions. It's improving all the time but certain sections of
the main roads become potholes strung together with strips of tar, so be really careful,
especially if travelling at night for road markings are usually non existent. There is
much road rehabilitation finally being done so perhaps this won’t be as bad in the
near future. Do watch out for animals in the road, vehicles without lights pedestrians,
unannounced roadworks, bad drivers and broken down trucks with no warning triangles. If
you see a branch in the road, slow down immediately - these are improvised warning
triangles and there’s bound to be a truck or car in the middle of the road up ahead.
Never leave a car with anything visible in it in Lusaka, if possible make sure you have an
alarm system or steering wheel locking device. Car theft is rife here, but avoidable if
you’re careful.
Sections of the major routes to the north, south, east and
west are nearly always undergoing pothole repairs.
The gravel roads on the minor routes are fine to drive
without a four by four, but if you’re doing a long trip around the country there are
wonderful remote places to go to that would require 4x4 durability.
Petrol is available at most of the major towns, but gets
more expensive as one gets further from the railway line. If travelling in the more remote
areas be sure to take extra supplies as availability is not always guaranteed. If
it’s an emergency, try the local markets. They sometime have bottles of petrol for
sale.
Be sure to have all your vehicle papers on hand as
you’re bound to encounter a few roadblocks and if you ever need to stop, pull well
off the road.
By Train
Zambia has three main internal train lines, one from
Livingstone to Lusaka, from Lusaka to the Copperbelt,
and from Kapiri Mposhi to the Northern border with Tanzania. The main train station is in
Dedan Kamathi Rd. in central Lusaka, one road east of Cairo Rd. Across
The
Kitwe-Lusaka-Livingstone
(The Day Train ) line runs daily, leaving Kitwe at 20h00 arriving in Lusaka at 7h35, leaving for
Livingstone at 8h05 and arriving there 18h00. This is called the ordinary train and stops
at every station along the way. It leaves Livingstone everyday at 09h00, arriving in
Lusaka at 20h10, leaves Lusaka at 21h10 and arrives in Kitwe and 8h50.
There is also an express train (The Zambezi
Express) leaving Livingstone on
Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 14h30, arriving in Lusaka at 11h00 the
next morning! Yes, 18 hours to travel 570kms - but although this
sounds like wasted time - it's actually a great option because everyone else
will be catching the bus so you'll probably have the whole of first and for
around $10 you have a bed for the night and can see a bit of real Zambia
along the way. It leaves Lusaka on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 19h30 and arrives in Livingstone at 6h10. Fares are
very reasonable and although the trains are a little shabby and unkept, the
linen is clean and they are and
reliable give or take an hour. Make sure you book a family compartment, first
class, although they’re not much better than second class, and bring all your own
food as well as drinking and washing water. Seats can be prebooked at the station or by
phoning 228023 in Lusaka, 321001 in Livingstone and 224027 in Kabwe.
The Tazara Line from Kapiri Mposhi to Dar es Salaam in
Tanzania leaves every Tuesday and Friday at 16:00 and takes 2 days. On Mondays, Thursdays
and Saturdays, a train leaves from Kapiri Mposhi to the border town of Nakonde and back,
stopping at all main towns along the way. Bookings for the Tazara line must be done a week
in advance at Tazara house, opposite the market in Independence Ave on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
Tel: +260 1 220646.
To be safe, ask the station police to
escort you to a taxi.
