13 Days in Zambia's Animal Kingdom

Breakfast, then the road west towards Mumbwa: four hours, tarmac most of the way and rougher at the end. Mwamfushi Safari Lodge sits inside the park on the bank of the Kafue river, nine thatched chalets all facing the water, solar-lit, with a pool and a bar. Four nights, full board.

The first afternoon sets the rhythm. Tea at the lodge, then out for either a game drive or a boat trip on the Kafue, back after dark for dinner. Every full day here runs two activities, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon.

Kafue is enormous and barely visited, so you can drive a whole morning without meeting another vehicle. What it gives you is variety rather than sheer numbers. Sable and roan in the miombo woodland, puku and waterbuck out on the floodplain, hippo and crocodile in the river below the chalets. Lion and leopard are here for anyone prepared to put in the hours, though sightings take more patience than they do in the Luangwa. The birding along the water is very good.

On your fourth day you leave early with a packed lunch for a full day in the southern part of the park, which is drier and more open, with a different mix of animals.

Return by road to Lusaka for the flight east to Mfuwe, then onwards to Njobvu Safari at Kakumbi, just outside the park gate. Nine chalets, built by local craftsmen from local materials, each one ensuite and air-conditioned with its own plunge pool. Four nights, full board.

Njobvu is run by two brothers, Nicholas and Thomas Njobvu. They grew up in this community and were granted the land by their chief. Nicholas manages the lodge and Thomas guides. They took their lead from Norman Carr, the man who trained the first Zambian guides in this valley, and they say they're the only locally owned safari operation in South Luangwa. They work with Project Luangwa.

Two activities a day. Mornings go out before the heat builds. Afternoon drives run straight on into the dark rather than coming back first, and that is where Zambia's night driving earns its reputation: genet, civet, honey badger, porcupine, and cats that are hunting rather than asleep under a bush.

The Luangwa is leopard country. The river's old oxbow lagoons and the thick bush along the banks push everything towards water, which is why sightings concentrate the way they do. Wild dog move through. And the valley holds three animals you will not see anywhere else: Thornicroft's giraffe, Cookson's wildebeest and Crawshay's zebra. Walking safaris are available, in the valley where the walking safari was invented. Over four hundred bird species have been recorded here.

One of your days can extend into a full-day drive if the guide thinks conditions are right.

An early morning game drive precedes breakfast on your final South Luangwa morning before you transfer to Mfuwe Airport for the flight back to Lusaka. From there, the road east to the Lower Zambezi takes around three hours, passing through local settlements and the hills of the escarpment. You check in at Kiambi Safari Lodge on the river bank for three nights on a full-board basis, with dinner that first evening served outside overlooking the Zambezi.

The following morning you depart around 9am for a three-hour guided canoe safari through the channels, returning to camp by midday for lunch and a rest. The afternoon brings a sunset boat cruise on the river.

The third day is a full-day game drive in Lower Zambezi National Park: you cross the river by boat with packed breakfast and lunch, transfer to a 4x4 vehicle and spend the day tracking game before cruising back to camp before dark.

On your final morning you check out after breakfast and make the three-hour road transfer back to Lusaka for onward or return flights, with a packed lunch for the journey.