Kafue River Safari Circuit: Zambia’s Untapped UK Route

25

Fewer than ten visitors a year for every hippo. That is the arithmetic on the Kafue River. Craig Reid, who manages Kafue National Park for African Parks, told Mongabay in July 2025 that the river holds at least 2,400 hippos and that the park received just short of 24,000 visitors in 2024, roughly half of them Zambian residents. That quiet is the opening for the Kafue River safari circuit, a boat-led chain of riverside camps through the 22,400 square kilometres of Zambia’s largest national park.

Britain was previously Zambia’s largest source market. In 2025, it ranked third, with 40,290 arrivals, behind the United States with 61,586 and China with 55,008, according to Evans Muhanga, Permanent Secretary at Zambia’s Ministry of Tourism, speaking to World Business Journal on 11 August 2026. Zambia’s total international arrivals reached 2.3 million in 2025, up from 554,290 in 2021. The ministry targets 2.5 million arrivals for 2026, and says tourism contributed about US$700 million in 2025 against a goal of US$1 billion in 2026.

Zambia did not ignore Britain. The Zambia Tourism Agency named the UK among five priority markets, alongside Germany, France, Italy and the United States, and its digital campaign beat a target of one billion online impressions by reaching more than 1.4 billion views, Muhanga said, and he named Booking.com, Expedia and the BBC among Zambia’s partners. Britain still finished third.

Now look at what British operators sell. Steppes Travel prices a nine-day Kafue itinerary from £7,900 per person. It starts with a 5.5-hour private transfer from Lusaka to KaingU Lodge on the river, moves to Konkamoya Lodge, then heads north to Shumba Camp. Expert Africa says most of its Kafue trips use the fly-in approach, and it describes the river as one of three ways a camp team moves guests around the park, alongside walking and driving.

RELATED NEWS

• Kafue National Park: Zambia’s Giant and Africa’s Most Underrated Safari Destination

• The Big Cat Corridor: How Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia Are Unifying Wildlife Corridors for a New Safari Market

• The Best Safari Countries in Africa: A Ranked Guide for First-Time Visitors

Both companies sell Kafue well. In the pages we reviewed on 1 November 2026, neither presents the river as the thread that ties the stops together. Expert Africa’s own lodge page says Mukambi Safari Lodge works particularly well as a first stop in Kafue. That is the language of a stop, not a route. We read it as a packaging habit, not a verdict on the river: one lodge is simpler to price, and to slot between other Zambian stops, than three linked camps.

The gap matters because of how long people stay. Zambia’s Ministry of Tourism reported on 31 July 2025 that visitors now stay five days on average, up from three before 2024. A multi-camp river route runs closer to nine days, the length of the Steppes itinerary. Steppes also lists a 21-day Highlights of Zambia itinerary from £16,295 per person, so long Zambian trips already sit in British catalogues. Operators who want guests to stay longer need a river product that justifies it.

How the Kafue River Safari Circuit Works, Camp by Camp

The circuit runs in three stages, south to north. The southern stage works the water around the Itezhi-Tezhi dam. KaingU Lodge sits on the boulder-strewn river as it broadens towards the dam, according to Expert Africa, and Steppes sends guests out by boat, inflatable canoe or on foot. Nanzhila Lake Camp sits on the shore of Lake Itezhi-Tezhi, the reservoir behind the dam.

The central stage begins at Mukambi Safari Lodge, just off the main road from Lusaka, which Expert Africa counts among Kafue’s most convenient camps. Expert Africa describes a sunset drift down the wide central river past elephants, puku and birdlife. Further in, Anantara’s new camp sits on the riverbank, and guests reach it by charter flight to Chunga airstrip. Its dining pontoon seats four guests who arrive by boat for breakfast, afternoon tea or sunset wine tasting while crocodiles and hippos bask on the banks.

The northern stage leaves the main river for the Busanga channels. Boat safaris there run on the channels and lagoons in the early dry season, before the water recedes, according to RCA’s guide to the park.

Access shapes the product more than any other factor. Expert Africa notes that no scheduled flights serve the park, so guests fly by charter or drive. Muhanga said the ministry has maintained 16 airstrips in protected areas, though he admitted that several tourism sites remain hard to reach.

Each stage sets a different pace, and that is the argument for selling the three as a circuit. The south offers canoe and lake time, the centre offers road access and a new luxury end, the north offers the channels. An operator who stitches them together sells nine days that no single camp can sell alone, and gives the river a reason to appear on the cover.

What Has Changed on the Water Since 2022

Who carried the change matters here. The Zambian government and African Parks signed a 20-year management agreement for Kafue in 2022. African Parks now reports an 85% rise in visitor numbers since then. Reid’s figures show the climb: just over 16,000 visitors in 2023 and just short of 24,000 in 2024.

The lechwe shows why it mattered. The Kafue lechwe is native only to the Kafue Flats downstream, where a national parks department count, backed by WWF Zambia and the International Crane Foundation, put the population at 23,306, down from 28,711 in 2015 and from more than 100,000 in the 1970s. African Parks moved 401 of the antelope into the national park in 2024, then released 1,567 wildebeest and 172 zebras in 2025.

Reid explained why the park suits the lechwe. Lake Itezhi-Tezhi, built in the 1970s, created a new floodplain on its shore, and he said the park now has “more suitable habitat in the park now than there ever was historically.” The wildlife that river camps sell is recovering, not fading.

The river also pays local communities directly. Reid estimates the fish taken within the park is worth between US$4 million and US$6 million a year, and he said it all goes to local communities. That gives UK clients a conservation story as well as a wildlife one.

What it means today is capital. Anantara Tented Camp Kafue River, the brand’s first safari property in Africa, has opened with 13 keys and an opening rate of US$6,289 per room per night for two on full board, Resident magazine reported on 23 October 2026. Muhanga said private tourism investment is “mainly going into lodges and hotels, particularly around national parks.” Anantara’s price shows that the top of the river market already exists. UK operators can build the rest of the route beneath it.

Africa’s conservation story rarely stays inside one country’s borders, and neither does Rex Clarke Adventures’ coverage of it. Explore our reporting on Ghana’s diaspora tourism boom, East Africa’s air connectivity gaps, and the policy fights reshaping who benefits from the continent’s tourism revenue. Read the latest stories. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Answers

What is the Kafue River safari circuit?

It is RCA’s name for a boat-led route that links riverside camps along the Kafue River, from the Itezhi-Tezhi dam in the south to the Busanga channels in the north. It is not a single branded product, so operators assemble it camp by camp. The river holds at least 2,400 hippos, according to the park manager in 2025, and Expert Africa lists elephants and puku among the animals guests see from the water.

When is the best time to take a Kafue River safari?

Aim for the dry season, roughly May to October. Many areas flood in the wet season, and few lodges stay open in January, according to Expert Africa. Boat time on the Busanga channels works best early in the dry season, before the water recedes, according to RCA’s guide published on 6 April 2026.

How do UK travellers reach the Kafue River camps?

Connect through Lusaka or Livingstone, then take a charter flight to Chunga airstrip, as Resident magazine reported on 23 October 2026. The alternative is the 5.5-hour private road transfer from Lusaka to KaingU Lodge that Steppes Travel lists. Expert Africa says no scheduled flights serve the park.

How much does a Kafue River safari cost?

Steppes Travel lists a nine-day Kafue itinerary from £7,900 per person. Anantara’s opening rate at its new riverside camp starts from US$6,289 per room per night for two on full board. Prices change, so confirm current rates with your operator.

Is the Kafue River safe after the 2025 mine spill?

According to Human Rights Watch, the spill happened on 18 February 2025 at Chambishi, upstream in the Kafue watershed. Park manager Craig Reid said in July 2025 that the polluted water did not appear to have reached the park. Ask your operator for current water-quality information and official advisories before you book.