Lusaka: Lilayi Elephants, Kabwata Crafts & Nshima

Quick decisions

How many days?

3 days: Lusaka National Museum, Kabwata Cultural Village and EastPark on day one, Lilayi Elephant Nursery and Lusaka National Park on day two, plus Chaminuka Game Reserve or a Lower Zambezi excursion on day three. Follow our three-day route.

Where should I stay?

Rhodes Park and Longacres: central, leafy and close to embassies and malls. Kabulonga: tranquil eastern garden hotels and cafes. Roma and Arcades / EastPark: convenient for the airport road. Compare areas in our neighbourhood breakdown.

Do I need a car?

A taxi app or driver is best. Lusaka stretches across wide arterial avenues (Cairo Road, Great East Road, Independence Avenue) where traffic builds quickly; local ride-hailing apps or a hired car with driver are the easiest ways around.

Best for

Wildlife conservation: watching rescued baby elephants feed at Lilayi and tracking white rhino in Lusaka National Park. Markets and crafts: thatched rondavel studios at Kabwata and Sunday crafts at Pakati.

Before you go

Pay in Zambian Kwacha (ZMW): Zambia enforces strict domestic rules requiring transactions to be settled in local Kwacha or by bank card rather than foreign notes. Read our practical briefing.

Getting around

From Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN): the modern terminal sits 25 kilometres north-east of central Lusaka off the Great East Road; hotel shuttles and official taxis take 30 to 45 minutes into Kabulonga or Longacres. Details in arrival and transport.

Continue your trip

Domestic bush flights from Lusaka reach South Luangwa (Mfuwe), Kafue and Livingstone for Victoria Falls in an hour, while the escarpment road drops south-east in three hours to the canoe channels of the Lower Zambezi.

Overview

Spread across a 1,280-metre limestone plateau at the meeting point of Zambia's Great North, Great East, Great West and Kafue highways, Lusaka has grown from a sleepy 1930s garden capital into one of southern Africa's liveliest crossroads. Behind the busy trading arcades of Cairo Road and the contemporary café courtyards of Kabulonga and EastPark, the city puts wildlife and craft remarkably close at hand: within forty minutes of the centre you can watch orphaned calves at the Lilayi Elephant Nursery and Lusaka National Park or meet woodcarvers under the thatched roofs of Kabwata Cultural Village.

For safari travellers, Lusaka is also the launchpad for canoeing the Zambezi and walking in South Luangwa. Start with our first-timer briefing and Zambian nshima dining and Lower Zambezi trips.

Getting there

Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN) lies 25 kilometres north-east of the centre with direct flights from Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Dubai and Kigali, plus domestic flights to Mfuwe (South Luangwa) and Livingstone. TAZARA trains and intercity coaches also link the capital with Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe. See how to get to Lusaka.

Where to stay

Staying in the leafy eastern and central suburbs of Kabulonga, Longacres, Rhodes Park or Roma gives you shaded avenues, independent coffee roasters and quick links to the Great East Road malls without getting stuck in Cairo Road freight traffic. We compare the best bases in where to stay in Lusaka.

Things to do

Watch rescued elephant calves take their midday bottle at the Game Rangers International Elephant Nursery in Lilayi and spot white rhino in Lusaka National Park, browse drums and masks at Kabwata Cultural Village and the Sunday Pakati Market, tour the Lusaka National Museum, and spend a day at Chaminuka Game Reserve. See the full list in things to do in Lusaka.

Food and drink

Zambian cooking is built around steamed white maize-meal nshima served with smoky charcoal-grilled kapenta sardines, whole bream from the Kafue or Kariba waters, village chicken, pounded groundnut-leaf stew (ifisashi) and wild orchid tubers beat into savoury chikanda ("African polony"). Read where to eat in our food and safari gateway guide.

Culture

Named after Chief Lusaaka of the Lenje people, whose village stood near today's Manda Hill, Lusaka replaced Livingstone as the capital of Northern Rhodesia in 1935 for its central highland location and cooler climate, and became the proud seat of independent Zambia under Kenneth Kaunda in October 1964.

Weather by month

Lusaka is warmest in October, with average highs around 32°C, and coldest in July, when nights drop to about 9°C. January is the wettest month, with rain on about 16 days. For mild weather with fewer rainy days, aim for May, June, July and August.

Warmest monthOctober · 32°C

Coolest nightsJuly · 9°C

Wettest monthJanuary · 16 rain days

Average temperature and rainfall in Lusaka by month
Month	Low	High	Rain	Rainy days
Jan	18°C	27°C	210 mm	16 d
Feb	17°C	27°C	174 mm	14 d
Mar	17°C	27°C	92 mm	9 d
Apr	15°C	26°C	24 mm	3 d
May	12°C	25°C	3 mm	0 d
Jun	10°C	23°C	0 mm	0 d
Jul	9°C	23°C	0 mm	0 d
Aug	11°C	26°C	0 mm	0 d
Sep	15°C	29°C	2 mm	0 d
Oct	18°C	32°C	16 mm	2 d
Nov	18°C	30°C	86 mm	8 d
Dec	18°C	28°C	196 mm	15 d