Lusaka 3-Day Itinerary: Baby Elephants, Crafts and Wildlife

Three days in Lusaka gives you the ideal rhythm to experience Zambia's capital without battling cross-town traffic: one day for central culture, markets and traditional cooking, a second day on the southern edge for baby elephants and white rhinos, and a third day north-east at Chaminuka or down in the Lower Zambezi Valley. Withdraw Kwacha cash at the airport or your first mall stop; see our practical briefing.

Day 1: Lusaka National Museum, Matebeto Nshima Lunch & Kabwata Cultural Village

• Morning: begin on Independence Avenue at the Freedom Statue and step inside the Lusaka National Museum to explore its ground-floor contemporary Zambian painting gallery and upper-floor exhibits on liberation history and traditional masks.
• Late morning: take a short taxi ride to Kamwala Market to see row upon row of colourful Zambian chitenge wax-print fabrics.
• Lunch: sit down at an open-air kitchen such as Matebeto for a shared lunch of steamed nshima with charcoal-grilled Kafue bream, pounded groundnut greens (ifisashi), crispy kapenta and a slice of savoury chikanda.
• Afternoon: spend two hours at Kabwata Cultural Village off Burma Road, chatting with woodcarvers and weavers inside the circular thatched rondavels and picking up Barotse baskets or carved rosewood bowls directly from the makers, followed by a quiet visit to 37d Gallery in Kabulonga.
• Evening: enjoy dinner and a cold Mosi Lager on a garden terrace in Kabulonga or EastPark.

Day 2: Lusaka National Park White Rhinos & Lilayi Elephant Nursery

• Morning: drive thirty minutes south-east to Lusaka National Park for an early morning drive through the miombo woodland to spot giraffe, zebra, sable antelope, eland and nyala, and join the wildlife scouts to view the park's resident white rhinos on foot.
• Midday viewing window and lunch: drive ten minutes across to Lilayi Lodge in time for the midday feeding slot at the GRI Elephant Nursery, watching rescued elephant calves drink their bottles and play in the mud bath before having lunch on the lodge veranda.

Day 3: Choose Between Chaminuka Game Reserve OR the Lower Zambezi

• Option A (Chaminuka & Sunday Pakati Market): drive north-east past the airport to Chaminuka Game Reserve for a morning game drive, boat cruise on Lake Chitoka, farmstead cheese tasting and bush lunch, stopping at the Sunday Pakati Market at Arcades on your way back if visiting on a Sunday.
• Option B (Lower Zambezi day or overnight trip): descend the scenic escarpment road via Chirundu to the Lower Zambezi for a river boat and canoe safari among hippos and elephants.