Best Things to Do in Lusaka

Lusaka is at its best when you balance its conservation sanctuaries and woodland reserves with its energetic craft markets, contemporary galleries and open-air Zambian kitchens. Group your days by compass direction so you spend your time under the trees rather than sitting at traffic lights.

1. Watch rescued calves at the GRI Elephant Nursery in Lilayi. Visit the viewing deck inside Lilayi Lodge south of the city during the daily feeding window to watch orphaned baby elephants drink their formula, splash in mud wallows and prepare for eventual release in Kafue National Park.
2. Spot white rhino, giraffe and sable in Lusaka National Park. Drive ten minutes east of Lilayi into Zambia's smallest national park, where 6,700 hectares of fenced miombo woodland shelter guarded white rhinos, zebra, giraffe, eland, blue wildebeest and nyala.
3. Meet carvers and drummers at Kabwata Cultural Village. Walk among circular thatched rondavels off Burma Road where artisans from across Zambia's provinces carve rosewood masks, weave Barotse baskets and beat traditional drums.
4. Explore history, witchcraft displays and contemporary painting at the Lusaka National Museum. Tour two floors of ethnography, liberation history under Kenneth Kaunda and rotating Zambian art near the Freedom Statue on Independence Avenue.
5. Shop the Sunday Pakati Market at Arcades (and Dutch Reformed Markets). Browse stalls of malachite jewellery, copperware, beaded leather sandals and wooden bowls alongside live music and coffee carts.
6. Spend a full day at Chaminuka Game Reserve. Drive north-east of the airport to a private hilltop manor overlooking Lake Chitoka for a game drive, boat ride, cheese tasting and bush lunch.
7. Admire colourful wax-print fabrics at Kamwala Market and Luburma. Dive into the textile lanes south of Cairo Road where tailors stitch bold Zambian chitenge wraps to order.
8. View contemporary Zambian art at 37d Gallery in Kabulonga. Step into a serene architectural gallery founded by artist Stary Mwaba to see cutting-edge painting and sculpture.
9. Share a traditional platter of nshima, ifisashi and grilled bream. Taste Zambia's signature groundnut-greens stew and smoky kapenta sardines at Matebeto or a garden restaurant.
10. Take an overnight canoe trip to the Lower Zambezi Valley. Drop down the escarpment via Chirundu in three hours to paddle past hippos and elephants on the Zambezi River.