Begin at the Beginning: Lusaka and the Radisson Blu
Every Zambia journey starts in Lusaka, and most people treat it as a necessary inconvenience - a transit city to pass through on the way to the bush. I would gently suggest otherwise.
The Radisson Blu Lusaka is one of the most efficient and genuinely comfortable stopover hotels in Southern Africa. It is not trying to be a safari lodge. It is a properly run, beautifully appointed city hotel that does exactly what you need it to do - a good bed, an excellent breakfast, a calm space to gather yourself after a long international flight before the real journey begins.
Rechelle and I and our kids arrived here on one of those evenings where the relief of landing after a long travel day is almost physical. We ordered room service (amazing pizza in bed), we talked too late, and we woke up the next morning ready for Zambia. That is exactly what the Radisson Blu is for.
Spend a night here at the beginning and the end of your trip. The country you are about to enter deserves to be arrived at rested.
Into the Sky: ProFlight Zambia
There is only one way to access the lodges in Zambia's national parks properly, and that is ProFlight. Zambia's premier domestic airline connects Lusaka to the airstrips at South Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi, and Livingstone with a reliability and professionalism that makes the internal logistics of a Zambia itinerary entirely seamless.
The flights are short. But the moment you lift off and the city gives way to the bush below, something shifts. I remember the first time I flew into the Lower Zambezi — the audible gasps from everyone on board as we passed over large pods of hippos wallowing far below in the Zambezi. Nobody had warned us how many there would be. Africa doing what Africa does. Getting very large, very quickly.
ProFlight is not an afterthought in a Zambia itinerary. It is the connective tissue that makes the whole thing work.
On the Hill: Chichele Presidential Lodge, South Luangwa
There is a certain magic to arriving at Chichele Presidential Lodge. Perhaps it is the long winding road that leads you up above the valley, or the first moment the lodge's white walls and arched verandahs come into view. For me it has always been the sense that you are stepping into a living piece of African history - a place where every wall, window, and view is charged with memory.
Originally built as the personal holiday home of Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia's first president and a towering figure in African history, Chichele has long been a sanctuary for those who understood the quiet luxury of looking out over South Luangwa from the hilltop. The oil painting of Kaunda, his original chair, a period piano carefully sourced to replace one lost during renovation - these details remind you that this was once the seat of dreams for a nation.
But Chichele is not trapped in the past. The lodge has been spectacularly reimagined - by architect Jack Alexander and the brilliant team at Fox Browne Creative, the same creative partnership behind Lolebezi. Their signature is unmistakable once you know to look for it: mid-century tropical nostalgia fused with classic safari romance, interiors playing with an ebony and ivory palette, basket weave, copper, and hand-carved Zambian timber that softly echoes the salt that gives the lodge its name. The stained-glass bar catches the morning light like a cathedral. On our first morning we sat there quietly, Gabrielle and I, watching the sunrise set the whole lodge aglow, not saying very much at all. Some mornings in Africa don't require words.
Gabrielle joined me at Chichele for what became my first mother-daughter safari - something I had planned for other women for years and had never quite managed to do for myself. I did not fully understand what it would feel like until I was sitting on the deck in my pyjamas with my daughter beside me, looking out over the South Luangwa valley in the early morning stillness. That quiet, intimate moment - the bush spread out below us, the light coming up slowly, everything completely at peace - is one of the most precious things Zambia has given me.
Also with us were Angie and Vasti - two of our most beloved Safari Gals. We celebrated Angie's birthday at Chichele, and the staff rose to the occasion in the way that only the very best lodges do. The serenading, the showstopper cake, the warmth that wrapped around us all - it was one of those evenings that becomes a story you tell for years.
The game drives here are extraordinary. Hyenas, lions, leopards draped in trees, wild dogs darting through the bush, elephants joining the morning drama. Food is an event in itself - fresh bread at brunch, Mediterranean-inspired lunches, sundowners on the riverbank. The guiding in South Luangwa is among the finest in Africa, and the valley rewards those who pay attention.
If you are searching for the soul of Zambia, this is where you begin.
%20Large.jpeg)
On the River: Time+Tide Chinzombo, South Luangwa
A short transfer through the park brings you to Chinzombo, Time+Tide's magnificent camp on the banks of the Luangwa River. Rechelle and her kids were with me and mine here too - and there is something about Chinzombo that I think suits the particular rhythm of travelling with family. It is a camp that slows you down in the best possible way.
Where Chichele gives you perspective from above, Chinzombo draws you down to the water's edge and keeps you there. The space is generous. The design is thoughtful and warm. The Luangwa moves past with the steady authority of a river that has been here a very long time. The guides are exceptional and the camp team has a warmth that is genuinely Zambian - unhurried, genuine, deeply hospitable.
What Chinzombo does particularly well is the sense of arrival it creates. You settle in and very quickly it feels like your own place - your own pace, your own rhythm, your own piece of the river. Rechelle, our kids and I had one of those afternoons that safari gives you - nowhere to be, nothing to do, the river moving below us, the kind of conversation that only happens when there is genuinely nothing competing for your attention. If you have children who are ready for Africa for the first time, this is where you bring them. And if you have a friend who needs to properly stop - this is where you bring her too.
On the Zambezi: Lolebezi, Lower Zambezi National Park
A ProFlight transfer takes you from South Luangwa to the Lower Zambezi - a different Zambia entirely. Drier. More intimate. The Zambezi here is wide, slow, and completely theatrical.
Lolebezi sits on a private kilometre of riverfront and makes no attempt to be anything other than exactly what it is. The vision behind it belongs to Shahida, the owner and a woman I am fortunate to call a friend - a genuine visionary who, working with architect Jack Alexander and the brilliant team at Fox Browne Creative, has crafted something I have not encountered anywhere else. The same creative partnership that shaped Chichele - and yet the two lodges could not feel more different. That is the true mark of exceptional design: it responds to its place rather than imposing upon it.
I was at Lolebezi with Chani - one of our Safari Gals sorority and a woman who loves Africa with the same obsessive devotion that the rest of us do. Chani is the kind of travel companion who notices everything, who is as delighted by the design of a vanity as by a leopard in a tree, and who makes every experience feel more alive simply by being present in it.
Every inch of Lolebezi has been designed with intention. The green marble accents mirror the Zambezi from a bird's eye view. Winterthorn tree pods are subtly integrated throughout. Jacaranda discs on the bed nets nod to Zambia's landscape. Copper accents reference the country's mineral heritage. The dining area is graced with an Hermès scarf - one of only fifteen in the world. Shahida insisted on spacious angular vanities because she is a fellow makeup enthusiast who understood, as we do, that these are the details that make luxury safari genuinely suit women.
The culinary experience is equally considered. Middle Eastern-inspired dishes hint at Shahida's heritage. The Mediterranean mezze basket at breakfast became something Chani and I looked forward to every morning. And then there is dining outside by the Zambezi - on the evening a herd of elephants casually strolled past mid-meal, conversation stopped entirely. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. We just watched.
And then there was the wild dog kill.
There is a wild dog den near the lodge, and on one extraordinary day we witnessed three kills. I have seen a great deal of game on a great many safaris. Nothing quite prepared me for this. Wild dogs are the most successful hunters in Africa - fast, coordinated, utterly without sentiment. Watching a hunt unfold in real time, from beginning to devastating end, is raw and intense and completely real. It is not comfortable. It is not supposed to be. It is Africa at its most honest, and it is something Chani and I still talk about years later. A once in a lifetime experience - and one that only the bush can give you.
James 007, our guide, was extraordinary - keeping every moment alive and meaningful even between sightings. Kulfa, the manager, ran an impeccable operation and made every guest feel known by name from the very first morning.
I opened the doors of my suite on that first morning and the Zambezi was simply there. Not glimpsed. Not framed. Just present -wide and bronze in the early light. Something in my shoulders dropped that I didn't know was held.
At the Falls: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara
Every Zambia journey should end at Victoria Falls. And the only way to end it properly is at The Royal Livingstone.
My adventure here began with Nicola - one of our most beloved Safari Gals, a woman who has travelled extensively with us and who approaches every new experience with the kind of open, joyful curiosity that makes her the best possible company on any continent. Our symphony with this hotel began at the entrance, where we were accompanied not only by the welcoming staff but by the rhythmic beats of traditional song and dance - a poignant African tradition that set the stage for everything that followed.
The Old Drift restaurant was the canvas for most of our breakfasts and lunches - fresh salads, warm bread rolls, meticulously prepared seafood, all accompanied by Zambezi views and beautifully chilled wines. Kubu restaurant, crowned Zambia's best hotel restaurant, served us grilled pork ribs, beautiful salads, and sumptuous prawns while we watched the mighty Zambezi transform at sunset into a spectacle of oranges, yellows, and reds. The Traveller's Bar moves from summery cocktails under the sun to something altogether smokier and more sophisticated when the stars come out - and on one glorious evening Nicola and I dressed in evening gowns and I fulfilled my dream of being photographed draped over a grand piano. It was so much fun.
The Ultimate Dining Experience - a private meal in the nature reserve overlooking Victoria Falls, transported by golf cart through grounds where a giraffe walked so close we could have touched it - is something I will never stop talking about. The Mukuni Boma Dinner, where we were draped in traditional wraps and guided through a celebration of Zambian culture, music, food, and dance, was extraordinary. I was introduced to Mopane worms. I cannot in good conscience recommend them. Nicola said the crocodile was delicious.
The hotel is only a short stroll from the Falls themselves - and the Zambian side is significantly better than the Zimbabwean side. Nobody had warned me by how much. The falls reveal a kaleidoscope of rainbows as sunlight shines through the spray. It is both the most beautiful and the most awesome thing I have ever seen. I walked there at six in the morning, alone, more than once. I will walk there again.
The pool, overlooking the Zambezi with giraffes, zebras, and impalas grazing nearby, is one of the finest I have experienced anywhere. And if you want to end the journey in the most extraordinary way possible, board the Royal Livingstone Express - a restored steam locomotive that crosses Victoria Falls Bridge for a five-course gourmet dinner as the gorge opens up beneath you.
This is how a Zambia journey should end. Not with a flight. With a glass of something cold, the sound of the Falls in the distance, Nicola beside you, and the quiet certainty that you will be back.
%20Large.jpeg)
The Itinerary at a Glance
Night 1: Radisson Blu Lusaka - arrive rested, gather yourself
Nights 2 and 3: Chichele Presidential Lodge, South Luangwa - history, leopards, pyjamas on the deck with your daughter
Nights 4 and 5: Time+Tide Chinzombo, South Luangwa - the river, the warmth, families experiencing Africa for the first time
ProFlight transfer to Lower Zambezi
Nights 6 and 7: Lolebezi, Lower Zambezi - wild dogs, elephants mid-dinner, the Zambezi at first light
Nights 8, 9 and 10: The Royal Livingstone, Victoria Falls - the grand piano, the Mopane worms, the Falls at six in the morning
Ten nights. Five extraordinary properties. A sorority of women who keep going back.
We plan this journey regularly. We know every transfer, every guide, every morning worth waking early for. If you would like us to put it together for you - or if you would like to join us on one of our hosted departures - the conversation starts here.