Lusaka Travel Guide

Lusaka is the capital city of Zambia. The city straddles at the junction of the major highways to the east, west, south and north at an altitude of 1,300m above sea level.

Beautiful Lusaka City

Lusaka covers an area of approximately 70 sq km; and is one of the fastest-growing cities of central and southern Africa.
This glittering Zambian capital has become something of a boom of late with new structures springing up in the city over including giant chain stores and shopping complexes as well as world class hotels.
Fast-growing industrial development in Lusaka has brought together people of many nationalities, making it a bustling centre for business, political and cultural activities. The city has about 2 million inhabitants with over 60%unemployed. The road infrastructure however isn’t quite keeping up with the pace like with other city improvements. Peak hour traffic has being a problem despite the optimistic air surrounding a town on the rise.
A myriad of motor spares dealers, restaurants, hairdressers, market activity, fishmongers, fruit sellers and rows and rows of ‘salaula’ – discarded clothing from the West sold to Africa dominate the down town areas. Although petty theft occurs, most people try to make an honest living, selling their wares and services.
CITY HOTEL ACCOMMODATION
Lusaka has a number of hotel accommodation facilities including the world class Inter-Continental Hotel, Pamodzi hotel, Southern Sun Ndeke Hotel, Hillview Hotel, Lilayi Lodge, Jagoda Holiday Inn and famous Chaminuka Private Game Reserve. All these facilities boast summit halls and banqueting venues. The city’s major conference facility is the Mulungushi Hall and it can host up to 2,000 guests on a single sitting.
CITY SHOPPING
Shopping in Lusaka is amazing. There are several suburban shopping centres, not of the mall type, but with a variety of shops that usually supply anything you need, mostly imported from Zimbabwe or South Africa and a little pricey. For groceries and general supplies, two along the Great East Road, two on the Kafue road south of the city and out towards Leopards hill.  If not for shopping, but just for the experience of how the local masses shop, a visit to one of Lusaka’s markets is a must. The Soweto Market is two roads west of Cairo Road, and the other opposite the Tazara building in Independence Ave. Curios and crafts can be found at Kabwata Cultural Village, Sunday craft market at Arcades Shopping centre, Kubu crafts at Manda Hill shopping centre.
WHEN TO TRAVEL
The superb climate of Lusaka an appealing edge it has over other African cities has made it a much sought destination and home for many travellers. Warm sunny summers, interspersed with cooling thunderstorms and mild winters with loads of sunshine. It can get very hot between October and March if there’s no rain. The average rainfall, between November and April, is about 950mm. Summer temperatures range from 20-32 degrees C. Winter temperatures from 10-26 degrees C. Humidity is usually below 40%.
SPORTING
There are several sports facilities in Lusaka which offer sports such as golf, tennis, swimming and squash. For golfers, there’s the Lusaka Golf Club, Chilanga Golf Club and Chainama Hills Golf Club. The Lusaka Club offers bowls, tennis and squash. Polo is an expatriates’ popular sport with matches usually on the weekends. Several swimming pools are available. The large Lusaka City Council swimming pool just off Lubu Road is open every day except Mondays.
GETTING THERE
By Road: Zambia’s all major routes to the east, west, north and south go through the city. The Great North Road comes down from Tanzania via Kapiri Mposhi, and is about 1,100km from the Tanzanian border. The road from Livingstone in the south meets up with the “Kafue Road” and is 470km long. From the Chirundu border with Zimbabwe, the route is well paved and 136km long. There is also Mongu route via the Kafue National Park is 591km long to the city. Buses get to the city from Harare, Lilongwe, Johannesburg, Livingstone and the Copperbelt.
By Train: The domestic railway goes to Livingstone, Kapiri Mposhi and the Copperbelt. The Tanzania Zambia Railway – Tazara – comes down as far as Kapiri Mposhi, where the Zambia Railways train links it to Lusaka.

Lusaka International Airport

By Air: There are air links to most of the major tourist destinations in Zambia from Lusaka International Airport. Lusaka International Airport is 14km from the city centre, receives most international flights. Zambian Airways flies scheduled flights to and fro Johannesburg, Mfuwe, Chipata, the Copperbelt and Livingstone. Other Airlines to the city include Proflight, InterAir and Airwaves have scheduled flights to Livingstone, Lower Zambezi, Ndola, Mfuwe and Entebbe.
A word of warning!
Lusaka is famous for car thieves, pick-pockets and bag snatchers, but if you have someone who can mind your vehicle and keep a good grip on your bags, it’s quite safe.