Where to stay in Kafue National Park

The Busanga Plains: the reason people fly to Kafue

A floodplain in the far north-west that is under water from roughly December to June. Six small camps of mostly four to six units stand on tree islands and are dismantled every year. Realistic access starts in early July, and Busanga Plains Camp does not open until 15 July. August to October is the prime window: lions on most drives, the best cheetah odds in Zambia and hot-air ballooning from late August.

At the top end, Shumba Camp (Wilderness, from $1,600 per person a night, all-inclusive) has suites on decks two metres above the plain, with a pool and spa. Its sister Busanga Bush Camp (from $1,300) has four tents and a drive area shared with no other operator. Chisa Busanga Camp (Green Safaris) has four woven nest rooms and silent electric game-drive vehicles, on request. Busanga Plains Camp (Mukambi Safaris) is $950 fully inclusive with a three-night minimum.

The two cheaper doors onto the plains: Kasonso Busanga Camp from $540, which its own page says includes park fees, meals, local drinks and activities, and Ntemwa-Busanga Camp, a lamplit bush camp on request at mid-range level where nine individual cheetah were recorded in the 2025 season. Who it suits: anyone whose main goal is predators, travelling July to October, and happy to fly in. Who it does not suit: June travellers, and self-drivers without serious 4x4 experience.

The northern rivers: walking, boats and nobody else

North of the M9 the Kafue, Lufupa, Lunga and Mushingashi rivers run through woodland and riverine forest with very few vehicles. Seasons are longer than on the plains, usually June to November or March to December, and most camps here are owner-run.

Musekese Camp is the camp serious walkers name first, with hides, a river boat and a $40 conservation levy that funds anti-poaching, on request. McBrides' Camp at the Kafue and Mushingashi confluence has a hot spring, its own airstrip and published 2027 rates of $360 green season and $449 high season. Hippo Lodge, on the east bank, is $380 per person a day in 2027 with meals and two activities, plus 16 percent VAT and $30 a night in park and bed-night fees, and its self-catering houses at $120 already include park fees. Mozhi Bush Camp brings a pool and spa to the north; Lunga Kikuji Camp on the Lunga River is the remotest address in the park; Lwenge River Camp is booked as a whole camp for up to 12 people.

For self-drivers, Mapunga Bush Camp & Campsite charges $45 per adult to camp in 2026 and is one of the campsites African Parks itself points visitors to, and Bongololo Campsite is Mozhi's own basic site. Who it suits: second-time visitors, walkers and families who want a camp to themselves. Expect a long road day or a charter to Lufupa, Hippo or a private strip.

The centre and the M9 corridor: the easy first safari

The M9 crosses the park on tar, transit along it is free, and an ordinary car reaches the Kafue River at Hook Bridge in three and a half to five hours from Lusaka. This is the part of Kafue that works all year, and the obvious choice for a first visit, a short trip or the rains.

Mukambi Safari Lodge sits beside the bridge, from $360 to $490 per person a night fully inclusive in 2026, with safari tents at $440 to $585 and a two-bedroom family chalet. Kasabushi Camp, off the Spinal Road, publishes the widest price ladder in the park: a wilderness pitch at $35, the campsite at $45, glamping at $95 to $105 and chalets from $365 full board. Mawimbi Bush Camp has four suites, each with a plunge pool or hot tub, from $640 in green season to $1,110 from June to October; the camp is closed in January and February. Fig Tree Bush Camp, Mukambi's camp on a lagoon deeper in, is $525 to $650 with tents raised three metres above a waterhole.

Two notes. Chunga Safari Camp & Campsite next to the park headquarters is the only park-run accommodation in Kafue, unpriced, and we could not confirm whether it currently takes bookings. Mayukuyuku Bush Camp & Campsite, long the budget favourite here, has been closed since 1 December 2025 with no reopening date. Anantara Tented Camp Kafue River is listed by its brand but we could not verify opening date or rates, so we do not recommend booking around it yet.

Central-south river: Ila and KaingU

Further down the Kafue River, two lodges sit on the boundary. Ila Safari Lodge (Green Safaris) runs electric game-drive vehicles and a solar e-boat, from $600 per person a night fully inclusive, with a seven-bed house from $720. It is open eleven months, closing only in February, has no age limit and has family tents, which makes it one of the better family and green-season choices.

KaingU Safari Lodge is on the east bank in the Namwala GMA, ten minutes by boat from the park, on the prettiest rapids-and-islands stretch of the river. It is the canoeing specialist, from $450 per person a night, and because you sleep outside the park you pay no daily park entry for the stay itself, only for the days you cross in.

The south: Lake Itezhi-Tezhi and the Nanzhila Plains

Southern Kafue is closer to Victoria Falls than most people expect: Dundumwezi Gate is 204 km from Livingstone, about two and a half hours. The country is drier, the camps are small and the night drives are the best in the park for serval, genet and civet.

Nanzhila Plains Camp is the best value of the southern camps from $275 per person a night, open mid-June to mid-October only. Its sister Nanzhila Lake Camp, from $495, runs March to January and is strongest late in the year when predators gather on the shoreline. Konkamoya Lodge, the only lodge on the in-park lakeshore, is about $850 with park fees included and runs an aardvark night-drive programme; that figure is a directory rate, so confirm it. Musungwa Safari Lodge, Zambian-owned on the lake at the boundary, is a conventional lodge with camping at $25, self-catering houses at $60 to $125 and rooms from $100 bed and breakfast.

One honest caveat: Lake Itezhi-Tezhi has not recovered from two drought seasons, so come to the south for the game, not for lake views. Who it suits: self-drivers from Livingstone, night-drive fans and anyone pairing Kafue with the falls.

By budget: what a night costs in 2026 and 2027

Read every rate twice for what it includes. Most Kafue camps quote park entry separately, at $20 per person per day for international visitors, and some add a conservation or bed-night levy of $30 to $40 a night. A few, including Konkamoya, Kasonso and the Wilderness camps by their own pages, include park fees. Campers pay the campsite and a separate DNPW camping charge of $5 per person per day. Our costs page works three full budgets through.

• Park-run: Chunga Safari Camp & Campsite (DNPW), unpriced; book with DNPW or at the gate and have a fallback. The park's three- and six-day self-catered wilderness walking trails are sold by African Parks through visitkafue.org.
• Budget, from $25 to about $150 per person: Musungwa Safari Lodge camping from $25 and rooms from $100 B&B, Kasabushi Camp from $35 camping and $95 glamping, Mapunga Bush Camp & Campsite from $45 camping and $150 self-catering tents, Hippo Lodge self-catering houses at $120 including park fees (2027).
• Mid-range, about $275 to $550 per person all in: Nanzhila Plains Camp from $275, Mukambi Safari Lodge from $360, McBrides' Camp from $360, Hippo Lodge from $380 plus VAT and $30 fees (2027), KaingU Safari Lodge from $450, Nanzhila Lake Camp from $495, Fig Tree Bush Camp from $525, Kasonso Busanga Camp from $540 with park fees.
• High-end and luxury, $600 and up: Ila Safari Lodge from $600, Mawimbi Bush Camp from $640, Konkamoya Lodge about $850, Busanga Plains Camp $950, Busanga Bush Camp from $1,300, Shumba Camp from $1,600. Musekese Camp, Chisa Busanga Camp, Mozhi Bush Camp, Lunga Kikuji Camp and Lwenge River Camp quote on request.

How to book: direct, or through a specialist

Almost every Kafue camp takes bookings by email or an enquiry form rather than an instant online calendar, and quotes against its own rate sheet. Booking direct works well for a single lodge you can drive to, such as Mukambi Safari Lodge, Kasabushi Camp, Mapunga Bush Camp & Campsite, Musungwa Safari Lodge, McBrides' Camp or Hippo Lodge. Know the house rules first. Hippo Lodge takes no cards at all and wants 50 percent on booking and the balance 30 days before arrival. Park entry is paid in cash at the gate in dollars or kwacha; there is no online payment for park fees.

Park-run accommodation is always booked directly with the authority. That means Chunga Safari Camp & Campsite through DNPW or at the gate, and the multi-day wilderness trails through African Parks at visitkafue.org. No agent can confirm these for you.

A specialist earns their fee on the complicated trips: two or three camps, a charter to the Busanga strip, which is priced per aircraft and arranged through the camp, or a combination with Victoria Falls or South Luangwa. We do not take bookings ourselves. If you send a request through this site, it goes to a safari specialist we work with, who may pay us a commission; that never changes the order of a list or a figure on these pages.

When to book

The Busanga Plains are the bottleneck. Six camps, most with four to six units, share a season of about three and a half months, so August to October fills first. Busanga Bush Camp has only four tents and books out early for those months, as do the four suites at Mawimbi Bush Camp. If the plains in August or September are the point of your trip, we would start enquiring as soon as you have dates, ideally the year before.

The central lodges on the M9, the campsites and the green-season months are far more forgiving, and a few weeks' notice is often enough outside July to October. Two dates to plan around: most seasonal camps close at the end of October or in November as the rains arrive, and fishing is closed nationally from 1 December to 1 March. Our best time to visit page has the month-by-month calendar.