Plan your safari
Guests on a guided walking safari through the bush with an armed guide

Walking Safari

A walking safari is the bush on foot, led by expert armed guides.

Plan your safari Highlights

A walking safari strips the experience back to its purest form: no engine, no vehicle, just you, an expert armed guide and the sounds and scents of the wild. In short, it is the most intimate way to connect with the bush.

Pioneered in Zambia’s South Luangwa, walking safaris now run across Africa, focusing on tracks, smaller creatures, birds and the thrill of approaching game on foot.

Highlights of Walking Safari

Guests on a guided walking safari following an armed ranger through the bush

South Luangwa, Zambia

The birthplace of the modern walking safari.

Explore South Luangwa, Zambia →

Mana Pools, Zimbabwe

Renowned guides and on-foot encounters along the Zambezi.

Explore Mana Pools, Zimbabwe →

Expert armed guides

Safety, fieldcraft and an unmatched depth of bush knowledge.

The small details

Tracks, birds, plants and the stories the bush tells on foot.

Best countries for a walking safari

Walking safaris are about the small details and the thrill of being on foot, and a few countries do them better than anywhere. So here is where to go, and why.

Know before you go

Flights, entry rules, health and money: the practical details we handle for you, all in one place. Requirements can change, so we confirm everything when you book.

Getting there from the USA

You reach South Luangwa via Johannesburg or Nairobi to Lusaka, then a short hop to Mfuwe. Similarly, Mana Pools connects through Harare or Victoria Falls. Of course, we arrange every leg.

Visas & entry

Zambia is visa-free for US citizens; you only need the $50 KAZA UniVisa if combining with the Zimbabwean side of Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe visa on arrival (~$30) for Mana Pools.

Health

Both valleys are malaria areas, so we advise prophylaxis. In general, walking is gentle-paced (3–4 hours in the cool morning) and suits any reasonably fit traveler; minimum ages apply, usually 12–16.

Money & tipping

Camps are fully inclusive. Tipping is at your discretion: around $20–25 per guest per day for your walking guide, plus $10–15 for camp staff in the tip box.

Best time for a walking safari

Jun–Oct

Dry season: the prime, and often only, walking-safari window.

May & Nov

Shoulder months with green scenery and fewer travelers.

Quieter seasons, considered

Meanwhile, in the green months rates ease at many of these camps, the plains empty of vehicles and the light turns dramatic. What each season gives, and what it trades, is set out in our Safari Planning Guide.

Planning & cost

Safari cost

Priced to your budget, and built around your camps, the season and how you like to travel. In other words, there are no fixed packages.

How we travel

Instead, we design every journey privately, with private guides and vehicles arranged where specified, the finest lodges, and a specialist on call throughout. At fly-in camps, game drives may be shared unless a private vehicle is reserved.

Practical details,
in one place

Money, health, connectivity and packing work the same way on every safari we plan, so they live in one place rather than on every page.

Walking Safari FAQs

Yes. In fact, highly trained, armed professional guides lead them and manage every encounter, and you walk in small groups following strict protocols.

Zambia’s South Luangwa is the birthplace and benchmark; Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools is also world-class for guided walking.

The dry season (June–October) is the prime window, when vegetation is low, conditions are comfortable and wildlife concentrates near water.

On walking safaris, yes: an armed, licensed walking guide leads every walk, usually with a second scout, and with an armed ranger wherever park rules require one. On vehicle game drives, practice varies: in East Africa guides generally do not carry firearms, while rangers at many South African private reserves keep a rifle in the vehicle.

Are you ready to walk? A plain checklist

Fitness You need steady comfort on your feet for two to four hours at an unhurried pace over uneven ground, not athleticism. Walks move at the bush’s speed, with stops for tracks, trees and whatever the morning offers. If you can enjoy a long country walk, you can enjoy this.
Minimum age Walking is an adult-leaning activity: minimum ages typically run from 12 to 16 depending on the country, park and camp. Traveling as a family? We will tell you exactly which camps can take your children walking, and build drives around the ones that cannot.
Safety Every walk is led by a licensed professional walking guide (armed, rigorously certified, and trained over years for exactly this), usually with a second scout. You walk single file, briefed before you set out, wind in your favor. It is among the most carefully governed activities in African travel.
How much walking Choose your dose: a single morning walk woven into a driving safari; a walking-forward camp with daily outings; or Zambia’s classic multi-day trails, camp to camp along the river. Most first-timers love one or two walks inside a broader journey and then come back for more.

Plan your walking safari.

A walking safari changes the scale of everything, and suits travelers who have already done the drives.

So tell us how you like to travel and start with a complimentary consultation.

Plan your safari

For official visitor information, see Zambia Tourism.