Saturday, October 2, 2010

Savouring Zambia's Grandeur

A landlocked country in Southern Africa bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south and Angola to the west, Zambia is a vast country. At 752,614 km2 (290,586 sq mi) – which is almost half the size of Europe – it is the 39th-largest country in the world (after Chile).

With 19 national parks and 6 major lakes (Zambia shares the incredible Victoria Falls with Zimbabwe); Zambia is also home to more than 20 different tribal groups and rich animal life.

The capital city, Lusaka, is located in the south-central part of the country. The population of Zambia is concentrated mainly around the capital Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt to the northwest.

Geography

The country has vast wetland areas feeding a countless number of rivers, tributaries of some of the biggest rivers in Africa.

Zambia has a tropical climate and consists mostly of high plateau, with some hills and mountains, dissected by river valleys.

Zambia is drained by two major river basins: the Zambezi basin in the south covering about three-quarters of the country; and the Congo basin in the north covering about one-quarter of the country. A very small area in the north-east forms part of the internal drainage basin of Lake Rukwa in Tanzania.

The Zambezi falls about 100 metres (328 ft) over the 1.6 km (0.99 mi) wide Victoria Falls, located in the south-west corner of the country, subsequently flowing into Lake Kariba. The Zambezi valley, running along the southern border, is both deep and wide

Lake Tanganyika is the other major hydrographic feature that belongs to the Congo basin. Its south-eastern end receives water from the Kalambo River, which forms part of Zambia's border with Tanzania. This river has Africa's second highest uninterrupted waterfall, the Kalambo Falls.

Climate

The climate of Zambia is tropical modified by elevation. In the Köppen climate classification, most of the country is classified as humid subtropical or tropical wet and dry, with small stretches of semi-arid steppe climate in the south-west and along the Zambezi valley.

There are two main seasons, the rainy season (November to April) corresponding to summer, and the dry season (May/June to October/November), corresponding to winter. The dry season is subdivided into the cool dry season (May/June to August), and the hot dry season (September to October/November). The modifying influence of altitude gives the country pleasant subtropical weather rather than tropical conditions during the cool season of May to August.[13] However, average monthly temperatures remain above 20 °C (68 °F) over most of the country for eight or more months of the year.

Top 8 reasons to visit Zambia

1: The Victoria Falls

2: White water rafting on the Grade 5 Zambezi River

3: The South Luangwa National Park is one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world. The concentration of game around the Luangwa River and its ox-bow lagoons (danbo’s) is one of the most spectacular in Africa

4: Kafue National Park, the largest game reserve in Africa

5: Bird watchers paradise, Lochinvar National Park has over 400 known species of birds. The rare shoebill stork and the Taita Falcon may be seen in other parts of Zambia

6: The highest uninterrupted waterfall in Africa – The Kalombo Falls (221m)

7: 28 different cultural ceremonies each year including the 300 year old Ku’omboka ceremony

8: David Livingstone’s memorial

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