The Republic of Zambia by Douglas Scott

Zambia officially the Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa. It borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania on the north east, Malawi on the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola on the west. Formerly Northern Rhodesia, the country is named after the Zambezi River.

Up until the 1970s Zambia was considered to have had some of the highest game populations in Africa. This safari destination has been recovering steadily over the last few years with fresh government controls over hunting and poaching. Almost thirty percent of the country is under game management.

Zambia has a relatively undeveloped tourism infrastructure and a small but sophisticated safari industry with excellent lodges and seasonal bush camps and some of Africas best safari guides. Safaris in Zambia are ideally suited for old Africa hands or those seeking a remote and more exclusive safari.

Tourists still come to Zambia in small numbers, and largely restrict themselves to a few of the main towns and national parks. Away from these centres, visitors are regarded with mild curiosity and often shown great warmth and hospitality. Zambia is a genuinely friendly country which has not yet had enough bad experiences of visitors to lower its opinion of them.

Zambias attitude to tourism has changed considerably over the past few years and visitors are now generally seen as good for the country because they spend valuable foreign currency and create employment. Tourism is helping Zambias economy and its conservation policy, by making a major contribution to the preservation of the national parks.

A cool dry winter period between May and August. Rivers and water sources tend to recede and game viewing improves steadily at this time, many of the roads in the remote areas are only passable during the dry spell. A hot and dry period from August to mid November. A hot to warm wet season from mid November through to the end of April. The onset of the rains makes the remote areas very difficult to explore and many seasonal camps are closed.

Game viewing is best during the dry season from May through to October. The wet season is best for bird watching.

HIV and AIDS is the nations greatest problem. Approximately seventy percent of the adult population has the infection. HIV/AIDS will continue to impact Zambian economic, political, cultural and social development for the foreseeable future.

Author Resource: Douglas Scott works for The Rental Car Hire Specialist. and is a free lance writer for The Villa Zambia Site

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