Health & safety
Staying Well in Zambia, From the Towns to the Bush Camps
Preparing for Zambia starts with the traveller's own government's current travel advice and a visit to a travel clinic well before the trip. On the ground, the practical points are malaria in the low valleys where the parks lie, the rules of the bush in the camps, ordinary care in the towns and on the roads, and insurance that covers an evacuation, since the parks are far from a hospital.
Updated 2026-10-08
Before the trip
A travel clinic advises on the vaccinations for Zambia, routinely hepatitis A and typhoid alongside the standard ones, on yellow fever, and on malaria tablets. Travel insurance with medical evacuation is essential for a safari: the camps of the Lower Zambezi, Kafue, South Luangwa and the remote parks are hours from a hospital, and serious cases are flown out.
Malaria and mosquitoes
Malaria is present in much of Zambia and above all in the low, warm valleys where the parks lie, the Zambezi and the Luangwa among them, and it is most intense in the rainy season. Alongside the tablets a clinic recommends, repellent, long sleeves and trousers in the evening and a net at night keep bites down, and a fever during or after the trip is seen by a doctor at once.
Water, food and the heat
Safari camps and hotels provide safe drinking water, and elsewhere bottled or filtered water is the rule. Food that is freshly cooked and hot is the safest choice. In the valleys, September and October are very hot, and plenty of water, a hat and a slow pace in the middle of the day keep the heat in check.
Rules of the bush
Safari camps have no fences, and animals walk through them. After dark guests are escorted to and from their rooms, and in the bush the guide's instructions are followed on drives, walks and canoe trips. Zambia's rivers and lakes hold crocodiles and hippos, and some carry bilharzia, so no one swims in them except where a camp says it is safe.
Towns and roads
In Lusaka and the larger towns, the precautions are the ordinary ones: belongings kept close in markets and at bus stations, a taxi at night rather than a walk, valuables left in the hotel. On the road, journeys are made by daylight, and police checkpoints are passed with patience and the vehicle's papers to hand. Police, military sites and government buildings are not photographed.
Medical care
Lusaka has private clinics and hospitals used to treating visitors, and Livingstone has clinics as well; elsewhere, medical care is basic and far apart. Visitors bring a small first-aid kit and enough of any regular medicine for the whole trip, since particular brands can be hard to find outside the cities.