The purpose of this post is to help anyone who may be
attempting a similar trip through Zambia as the one that we have just
finished. A lot of the information on
budget travel destinations online is either out of date, or extremely difficult
to find. Hopefully, this can serve to
provide some sort of assistance to make travel plans easier in the future.
Departure times are subject to whenever they believe it is
time to leave, not the actual scheduled time.
Arrive at the bus as early as possible or you may miss it, or you might
spend the entire day waiting for it to leave.
Axa bus from Mzuzu to Lilongwe – leaves at 7 AM: 3500MK per person
Mini bus from Lilongwe to Mchenji (boarder city) leaves any
time once it is full: 1000-1300MK per
person
Shared or private taxi from Mchinji to the boarder: 250-500MK per person
$50 American to enter into Zambia, plus Yellow Fever Card
Shared or private taxi from the boarder to Chipata: 100 000ZK for a private taxi or 20 000ZK per
person for a shared taxi
Coach Bus from Chipata to Lusaka should leave at 2 PM on the
Zambia Malawi Bus Line: 130 000ZK per
person
Recommendation for a place to stay the night in Lusaka: Lusaka Backpackers 70 000 per person for a
shared dorm
Bus from Lusaka to Livingstone leaves at 6 AM: 80 000ZK per
person
Recommendation for a place to stay: Jolly Boys Backpackers
40 000ZK per person per night for camping
Cost for Victoria Falls Park Pass: 97 000ZK
Private taxi from Chipata to South Luangwa: 500 000ZK to 700 000ZK (depending on your
negotiating skills – a crying Rachel can help bring the price down) for a 2
hour trip and leaves whenever. Mini bus
for the same trip is 70 000ZK but might take about 6 hours or more and doesn’t
leave until it is full (usually around 11 AM). If you arrive in Chipata in the middle of the
night, do not allow your taxi driver to “pick up a friend” they may be trying
to rob you.
It seems easier to travel to Victoria Falls than it does to
travel back to Malawi. My recommendation
would be to give yourself enough time to only do one leg of the trip per day,
unless you are renting or booking private transportation.
