Kafue National Park is one of Zambia’s oldest — and largest — national parks. It is best known for the diversity of its wildlife, with everything from elephants to crocodiles, pangolins to bushbabies living here.

The sheer size of the park means it isn’t a place to tick off the Big Five in 24 hours — instead, linger a while and explore some of Africa’s lesser-known animals.

At 22,400 square kilometres, Kafue itself represents 36% of Zambia’s national park land. When added to the surrounding 45,400 square kilometres of Game Management Area, the total protected zone constitutes a staggering 9% of the country’s entire landmass.

Kafue is named for the river, the lifeblood of the park, that dissects it, almost north to south, running for more than 250 kilometres