- Where
- Kalabo District, Western Province, Zambia
Barotse floodplain - Coordinates
- 14.5° S
22.4833° E - Area
- 3,660 km² (African Parks)
3,369 km² (Wikipedia) - Protected
- Early 1880s, by the Litunga Lubosi Lewanika
national park 1972 - Managed by
- African Parks, DNPW and the
Barotse Royal Establishment, since 2003 - Wildebeest
- More than 47,000
(African Parks) - Advisory
- Zambia Level 1
A raft of a ferry took us over a slow river, and white sand tracks ran across grass as flat as a tablecloth, with clumps of palms standing in it like islands. Lines of dark, bearded antelope walked along the far edge under a sky building up to rain. A boy drove cattle past them, unbothered. At night the hyenas whooped round the tent, and I answered, politely, from inside.
The short answer
Liuwa Plain National Park is a grassland park in Zambia’s Western Province, near the border with Angola, on the Barotse floodplain of the upper Zambezi. “Liuwa” means “plain” in the local language, a dialect of Lozi, by Wikipedia’s account. African Parks gives its area as 3,660 km²; Wikipedia gives 3,369. It was the hunting ground of the Lozi king, the Litunga, before it was a park, and a national park from 1972. Since 2003 it has been managed by the conservation organisation African Parks together with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Barotse Royal Establishment, the Lozi kingdom’s traditional government; the three renewed their agreement in 2026. African Parks counts more than 47,000 wildebeest in its annual migration, which it calls the second largest in Africa.
Why it's worth knowing
Liuwa was protected by a king before it was protected by a state. Lubosi Lewanika, Litunga of the Lozi from 1878 to 1916, designated the plain a protected area in the early 1880s, according to Wikipedia, and African Parks calls Liuwa one of the oldest conservation histories in Africa: in the nineteenth century, it says, the king declared his people the guardians of the plains.
The national park that followed in 1972 did not stop the decline. Wikipedia records poaching that grew with the human pressure on the park, sharp falls in wildlife through the 1990s and 2000s and the local loss of several species; according to African Parks, all but one of the park’s lions were killed in the 1990s by poaching and trophy hunting. Since 2003, under the three-way management, the populations have stabilised. Eland and buffalo have been brought back, zebra have grown to more than 4,000, by Wikipedia’s figure, and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest were reintroduced in late 2025, about fifty years after they disappeared.
And the people never left. African Parks says some 12,000 people live within the park’s boundaries, and that the Lozi have lived in the Liuwa landscape for centuries; communities in and around the park keep traditional rights. African Parks names the spread of rice fields and the clearing of woodland for farming inside the park as a continuing challenge.
The field notes
The last lioness
By 2002 one lion was left in Liuwa, a lioness the park came to call Lady Liuwa. She was the subject of a National Geographic documentary, The Last Lioness, in 2010. Wikipedia records the long effort to give her a pride: a male lion that died in transit in 2008, two males brought in in 2009 who later wandered into Angola, two lionesses from Kafue National Park in 2011, and cubs born to one of them in December 2013. Lady Liuwa died of natural causes on 9 August 2017. Wikipedia gives the park’s lions today as around 20, and breeding.
Hyenas, dogs and a cheetah
Liuwa is hyena country. African Parks describes large clans of spotted hyena, most of which it monitors regularly, following the herds across the plain. African wild dogs returned in 2021, when, by Wikipedia’s account, eleven were brought in from South Africa and Kafue and released as a pack in April 2022; Wikipedia gives their number now as 25. African Parks has also reported the first documented cheetah movement across the border between Liuwa and Angola.
A plain that floods
The park lies within the Barotse floodplain, bounded by the Luambimba river to the north and the Luanginga to the south, and is mostly grassland scattered with raffia palms and patches of woodland, by Wikipedia’s account. The wildebeest move between the plain’s many pans, African Parks says, following the seasonal rains, which fall from about November to April. Wikipedia records 334 bird species, among them the wattled crane and the grey crowned crane.
Blue wildebeest on Liuwa Plain in late November, when the herds gather as the rains begin.
Photograph: Simon Berry · Gnus in Liuwa Plain National Park 01 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
Tall grass on Liuwa Plain in April, at the end of the rains.
Photograph: Dee Chans · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
Wildebeest spread to the horizon. African Parks counts more than 47,000 in the migration.
Photograph: Simon Berry · Liuwa Plain National Park 01 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
A lioness resting in the shade on Liuwa Plain in 2012. By 2002 one lion was left in the park; Wikipedia now gives about 20.
Photograph: Simon Berry · Lions in Liuwa Plain National Park 01 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
- Come at the turn of the rains, and let the herds choose the day.
- Slow to walking pace through the villages and past the cattle, and wave first.
- When the lines of animals come close, turn the engine off and listen to them walk.
- Keep the tent zipped at night, whatever the hyenas say.
- Give the plain one whole day as the only item on the list. It manages that without any effort. I managed it until lunch.
A pan. A shallow dip in the grass of the plain that holds water once the rains begin, one of the many that the wildebeest walk between as the season turns. For much of the year it is a hollow of short grass and pale sand that a visitor could drive past without noticing; in the rains it is where the herds, and then the hyenas, arrive.
Tally, in the marginOn the first morning I entered it in the notebook as a bare patch. By the last it was full of rain and wildebeest, and the entry now says standing room only, with the old one crossed out underneath.
Getting there
How to get there. Zambia Tourism describes a tar road through Mongu and over a causeway to Kalabo, and a pontoon across the Luanginga river into the park. African Parks says a high-clearance 4×4 is required inside, and gives the drive to Kalabo as about ten hours from Lusaka or eight from Livingstone. Light aircraft fly into Kalabo, Zambia Tourism says, by scheduled service or charter. Inside the park, visitors stay at King Lewanika Lodge or at community campsites; the park is open from sunrise to sunset.
When to go. Late November and early December, Zambia Tourism says, are when the wildebeest gather on the plain in the greatest numbers as the rains begin. The park is generally accessible from May or June to December and floods in the wet months; self-drivers can enter from 1 June to 15 December.
What to book ahead. A campsite or the lodge well ahead of the migration weeks, and a vehicle equipped for sand and remote driving, with spare fuel and water. Contact the park before setting out.
Safety. The State Department has Zambia at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, with no area-specific warnings (advisory dated 31 July 2023, when it was reissued with outdated COVID-19 links removed; still the current advisory on 3 October 2026). Angola, across the border to the west, is Level 2. Liuwa is remote, and medical help is far away.
Mark this place
Common questions
When is the wildebeest migration at Liuwa Plain?
The wildebeest gather on Liuwa Plain, in Zambia’s Western Province, in the greatest numbers in late November and early December, as the rains begin, according to Zambia Tourism. African Parks counts more than 47,000 wildebeest in the migration and describes them moving between the plain’s pans with the seasonal rains.
Is Liuwa Plain's wildebeest migration the second largest in Africa?
African Parks, which manages Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia, describes its annual wildebeest migration as the second largest in Africa, with more than 47,000 animals, and says they move between the plain’s pans following the seasonal rains.
Who first protected Liuwa Plain?
Lubosi Lewanika, the Litunga (king) of the Lozi people from 1878 to 1916, designated Liuwa Plain a protected area in the early 1880s, according to Wikipedia. It became a Zambian national park in 1972, and African Parks calls it one of the oldest conservation histories in Africa.
Who was Lady Liuwa?
Lady Liuwa was the last lion left in Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia, first reported there in 2002, and the subject of the 2010 National Geographic documentary The Last Lioness. African Parks introduced lions around her to rebuild a pride. She died of natural causes on 9 August 2017.
Do people live inside Liuwa Plain National Park?
Yes. African Parks says some 12,000 people live within the boundaries of Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia, most of them Lozi, whose communities have lived in the landscape for centuries and keep traditional rights.
Who manages Liuwa Plain National Park?
Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia has been managed since 2003 by African Parks in partnership with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Barotse Royal Establishment, the traditional government of the Lozi kingdom. African Parks says the three renewed their agreement in 2026.
How do you get to Liuwa Plain?
Liuwa Plain is reached by a tar road through Mongu to Kalabo in Zambia’s Western Province, then a pontoon across the Luanginga river, according to Zambia Tourism; a high-clearance 4×4 is required in the park. Light aircraft also fly into Kalabo. African Parks gives the drive to Kalabo as about ten hours from Lusaka.
Is Liuwa Plain safe to visit?
The U.S. State Department has Zambia at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, its lowest level, with no area-specific warnings (advisory dated 31 July 2023, still current when checked on 3 October 2026). Liuwa Plain is remote: visitors need a well-equipped 4×4, fuel and water, and medical help is far away.