Lusaka is something of a boom town. New buildings are going up everywhere and chain stores and shopping malls are springing up across the sprawling suburbs, giving the city the optimistic air of a town on the rise. It covers over 360km² and is one of central Africa’s fastest-growing urban centres — and for most visitors it is the first point of contact with Zambia.

There is more to do here than a stopover suggests. Lusaka National Park lies about 30 kilometres out along Leopards Hill Road, Munda Wanga Environmental Park combines botanical gardens with an animal sanctuary, and the National Museum tells the country’s story across ethnography, traditional ritual, history and contemporary art. Markets run from Soweto and the Kabwata Cultural Village to the malls at Manda Hill and Arcades, and there is golf, polo on Nangwenya Road at weekends, and the Kalimba Reptile Park.