1

I haven't been to Cape Town so i can't say anything about that option.

If it's only 5 days i wouldn't bother going all the way to Malawi. If you are quick it'll take you a full day to get to Lilongwe, and most likely another 2 to go back to Lusaka since buses leave early morning from Chipata. Not sure if there are later ones to Lusaka. But Lilongwe, the capital, is rather boring as a tourist place. Not much to do, so stay in Zambia. If you had more time I would definately have recommended you to go to Malawi though!

I'd spend my time in Livingstone seeing the Vic Falls, you could spend a day in Zimbabwe, seeing the falls from both sides. You can raft, bungee or do whatever you like there. Maybe you could also visit Kafue NP for a 3 day safari.

4 or 5 days is much too short to see an African country though, but these are the things that I would probably do.

Jilke

2

I agree with the above, if I was you with only 4 days to spare then I wouldn't bother travelling too far. I just spent around 4 days in Livingstone and there is sooo much to do - it is, however, pretty expensive. If you've got the spare cash though, I would definitely recommend the microflight over vic falls, lion/cheetah encounter, full day rafting the Zambezi, Devil's bathtub hike at Vic falls and the sunset 'booze cruise'. All of these cost me about 500 USD I think... quite steep but worth every penny.

Oh and if you get the bus (business class at 9am STRONGLY recommended) it's only a 6 hour, around $15 bus journey. You'll get loads more out of it than flying elsewhere I reckon.

3

Agree with both above posts, vic falls is the way to go, You could visit the zambezi National park nearby, take in some cultural tours or adventure activities (bunjeeing etc) plenty to keep you occupied for five days. The bus is a good idea its not a long journey and due to a lack of competition domestic flights in Zambia tend to be pretty pricey.

4

as posted above, 4-5 days are not enough to go to malawi. i would either (depending on your interests, where you have been before etc.):

• spend the 4-5 days in cape town - a beautiful city, with plenty to see, enjoy, explore in and around the city (and you could also go shark cage diving in gans baai (2 hours from cpt), or hike up table mountain, or go on a bike trip around the cape peninsula

• fly to krüger mpumalanga airport (via joburg), rent a car and spend a few days in krüger national park looking for the 5 big and more (or spend a few days in a private game reserve / or join a tour like offered by drifters or nomad).

• fly from lusaka to mfuwe, the gateway to south luangwa national park. much less visited and wilder than krüger np (and also its not as easy, but more rewarding, to see animals as there), and very very beautiful. what makes it special - apart from going on game drives / self driving, you can also do walking safaris. a pretty amazing feeling to walk around the bush, and see wild animals pretty close up, without being in the "protected" area of a car