Experience the best of Lusaka

Lusaka stands on a high plateau at about 1,280 metres in central Zambia, and became the capital of Northern Rhodesia in 1935, then of independent Zambia in 1964. Cairo Road, the main street, runs through the centre. The city's markets, from the huge Soweto Market to craft stalls, sell cloth, carvings and produce, and the National Museum covers history and art.

Kabwata Cultural Village sells carvings and handwoven crafts, Munda Wanga is a park with botanical gardens and wildlife, and Lilayi, to the south, is home to a nursery for orphaned elephants. Kafue National Park, one of the largest in Africa, lies to the west, the Lower Zambezi to the east, and Victoria Falls, beside Livingstone far to the south-west, is the country's best-known sight.

Nshima, a thick maize porridge, is eaten with relishes of beans, vegetables, chicken or kapenta, small dried fish, with a local lager to go with it. The rainy season runs from November to April, followed by a cool, dry spell from May to August.