What's opening in 2026
Kafue National Park spent years as Zambia's under-visited giant. This season it is picking up lodges at a pace the park has not seen in a while.
Anantara Tented Camp Kafue River — the brand's first tented safari camp, 13 keys on the river — held its ribbon-cutting on 6 July 2026 and is receiving guests, per Anantara and the Minor Hotels newsroom (13 July 2026). An earlier brand note had pointed at April; July is the opening that actually happened.
Lolelunga Private Reserve, a 30,000-hectare sanctuary about 30 km north of the park run by the Zambia Luxury Lodge Collection, had a soft launch in August 2025 and officially opened to guests on 10 May 2026, per Our Africa.
Lwenge River Camp, Classic Zambia Safaris' river camp in the Musekese area, was announced as opening 15 August 2026 (Classic Zambia Safaris). Confirm availability with the operator — camp pages sometimes lag opening day.
In South Luangwa, Carmine's River Lodge is a three-villa property on a private island between the park and Nsefu, named for the Carmine Bee-Eater colony on the Luangwa Wafwa opposite. Trade PR in March 2026 put a July guest launch. The lodge's own site, carminesriverlodge.com, does not publish an opening date — treat July as unconfirmed until they say they are open.
What was already here
The new keys matter more if you know the camps that already made these parks bookable.
On the Kafue River near Hook Bridge, Ila Safari Lodge took its first guests on 16 June 2016. 2026 is its tenth season, per Zambia Tourism. It is the camp that put solar Silent Safaris on this stretch of river — e-Cruiser game drives and e-Boat cruises — which is why newer Kafue openings sit alongside it rather than replacing it. Details: greensafaris.com/ila.
Further north, Chisa Busanga Camp puts seasonal Nest rooms above the Busanga floodplain, which only recedes about five months a year — the usual pairing if you want Kafue river plus plains in one trip.
South Luangwa already has Shawa Luangwa Camp on the East Bank (Jacob Shawa's site, walking-safari country). On the Lower Zambezi, Sausage Tree Camp and Potato Bush Camp sit riverfront — Sausage Tree with guaranteed private guiding; Potato Bush the family / value-for-experience sister. Both have been in the Green Safaris collection since June 2023. Upstream of Victoria Falls, Tongabezi Lodge and off-grid Sindabezi Island Camp cover the Zambezi villa and island nights; Livingstone Island lunch or swim is a day from that cluster, not a lodge stay.
(Green Safaris also runs Kaya Mawa on Likoma Island in Malawi — useful if the itinerary adds a beach, not a Zambia park night.)
The operator map is on greensafaris.com/lodges. The point for a 2026 trip is geographic, not branded: Kafue, Luangwa, Lower Zambezi and the Falls stretch already had places to stay before this year's openings.
Why this matters for travellers
More inventory in Kafue is notable because the park has historically been overshadowed by South Luangwa despite being one of Africa's largest. You can now mix a tenth-season Ila stay with Anantara or Lolelunga, add Chisa if Busanga is in season, then continue to Sausage Tree or Potato Bush on the Lower Zambezi, or Shawa in South Luangwa — and treat Carmine's as a maybe until the lodge confirms it.
Traveller tip
If South Luangwa's peak (Aug–Oct) is tight, look at Kafue first: Anantara and Lolelunga are open; Lwenge is the newest Musekese river option. Ila remains the Kafue river camp with a decade of Silent Safaris behind it. Email Carmine's directly before you build a Luangwa itinerary around an unconfirmed opening.