[8] It is situated on the bank of the Luanginga River across which a small pontoon ferry connects to a dirt track going north-west to the Angolan border.

Kalabo is the base for the Liuwa Plain National Park which can be reached by off-road vehicles about 20 kilometres (12 mi), north of the pontoon.

Zambia's Western Province was formerly known as Barotseland, and Liuwa Plain was the Barotse king's hunting grounds which Lewanika made into a game reserve in the 19th century.

This is part of an ambitious long-term regional plan to provide the first ever major link between the road networks of Zambia and Angola via a paved causeway across the floodplain and a bridge over the Zambezi, replacing the ferry.

Although originally intended for completion in 2006, construction has proved more difficult than anticipated and large sections were washed away in floods in 2003/2004, resulting in funding shortfalls.