Ebb and Flow, ebb and flow in SLNP

[Kitsafari]

@@egilio what happened to the lions outside the hunting areas? were they poached or did they just wander into the hunting concessions and got shot as well? that's really tragic and hopefully the Zambian govt holds its nerves to keep the ban on hunting cats for many years to come. the lions really need the time to recover.

[Kitsafari]

@@marg @TonyQ@SafariChick@Marks@Caracal@FlyTraveler Thank you so much for the kind words and for following the report still!

 

I think i'm bogging down the report with too much details and information. i should cut back the narrative. I realise that I blab too much and it's just spilled into my reports!

 

i'll try to keep the words brief.

 

Hope to finish the Tafika portion this weekend as it'll probably be some time before I have time to continue.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

Tafika - the most beautiful camp

 

Tafika is a spacious camp with beautiful green grounds. I fell in love with it when I lay eyes on the grounds. a 1-metre high fence made of grass gets breached by the elephants walking into camp. bushbucks come into the grounds and graze the short grass, which is watered by sprinklers, and partake of the crimson red flowers that fall from lucious green sausage trees that shade each chalet and the breakfast area.

 

on the second night we are there, a pride of lions comes into camp. the lions walk into the staff quarters. a member of a film crew, who is staying at the staff quarters, wakes up at 4am, opens the door and finds a male lion sitting in the open. the lion yawns and walks off behind the vegetable garden. I wish i had stayed in that room!

 

the single chalets are set back from the banks, but the two-bedroom family lodge is on the banks, giving a river view to die for. The dining room and lounge are large, open and airy. Breakfast and afternoon tea is on a row of chairs along the bank, just under the expansive sausage tree. Our dinners are outside of the dining hall, under the sausage tree.

 

The chalets are rebuilt every year with reeds. The bathrooms are walled but open to the skies. Each chalet sits under a wide tree canopy while the family chalet is built with the sausage tree sitting in the centre of it. In each chalet, there is a horizontal window that works like a window of a hide. The drawback is that the window is covered with a reed cover which means you can’t see what is outside. There is also an open vent up on the roof, which makes the room very airy during the hot nights.

 

 

the single chalets

 

 

 

The breakfast and tea areas

 

 

 

 

 

 

the family lodge

 

 

 

 

 

and the stunning view from the camp

[graceland]

Thanks for continuing, looking forward to this camp!

[Kitsafari]

oh dear i tried to do a post and it went into a bermuda triangle. guess i'll have to try again.

 

 

If the riverfront of Kaingo camp is full of birdlife, the riverfront of Tafika is full of wildlife. Birds of a huge variety, hippos, elephants and pukus are seen everyday on the wide expanse of the bank opposite.

 

I 'm not good with bird names although I do like birdlife. so pse excuse the unnamed birdies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried with B&W but I think the experiment failed!

 

[Kitsafari]

@@graceland thank you for being so patient! i hope I won't disappoint you.

[Kitsafari]

There is no downtime. The river banks provide plenty of game viewings. The first afternoon i watch birds flying up and down and a stranded puku on an islet in the river that was dubbed Kit’s puku (as I had worried about its being stranded alone). A small young croc keeps her company for part of the day. But the puku is gone the next day.

[Kitsafari]

[Kitsafari]

I love Tafika, although we are disappointed that the microlight flights have been cancelled. There had been an accident a few weeks back after John Coppinger hired someone to fly the plane as well. fortunately, both the pilot and guest were not seriously injured, but unfortunately, the plane did not survive the crash.

John and Carol host us during lunch, while Jen and Heather take turns with the guides to host us during dinner. Everyone makes us feel very welcome, even the two half-wild cats resident at the camp They are such wonderful people - warm-hearted, straight no-nonsense guys with a heart of gold. They have done tonnes for the local communities there, and this is straight from the guides themselves.

The Coppingers have set up a local school and a medical centre. The family provided medical assistance when the lodges were opened but when the season ended, the villagers had no easy access to medical facilities. So the family helped set up one. The Coppingers found supplies of cheap solar-powered torches and sold them at cost to the villagers, and now the homes in the villages have light.

Such commitment and sincere desire to improving the quality of lives locally deepens the spinoffs and value of wildlife to local communities. Remote Africa also runs a scholarship programme for local students to fund their education.

I have to add here that Derek Shenton has the same admirable progamme to help the local communities. In fact i found out that prior to every season before camps reopen, Derek and John will grade the roads although Zawa is supposed to do it. Both guys invested in grading equipment and grade a huge network of roads, which make driving far smoother and easier. Derek grades the roads well beyond the Kaingo and Mwamba camps, while John goes deep into Nseful park, with even one road named after him (at least for the Remote camps!)

 

[Kitsafari]

Tafika has a hide that looks out on a charming small grove of ebony trees. The elephants visit daily, as do the pukus and bushbucks and birds. We spend about an hour there after lunch.

 

 

 

at the hide

 

 

a baby amid the giants

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

[TonyQ]

@@Kitsafari

Tafika does look beautiful - a really good position.

That baby Puku is very cute!

Edited November 1, 2014 by TonyQ

[michael-ibk]

I think i'm bogging down the report with too much details and information. i should cut back the narrative. I realise that I blab too much and it's just spilled into my reports!

 

i'll try to keep the words brief.

 

Please don't, I for one enjoy your reports so much especially because of the details. Your narrative is great, so don't you dare getting brief all of a sudden!

 

Tafika looks beautiful indeed!

[ld1]

@@Kitsafari Don't rush this now! I have been dying to read the Tafika section. Looking forward to every last detail.

[graceland]

I am also very interested in your Tafika portion as well. I've friends who suggested we go, so I am reading very carefully...

 

I like the hide they have --also never write down names of birds and totally forget by the time I get home!!

 

What wonderful people to be doing so much for their "locals". Thanks for sharing

[SafariChick]

Caught up now - and I agree, no rushing! Though try to finish it up in the next week before I leave on my safari, please just kidding of course!

 

That baby puku is so adorable!! And i would have worried about the stranded puku too. Hope the reason it disappeared is that it got out of there and rejoined its fellow pukus!

[Safaridude]

Ah, the carmine bee-eater hide is special!

[Caracal]

Am really enjoying reading about Tafika. The camp looks special -were there other guests and how many can it accommodate?

Lovely photos - I particularly like the hide photos.

[Kitsafari]

@@michael-ibk LOL thank you for your encouragement. I won't skimp on relevant details then.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

@@TonyQ @@ld1 @@SafariChick @@Safaridude @@Caracal @@graceland thanks for staying the long-winded and much-interrupted course!

 

@@Caracal there are six chalets - four normal chalets, one honeymoon chalet and one 2-bedroom chalet. The normal and honeymoon chalets look very spacious and they are set back quite far from the bank. But the guests can sit on beach deckchairs or hammocks by the banks to enjoy the riverview.

 

I should have added that there is walking safari available but we didn't take up that option.

 

Remote Africa also has 3 other camps - a true blue bushcamp on the western side of Luangwa River (Crocodile and Chikoko Tree camps) and Mwaleshi camp in north Luangwa. all 3 are mainly walking camps.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

Ah, the carmine bee-eater hide is special!

 

It certainly is.

[Kitsafari]

hmm another post disappeared into the triangle again. so i'll try again:

 

 

a couple more pix i couldn't post earlier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

buffalo weaver just outside our chalet

 

 

 

a cropped soft-edged (ha!) white fronted bee-eater with an insect.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

and a lil video of the ellies at the hide, so calm and relaxed.

 

[Kitsafari]

The best surprise awaits us. We learn that we are the only guests in camp. Even the Coppingers, Jennifer and Heather who manages the camp are surprised. The previous weeks had kept the camp busy but when we arrive, the crowds are gone. and when we leave, the crowds will return. We get the family lodge and I want that chalet whenever I return.

 

The game viewing routine is this: someone comes to the door to wake you at 5am followed by full breakfast at 5.30am. A staff cooks eggs for you over the hot coals. You are out at 6am and return around 10.30am with lunch at 12pm, then afternoon tea at 3.30pm. Evening drives begin at 4pm and you need to be out of the Nsefu park by 8pm.

 

On the way out and back from the camp, elephants and bushbuck are always out there to greet us, although a couple of young bull ellies practise their charge on us. Despite the reputation for being shy and elusive, the bushbucks stay around longer than impalas, and they are curious about us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sitting pretty and relaxed

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Tafika camp is located in a GMA so all the drives are in the Nsefu National Park, the entrance of which is just about half an hour away from the camp. Our first evening drive is guided by Moffat, a young man with about 5 years of experience, and accompanied by Mukupa another guide with 7 years of experience.

 

Top of our wishlist – wild dogs. They were seen about a week before so the chances look slim. Moffat laughs nervously and says let’s see.

the coastal road is scenic, although there are stretches that are close to an eroding portion of the bank. some areas provide a surprising ground of emerald green where wildlife revel, surrounded as they are by dry plains and lack of water.

some of the wildlife that gathered in one of these areas:

 

 

 

 

a crowned crane doing his courting dance

 

 

 

 

 

 

four bird-gathering - fish eagle, hammerkop, sacred ibis and I can't make out the last black bird in the background

 

 

an elusive mongoose - it sure was hard to get a picture of this fella.

 

 

a white browed coucal i think .