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Worse trip ever!


Guest nappa

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Guest nappa

I have just returned from my worst safari experience since I first entered Africa 12 years ago.

As soon as I have time I will post a written trip report.

 

Would I recommend Imfuduko Safaris ?

That's a very Big NO!

 

Would I recommend Karfue as a destination?

Not from this trips experience.

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Look fwd to reading your report Nappa, sorry you had such a poor experience.

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Super LEEDS

Sorry to hear that, nappa

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Ouch too! Hope this is not the case: I have always enjoyed Kafue, but have no experience of Imfudoko safaris

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Looking at their homepage - a long list of safaris. Too many? Would be interesting to hear what was so bad.

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Oh no! Hope you are joking.

 

I keep meaning to go to kafue, but every time I start planning the lure of South Luangwa is too much.

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Wow, sounds like quite a disaster! Looking forward to the details on why it landed up to be such an lousy trip anyways.

Edited by Shreyas
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What a tease! Even more so than saying "mymost amazing trip ever"

 

Hope it wasn't all bad - in fact I am sure it wasn't - but that is such a let down for you.

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Oh no! I was actually thinking of you while you were on this trip and was so sure it would be a standout.... but sounds like it's standing out for all the wrong reasons :(

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luangwablondes

This is kind of like a situation that would you rather go with a safari company that is an expert in everything and everywhere, or one that is an expert in just a few things, like Kafue or Zambian parks or mobile safaris in Zambia and Zimbabwe or .... Hey. What can go wrong?

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kittykat23uk

Come on Nappa, spill the beans!!!

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Guest nappa

I posted this as soon as I arrived home from the airport as I knew there were one or two people looking to book with Imfuduko safaris.

My spelling mistake was just that, a spelling mistake.

 

Normally on a trip between my wife & i we take many pictures, i've never counted but I would think well over a thousand...... My wife took 17 & I took about 50!

I normally take about somewhere between 6 to 10 hours of video this time I took 29 minutes!!!!!

 

We saw numerous Puku & Impala & Hippo, 7 Lions, 1 Leopard, 6 BushBuck, 1 Roan, about 20 Hartebeest & about 20 elephants! Oh & a mongoose!

Our guide from SA repeatedly got lost!! Did not know the area & had no enthusiasm.

So much so that we turned the trip into a self drive & left him in camp at our first destination.

 

Our itinerary was for 3 destinations, we gave up on the third destination & headed back to Lusaka a day early.

All transfer times were at least double the itinerary listed times.

Camp sites were attached to lodges & we had specially stipulated that the trip was to be personal with only my wife & I on game drives yet Imfuduko booked us on group lodge activities with Lodge guests.

The itinerary was for Semi luxury camping with crew, we had a guide only.

Although we feel our guide was totally out of his depth with two experienced tourists he did cook well & had a good academic knowledge but he had no bush craft!

He forced the Leopard of the road into the bush.

He wanted to drive into Lions hunting Puku.

 

I think the fault was mine for lack of research, Imfuduko's for an itinerary of total fiction & non local guide with little knowledge & the guide for lack of enthusiasm & no bush instinct.

Full trip report to follow ASAP

Edited by nappa
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67 pictures between you! :o

 

That statistic gives me chills.

 

So sorry for you both - what a tragedy. I just hope it didn't damage your piggy banks too much (relatively) and you can get back asap.

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non local guide with little knowledge ...

I think there in lies your first problem...

Why did you book/plan a holiday to Zambia with a South African mobile company with foreign guide? I am sure you would have been much better served using a local Zambian agent and booking with Zambian operated camps and Zambian guides (private vehicle or not).

Shame though ... because Kafue (while not known for its density of game) is a beautiful park... especially if you have the benefit of local knowledge.

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Guest nappa

non local guide with little knowledge ...

I think there in lies your first problem...

Why did you book/plan a holiday to Zambia with a South African mobile company with foreign guide? I am sure you would have been much better served using a local Zambian agent and booking with Zambian operated camps and Zambian guides (private vehicle or not).

Shame though ... because Kafue (while not known for its density of game) is a beautiful park... especially if you have the benefit of local knowledge.

 

You are right it is why I feel my lack of research was much to blame for the failure of this trip.

It is only now I realise the operator was SA based & not Zambian based but I was mislead that we would have a local guide & crew.

When I have used tour operators in the past, rather than make & book my own itinerary, the operator has been able to cover other countries with excellent results.

 

I suppose I got carried away with the idea of Zambia being the Mecca for Safari & being used to Botswana & Zimbabwe I just thought Zambia because it is more expensive it would be even better!

A Zambian trip was always to expensive for us so we always promised ourselves that we would make it for the year we retire & spend that little extra than our usual budget.

I just went with the flow without any careful planning or research.

 

But saying that it does not excuse the lies of the itinerary or the use of a guide with no charisma, little knowledge & no bush skills..

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Is Zambia the Mecca for safari? Really?

 

South Luangwa is my personal favourite park in Africa and I really do love it, but I wouldn't claim it's "better" than other places (eg Botswana, Zim). It's certainly at least on a par with those places (in my opinion) but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a Mecca.

 

Also, whilst I haven't been to Kafue (but would like to) my general impression is that it isn't on a par with South Luangwa for game viewing, so it wouldn't be my choice for a first and only game park in Zambia. I'd either go to South Luangwa or South Luangwa plus Kafue or Lower Zambezi.

 

I'm surprised that you'd consider Zambia more expensive than Botswana as well- certainly the fixed camps cost considerably less.

 

It's interesting to hear your perceptions, though- did you consider South Luangwa?

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Guest nappa

South Luangwa is & has always been way out of my budget & while looking into this trip costs for Luangwa came in about 25% dearer than Kafue from a number of different operators.

I can normally set up two weeks in Botswana for my wife & I for a total cost of around £6000 including flights perhaps a little more for Zimbabwe.

 

We're not lodge people, we camp so lodges are never part of the equation when planning a trip which again is why I got it wrong for Zambia, camping is only allowed outside the Luangwa.

 

Perhaps not Mecca but Zambia has been very high on other peoples agendas with excellent reports & because of this it has been high on our lists of places to visit.

As I've said my research was inadequate but Zimbabwe & Botswana are very similar in respect of self drive camping so stupidly I expected about the same level for Kafue.

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Ouch, I recently drove through kafue, in and out of Kafwala. Saw 20+ elephants, numerous hartebeest, 2 very nice sable bulls right next to the tar road, a herd of about 15 sables seen from the tar, some buffalo seen from the tar, 3 wild dogs on the tar road, a male lion on the tar road. I had to do some work at Kafwala, so didn't get out there, but did see bush pig, finfoot.

And also numerous impala, puku and some waterbuck and kudu.

Never heard of Imfuduko, but why book an SA operator for a park in Zambia?

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Zambia Dawn are a very new operation- I think they only started last year (even this year?).

 

To be fair, I'm not sure there are many other similar operators in Zambia- I have looked for more budget options myself in the past.

 

However, for anyone confident with self driving (not me on my own I'm afraid) there are options- several budget camps in South Luangwa, for example.

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Here's Zambian Dawn-

http://www.zambiandawnsafaris.com/

 

They're on my radar as a possible Kafue option for the future, although they aren't cheap- they are probably close to the cost of some permanent camps.

 

I must confess that, as my name is Dawn, their name has a certain appeal for me!

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Oh, Nappa, really sorry. What a complete bummer. Hope your next trip is super super special tomake up for this one.

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luangwablondes

Nappa-

Kinda curious. What did your itinerary look like?

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Yo, this is indeed a complete bummer. I had been so enthused about Kafue based on Safaridude's Nanzhila Plains report and all the stories we see here from Mukambi, both from their Lodge and their Plains camp. Not to mention KafueTyrone's sightings. Were you in the vicinity of these camps anytime?

 

I remember going to the Imf website and noting that the camps they used near Busanga were all at the fringes, but this seemed not be unusual for mobiles/self-drivers. This where a great local guide would have made all the difference :angry:

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….Unlucky Nappa, so sorry you had a pants trip. I had to comment on this post, We went to Zambia a couple of years ago total self-drive and loved it , Kafue was awesome ,reminded us a lot of Ruaha before it got too busy…

I would love to know what your Itinerary looked like, could you not have explained your experience to your guide and asked him to let you take the rains and maybe teach him some bush craft.( you where the one paying)

We also are not lodge people but all of the campsites we stayed in where far enough away from the lodge to make us feel comfortable….

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kittykat23uk

 

It sounds like you did at least have a few good sightings, but they were spoilt by the rubbish guiding and poor planning. A safari is no small commitment and I'm sorry that you feel you didn't get a good return on this one. :/

Edited by kittykat23uk
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