KAFUE:
The Lodges

What, in your opinion, makes for the best kind of safari experience? How does the Kafue fit in with this?
The best kind of safari experience is one where it is just you, your guide, and no other vehicles. Sightings are found through anticipation and local knowledge and not through radios and Facebook Messenger. Fortunately, the experience where it is just you and your guide is a normal day at Kaingu!

What has been your most memorable experience in this part of Africa?
It probably would be being out on a boat showing a professional photographer around. Being July, it was cold and misty on the river and the sun was rising. I turned and said, "What would be perfect now would be a pair of African skimmers flying in the mist as the sun is rising". 30 seconds later it happened. It was breathtakingly beautiful. 

Your walking shoes must have stories to tell of your adventures in the Kafue over the years. If they could tell us one funny/quirky/memorable tale, what would it be?
Sadly, I can't tell the story in public as it involves 02:00am walking with mud, lions, hippos, and guests and a terribly wet dambo and bogged vehicles. It's really not for public consumption!

Tell us what you look forward to every morning when you wake up in the Kafue and a bit about the people, places, wildlife, and experiences that make it special.
Seeing guests faces as they boat up river for a game drive with the sun rising over the river.

What wildlife is the Kafue known for? Is there anything in particular people travel to see? What do you recommend guests to the area should be on the lookout for?
The Kafue is known for its diversity - both animals and birds.  Around Kaingu, on the river be on the lookout for Pel's fishing owls, the African Finfoot, and elephants in the river clambering over granite boulders - that one has to be seen to be believed!

What time of year is best for game-viewing? When is the rainy season? When is it unbearably hot? What is the average summer high and winter low temperatures?
The best game-viewing is August through to November. The Kafue is basically never really unbearably hot.

Is there one thing in the area visitors shouldn’t miss? What activities are on offer through Kaingu?
A boat trip through the massive granite boulders is quite unique. Kaingu offers game drives, boating, fishing, canoeing, walking, bespoke children's activities, island sleep outs, and spectacular out-of- camp dining.

What sort of people would most enjoy the area?
To really get the most from the Kafue (and particularly the area around Kaingu), you need to be prepared to try as many activities as possible. For too many people, being on safari is just game driving. Here, it is not. Here, we encourage adventure and experiencing the bush in as many different ways as possible.

Based on your experience, what items would you recommend visitors to the Kafue should pack? What items can’t you leave home without when heading on safari?
Visitors should pack "Birds South of the Sahara".  All the rest of the field guides stop at the Zambezi! The one item I could not leave home without? My camera.

What is the first place that comes to mind where you would love to drink it in the Kafue? Why there?
I have two spots good for drinks: hot springs and the Maritz Hill - very special for sunset drinks. There is a very good view of the Kafue River from this hill and your guests get to see these boiling hot springs.

What has been your most memorable experience in this area?
My memorable experience was when a male lion peed on me.

Tell us what you look forward to every morning when you wake up in the Kafue and a bit about the people, places, wildlife, and experiences that make it special.
I always look forward to an exciting morning in the Busanga Plains where you see lions on a daily basis, which makes it special even when you see them hunting and kill attempts. Sometimes my guests get to interact with the fishermen of the Busanga tribe, which is where the Busanga Plains derived its name.

What wildlife is the Kafue known for? Is there anything in particular people travel to see? What do you recommend guests to the area should be on the lookout for?
Kafue is known for its roan and sable antelope which are seen in large herds, Sable antelope, lions and cheetah make the Kafue so special for travellers.

What time of year is best for game-viewing? When is the rainy season? When is it unbearably hot? What is the average summer high and winter low temperatures?
October is our peak season. Our rain season starts in November.  September / October are our hottest months it can get up to 38/40 degrees and our cooler months up to 3 degrees.

Is there one thing in the area visitors shouldn’t miss? What activities are on offer through Kafue River Lodge?
We offer game drives, boat cruises, walking safaris, and riding (bicycle) safaris. We also offer mobile trips to the Busanga, which we are famous for.

Based on your experience, what items would you recommend visitors should pack? What items can’t you leave home without when heading on safari?
Malaria tablets, sun cream, sunglasses, hats, binoculars, and warm clothes if guests are travelling in winter.

The sun is setting. Tea, G&T, or beer?
G&T for me.

What is the first place that comes to mind where you would love to drink it at Nanzhila/in the Kafue?
Anywhere with a panoramic view of the horizon and the setting sun - and good company - is fine by me.

Your walking shoes must have stories to tell of your adventures in the Kafue over the years. If they could tell us one funny/quirky/memorable tale, what would it be?
Most of my memorable adventures occurred in the early days of the development of the lodge. These include driving into a sinkhole one night on the cordon road and having to sleep on the road in the open that night, to discover in the morning that two lions has come within two metres of us before continuing on their way. On another occasion, vehicle problems required that my son Sean (12 at the time) and I had to walk 36kms back to camp. It took us 11 hours, arriving at midnight, and I can still feel the pain! Last year in June, we came across and rescued some campers that had been stuck in the plains (about 12kms from camp) for six nights. They’d heard lions calling on their first night and were not going anywhere.

What wildlife is the Kafue known for? Is there anything in particular people travel to see? What do you recommend guests to the area should be on the lookout for? 
The Kafue is renowned for its extraordinary diversity and is home to 160 species of mammals, including 21 species of antelope - more than any other park in Africa - and 500+ bird species, making it a priority destination for enthusiastic birders. Nanzhila is blessed with all the major carnivores, with regular sightings of lion, leopard, cheetah, and wild dog. It is also ideal habitat for serval (we see these almost daily) and honey badger (regular nocturnal visitors to the camp) and, on the antelope front, our populations of sable and roan are healthy and regularly encountered, along with eland, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, kudu, wildebeest, Defassa waterbuck, reedbuck, bushbuck, common duiker, impala, oribi, grysbok, and steenbok. The undoubted birding highlight is the black-cheeked lovebird, an endemic to the area and all but guaranteed sighting.

What time of year is best for game-viewing? When is the rainy season? When is it unbearably hot? What is the average summer high and winter low temperatures?
The Nanzhila area is blessed with good year-round water so there is little noticeable difference in sightings between May and November. Between December and April, wildlife moves to higher ground to avoid surface water in the plain and drainage lines, making viewing more of a challenge. Our rainy season falls over this period and the camp is closed. October and November are the hottest months, but the heat is never unbearable. Temperatures rarely exceed 35C. The coldest months are June and July when temperatures do, on occasion, go below 5C in the evenings and early mornings.

Is there one thing in the area visitors shouldn’t miss (e.g. day walk in the bush with a guide, night drive, activity, watching the sun rise from a particular vantage point, etc.)? What activities are on offer through Nanzhila?
Nanzhila offers bush walks in the vicinity of the camp and game drives in the early mornings and late afternoons when wildlife is most active. The late afternoon drive includes a sundowner break and we return to camp after dark with spotlight in hand. During this upcoming season, we shall be completing a hide on a particularly productive pool in the area in memory of Peter Moss, who sadly passed away last year, and from which we will be offering some exciting new activities.

What sort of people would most enjoy the area?
We’ve welcomed all from the safari novice through to the safari connoisseur, from the young to the young at heart.

Based on your experience, what items would you recommend visitors to the area should pack? What items can’t you leave home without when heading on safari?
Comfortable trousers/slacks and at least one long-sleeved shirt and wide-brimmed hat, in neutral colours, and some good walking shoes. A good camera, a charger and memory cards, and binoculars.