Travel video – Remote Africa Safaris, Tafika Camp, Zambia from Tafika Camp on Vimeo.

Most of us find ourselves pursuing careers in the service industry through a passion for wildlife and the wilderness, whereas hoteliers generally have a far better idea of what they are letting themselves in for and train themselves accordingly. We, on the other hand, generally have no formal training in hotel management and have to learn the hard way (with many of us falling by the wayside).

Too read more: 

http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=21504_0_11_0_C

Dinner on the beach was planned for June 16^th to enjoy the splendour of the full moon and the longest lunar eclipse in more than a decade, with totality lasting 100 minutes. Our guests arrived a little late, delayed by a mating pair of leopards just outside Tafika.  Dinner commenced as the white, round moon began disappearing behind a shadow, darkening from the base of the moon upwards. The moon then changed to a deep orange.

 By about 22:20 the centre of the moon was quite dark, though the edges were still fairly distinct. It is normally impossible to view many stars around a fully illuminated moon, so it was a fascinating opportunity to observe the stars emerging out of the night sky as the moon darkened. Patrick Bentley was visiting us and captured the night sky in all its glory.

 Sitting quietly around a warm fire, contented after a delicious meal , we marveled at the world we are very lucky to call our own.

We had new guests arriving in time for lunch yesterday but there were no game viewing activities scheduled for the morning. Alex was kicking his heels and suggested hopefully to me that we fly in search of the Wild Dogs. It was a cloudy, dull day – we call it ‘guti weather’ which is not too uncommon at this time of year although fine clear, sunny and warm weather is the norm. I therefore didn’t respond too enthusiastically to Alex’s suggestion but he was insistent and so we rigged up the aerial and transceiver and off we went. I was immediately delighted that Alex had persuaded me to fly – some rays of sunshine were beginning to filter through and the atmosphere was beautifully clear.

I had noticed a few weeks ago that the Giant Eagle Owl nest that I have been observing over the past several years was not only abandoned but had completely disappeared. I decided to check on a Saddle Billed Stork nest nearby (they nest during the rainy season and all chicks are fledged by now) and hey presto there was the Owl (it HAS to be the same one!) sitting on the side of the nest. No eggs yet but it looks promising so I will keep a lookout over the next few weeks. Right next to the nest is a dambo in which we were surprised to observe a herd of 17 Waterbuck, including 5 young – for some unknown reason we have always struggled with Waterbuck in this area on the eastern side of the Luangwa so this is an encouraging development.

By now we had picked up a faint signal from the dogs to the south so we homed in on them – there they were racing through the bush, clearly hunting. In a flash they had an impala and ripped it apart in very short order. Within minutes they had devoured it and off they went again in search of their next meal. Small wonder they instil such fear in the hearts of all antelope. On our return we found 71 elephants just behind camp next to their habitual crossing point. They were feeding lazily and showed no sign of commencing to cross the river just then so after a few circuits we landed, just in time for breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day!

There was an incredible sight in front of Chalets 4 & 5 here at Tafika yesterday morning! As many as 40 crocodiles were feasting on a dead baby hippo which had become lodged in debris in the Luangwa River.  It was first sighted up-river on Wednesday by John and his three passengers, Kristina, Kay and Kathy, when they each took an early morning micro-light flight.

Having drifted down in the strong current the baby hippo was being ripped apart by the hungry crocodiles as we watched.  Snapping both at the carcass and each other, the crocodiles gripped on as they did their infamous roll, throwing the chunks down their throats before trying to push their way back in.

That evening there was no sign of either a crocodile or a dead hippo where we had left them.

Some years ago we bought a property outside Lusaka – it was completely undeveloped with no municipal water and no electricity supply, but in a beautifully preserved forest area. Last year we began developing in earnest and after drilling a borehole commenced building works in Feb/March. It was difficult to control progress whilst we were based at Tafika although we did manage several trips to town throughout the 2010 season. We hoped to be close to completion by the end of season but, as with all building projects and more so due to our long absences, this was not to be and it required 3 months of extremely hard work after the season before we could finally move in on 1^st March 2011. We are now still completing works like burglar bars, balcony railings etc but it has been a great luxury and very satisfying to stay in the house for the past several weeks.

Takwera House in Lusaka

Carol has proved herself to be very talented with house design and the final pleasing result is due largely to her vision and hard work. She has never been one to stint and anyone who knows her will not be surprised to hear that the original plans for a small 2 bedroomed cottage were systematically altered and we now find ourselves in a true ‘Summer Palace’ which we have named ‘Takwera House’ . ‘Takwera’ (translated into descriptive American English) means ‘we have lift off’!

We would love to share our house with our guests and one of our ideas is to use it as a guest house during the season. This would be ideal for guests who have to overnight in Lusaka prior to catching the BA flight to London, as the house is just 15 minutes from the airport. Watch this space…

I had made a few aborted attempts to visit Tafika throughout the rains but flights always seemed to be full when I tried to go. However I finally got down last week for a fleeting visit and to make preparations for camp building. The Valley has been relatively dry this year and the river has not flooded as it has done in recent years. This is not particularly abnormal…we have recorded just under 700mm at Tafika so could well end up with close to the average annual rainfall of 800-900mms.

There was some concern that there would not be sufficient water in the river for me to boat up to Tafika (the roads are still impassable) but the water levels rose conveniently for my trip and in fact I went through a massive storm on my way upriver and got completely soaked. Over the past 16 years I have never managed to avoid being caught in at least one big storm on the river during the rains! I received a very warm welcome by the staff in camp who are convinced that I have a close association with the rain gods.

It was great to be home again and all was in excellent shape, thanks to my long standing camp right-hand-man John Chisoni and his able team. Isaac Zulu (Walking Safari Guide) had arrived the day before me and was already busy preparing the vegetable garden for the upcoming season – no doubt he will again produce an abundance of fresh delights for our guests this year. The camp cats were in fine fettle. We had been a little concerned about Blackie as she is getting very old but she was in excellent condition.

A Pack of 17 Wild Dogs at the Salt Pan

I couldn’t wait to get in the air again and spent well over an hour the following morning checking out the area. I was delighted to find the wild dogs soon after take off close to the salt pan. Two of the animals were collared last year by the Zambian Carnivores team and they have been satellite tracking the animals throughout the rains – readings have been taken consistently in a triangular area between the salt pan, Lukusuzi National Park and to the south of Milyoti Gate. However they have obviously been unable to keep track of the pack numbers and we were very pleased to find 17 very healthy dogs. All the indications are that we will have great Wild Dog sightings this year at Tafika!

I flew across Mutanda Plain and the elephants were already beginning to gather for their annual grass fest which normally takes place every April, when I regularly find at least 200 elephants. The Yellow billed stork colony was surprisingly active given that water levels had been low in early February. It is not as busy as last year but it will still provide an incredible spectacle between May and July for our early season guests.

It was particularly satisfying to fly over the Zebra Flats area which has been traditionally targeted by poachers during the rains. There were no signs of poaching at all and there was a large herd of fat, muddy buffaloes on the flats, enjoying the abundance of the rains. Thanks to the $10 per bednight Luangwa Community and Conservation Fund (LCCF) we have been able to help fund regular patrols into the area by North Luangwa Conservation Project scouts who are based in the corridor, between South and North Parks. This has made a significant and favourable impact to the area.

It should be dry enough to open the road into Tafika very soon and Carol & I expect to move back towards the end of next week. The 2011 season is shaping up very well and we very much look forward to welcoming guests back to paradise!

2. We were fortunate enough to have this amazing photograph published in two UK newspapers in January:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8271164/Pictures-of-the-day-20-January-2011.html?image=3

3.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348997/Sneaky-snapper-Tourist-captures-moment-crocodile-leapt-bite-buffalo.html

Click here to view the full newsletter

Visit their website now: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/africa/pot-yourself-an-ethical-safari-in-africa-2005202.html