A new year and some new creatures are running around our little slice of Luangwa paradise. We’d like to introduce them to you as well as touch on camp updates and Zambia news.
This year we experienced inconsistent rains across the country which resulted in a much drier start than usual. The southern part of the country has been the hardest hit and although some areas will and have undergone some strain, the Luangwa safari experience is just likely to improve – if May is anything to go by, then we expect it to be a wildlife rich year.
Although outlying water is drying up earlier than usual it will result in animals flocking to the river sooner and this water source continues to flow steadily.
A dry March and April led to poor crop yield which of course wasn’t good for our communities. This stress has been alleviated to a large extent by the start of the tourism season when most of Luangwa’s human residents return to camps for work. Another positive aspect is that the drier roads made camp building much easier than usual so our construction and road grading teams were happy this year.
Tafika Camp opened on the 1st of May and we enjoyed the active buzz of the Yellow-Billed Stork colony as well as several migrant species reluctant to leave the Luangwa, like these Collared Pratincoles (previously Red-winged Pratincole).
Refurbs at Tafika includes increasing the solar capacity to soon accommodate electric fans and charging bases in the chalets. New chairs have also been added in the sitenje and chalets ensuring ample comforts when relaxing in camp.
Chikoko and Big Lagoon opened at the beginning of June. Soft refurbs at Chikoko include new linen throughout the camp and new mattresses and couches at Big Lagoon. New comfortable bean bags are a welcome addition to both Chikoko and Big Lagoon decks. Chikoko now also has a new and improved solar system.
The ‘baby boom’ in our local lion prides (the Nsefu and Salt pan prides) and our local leopards (Kamini and Chibala) have ensured an entertaining start to the season. The lion cubs are already accustomed to vehicles and have been putting on quite a show for our Tafika visitors. The two prides in the walking area (one of which is the Hollywood pride) at Big Lagoon and Chikoko also have cubs which have been seen out on walks and from the Big Lagoon deck.
Even though the two local leopardesses’ have been more secretive with their newly born bundles of spots, we’ve still had several special sightings of their cubs. Being an older female, Chibala is more relaxed and happy to bring out her cub after dark for a playful show in the spot light. We hope she is more successful raising this offspring after the loss of her male cub last year.
The famous Olimba is still going strong and made a dramatic entrance half way through May after being absent for weeks. She is as relaxed as ever when found but sometimes is absent for days at a time which makes us wonder if she also has a cub stashed away somewhere safe.
Mutima (meaning heart due to her heart-shaped mark) went on walkabout during the emerald season and ended up 100km south – a surprising feat but a reality captured on camera by our friend Michael Davy at Sungani Camp. Even more surprisingly, Mutima has ventured all the way back to her birthplace and was recently spotted munching on a stork at the Stork Colony!
The Miliyoti wild dog pack made a dramatic appearance at the start of season hunting puku by the Kawere lagoon. During a hunt one unfortunate puku took his chances in the lagoon and had to fight off a small crocodile instead. Luckily for the puku, the crocodile came off second best and he escaped both dogs and croc.
Winter is starting to sneak up on us so jackets and blankets on the drives are a necessity. Mornings are crisp and evenings are chilly – even though for most of our guests the temperature is very mild and the sunny days are still warm.
We were excited to include a guides’ training week at the start of our season and it was great to have Alice and Andrew from The Odysseia Collection to lead this. With many years of guiding, travel and hospitality under their belts, their holistic approach to guiding, attention to storytelling and relationships was exactly what we needed to enhance our already experienced and longstanding guiding team.
The Tafika Fund
Our students are working hard to pass their upcoming mid-year exams. Sony Sakala, one of our accounting students, recently took part in a specialist computer course in addition to his accounting diploma at NIPA college in Lusaka.
Our 14 school pupils started term 2 at the beginning of May. The new pupils visited Tafika for the first time to collect their scholarship packs. It was good to meet the new children and welcome them to the Tafika Fund. We have started preparations for our Football for Wildlife league which will begin next month. It’s always an exciting and iconic event in the Mwanya and Chifunda chiefdoms so we look forward to it.
