The Luangwa Valley’s emerald season is a time of renewal and replenishment for the ecosystem and its many inhabitants. As our camps are so remote, we are not open during this time but we always make the big trek back to ensure the onsite teams are doing well and to enjoy the splendour of the Luangwa in flood.
The emerald season is also a time for the team to do a bit of travelling outside of Zambia. This off-season Nick and Jen dived straight into the warm seas of Mozambique and were lucky enough to swim with seven whale sharks off the Tofu coast. The whole Coppinger family also visited the far flung Sangha Lodge of Dzanga-Sangha National Park in CAR to celebrate John’s 70th.
The equatorial forests of Sangha were amazing and such a contrast to the riverine trees of the Luangwa. Forest elephants, bongo, gorilla, a host of rare birds, the famous bais of the Congo basin and giant trees stretching 60m overhead mark CAR as a unique, remote and extraordinary destination.
Remote Africa guide, Billy Nkhoma, travelled to Japan to visit his friends who work in academia and presented at the Musashino University on Zambia’s beautiful wildlife and wild spaces. While there, he popped into the Zambian embassy in Tokyo to greet his fellow Zambians and squeezed in some site seeing to see the iconic Tokyo Tower.
Skills development is so important in our industry and it’s well underway for the upcoming season with different groups training in boating, driving and guiding. The transfer guides training is currently taking place in Lower Zambezi and the group has already seen an African Pitta, a rare and exciting sighting so spirits are high.
Back in Zambia, Nick returned to the Luangwa with a specific mission to investigate how viable a Starlink internet system would be at Tafika. Much to everyone’s amazement, it proved a very quick success! Elon Musk’s mission to bring his internet to the world has indeed been achieved in Zambia.
Exploring the channels was a bit tougher this year as the river water levels were pretty low. Inconsistent and meagre rains across much of Zambia have sadly led to some harvesting problems in the country, including Mkasanga village. Maize meal, Zambia’s staple starch, is already extremely expensive so it’s going to be a tough year for many.
The Tafika, Chikoko Tree and Big Lagoon sites are all looking pristine and haven’t suffered any substantial bank loss which can sometimes occur during this time of year. Takwela experienced early flooding due to big rains in the northern catchment areas of North-Eastern Zambia but the onsite team has confirmed all was intact after the water subsided.
Only the camp shells remain as nature takes hold over this time. In a few weeks, grass collection will begin and camp building will get underway at Tafika, exciting first steps to starting the 2024 safari season.
Despite the low water levels, the Yellow-Billed Stork colony was still accessible. Although a few large trees collapsed, the colony was still thriving and promises to be a great spectacle in May and June. We’re thrilled that so many people are joining us for our Stork Special early season and will get to see the colony in action.
Even when the bush is thick and provides easy cover for wildlife it’s evident that the Luangwa is incredibly rich in diversity. The wilderness is teaming with birdlife, reptiles and mammals and we can’t wait to share it all with you this upcoming season. We also look forward to getting back into the bush and catching up with the Milioti wild dog pack, our resident leopards and local lion pride to see what changes have occurred over the last few months.
The Tafika Fund
We’ve taken on 5 new school pupils for 2024. We normally accept 4 but we couldn’t resist accepting an additional girl who received very promising results despite not ranking in the top 4. This takes our pupil numbers to a total of 14 with 4 girls and 10 boys. All of these children come from remote areas of Mwanya Chiefdom and have achieved great results despite difficult circumstances. We wish them well as they settle into boarding school for their grade 10 year.
Our student numbers have increased to 11 people which include 4 new students. A few of our older students are writing their final medical exams to qualify this year, like Yotam Nguni, who is finishing off his 3-year clinical officer diploma at the Sanridge Institute of Health and Social Sciences.
3 of our new students are enrolled in degree courses for mathematics and natural science, business administration and software engineering science at great establishments like the Copperbelt University, St Eugene University and ZCAS University. We wish them the very best with these ambitious courses as they embark on their new and exciting educational journey.
Thank you for all your support in making these initiatives possible.
