May is always an exciting time of year as the Luangwa Valley’s safari season kicks off in earnest. Zambia experienced inconsistent rains again leaving some areas and rivers much lower than usual. Tafika Camp opened on the 1st of May after a frenzy of activity and we have already moved our focus to our Walking Trails Camps, Big Lagoon and Chikoko Tree, which open now at the end of the month.
It has been all hands on deck for camp building and as with previous years, we’ve consciously aimed to employ a big female work force. Much of the work is done manually, harnessing the power of the local community and old-school power-free practices.
The Tafika Camp hide has been rebuilt with a better view down the middle of the lagoon behind camp so we look forward to even better viewing and photographic opportunities from the hide this season.
Before the opening date the guides came together for guides and first aid training. The guides training was led by the experienced Andrew Danckwerts, originally from Zambia, and now founder and director of Odysseia. The training focussed on customer service and social interactions, photography and walking safety protocols which was great for our guiding team.
The rains in the Luangwa river catchment areas were very limited this emerald season so the river is much lower than usual. Outlying water is already drying so despite the strain this puts on the animals, we expect exceptional game viewing focused around the river much earlier than usual. This all suggests a promising year for carnivore sightings.
Lion crossings have been quite regular already and on one occasion the Nsefu pride were seen crossing at the peninsula by Tafika. Two cubs weren’t able to scale the bank on the opposite shore and one was seen pursued and finally taken by crocs. It was a sad sighting but one that reminds us of the constant dangers of bush life for all animals in the food chain.
With the Luangwa river being so low we had much less flooding than usual and as a result the Yellow-Billed Storks didn’t nest in their normal colony. It’s only the second time this anomaly has occurred since John Coppinger’s first safari season in 1984.
Our resident leopards at Tafika Camp, Kamini and Chibala, have both been seen as well as their cubs. Despite several months without our presence, Chibala was very relaxed one evening and posed in the open to welcome us back. Despite the activity of camp building, a relaxed lioness was spotted walking past the Tafika waterhole while our team was thatching the last few chalets. We’re happy to see our presence fitting in easily with the local wildlife.
The Nsefu sector’s famous leopardess, Olimba, is still front and centre in our game viewing area and has introduced a new cub into the fray. We’re still not certain of the gender but hope to see more of this little beauty going forward.
Lookout for the latest RAS publications
‘Mwaleshi: The Shifting River of Life’
“Having led walking safaris out of Mwaleshi Camp for the past eleven years, I have been one of the privileged few to have wandered North Luangwa’s sun-bleached animal paths…“
>> May edition of The Travel and Leisure magazine, by Brent Harris (Mwaleshi guide and Primal Pathways owner)
The Tafika Fund
The 2025 Tafika Fund programme now includes 28 scholarships; 13 school pupils and 15 diploma or university students. Two university students, Chepesani and Stephen, recently received computers having successfully completed their first semester and the prestigious CPU (The Copperbelt University in Northern Zambia). They did a weekend of computer training in Lusaka before receiving the computers to ensure promising results.
Mkasanga School have gratefully received their stationary packs every term as per usual and the pupils took part in a give back project where they planted trees around the school and their local area. This initiative was driven by Nick and Jimmy but we’re happy to see the school children taking ownership of the project.
