les112

I am a photographer and thinking of staying in Kaingo for 8 days with a private vehicle. Is the vehicle able to drive off road?
Also do you encounter other vehicles in the same area requiring your vehicle to move on after a given time, as occurs in the private game parks in the Kruger region of south Africa.

cary999

Being forced to move on and share may not so bad some times. Unlike Kruger South Africa as you mention, without such discipline it can get rather hectic around a sighting. Here is one not in Kruger area but in Serengeti. (There are other examples in that TZ 2011 series).
http://tinyurl.com/kxzjakh

regards - tom

Safari_Craig

I have been to Kaingo (last September) and sent many clients there with 100% satisfaction. It is a top notch place. I suggest Aug 15-Sep 15 as ideal dates.

Derek Shenton, the owner, and his crew personally make the road network early in the season each year. The park does not really monitor them nor does the park (ZAWA) really help or care were they make the roads it seems. Once established, they do not usually deviate off the roads much but they could for a prime sighting like a leopard. The network of roads is well thought-out and it is not necessary to really go off road.

Technically all of South Luangwa is open to the public but Kainga and Lion Camp are so fare from the gate it would be very difficult for a self drive guest to get from the gate to their area and be out by sunset. Therefore, you rarely see other vehicles except for maybe 1 or 2 from Lion Camp. They all work together very well.

I think Kaingo is "all about photography" so you will be fine there.

Personally, this is one of my favorite spots in Africa. Not many Americans accept my advice to go on a first time safari to Zambia but I try hard to get everyone to go. I just had a group of 18 people check out of Lion Camp last night. They LOVED it. We have had people going through Lion Camp and Kainga all season with 100% satisfaction.

Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond
2011 & 2012 Travel & Leisure A-List agent for Botswana and Zimbabwe

Lion Camp and Kaingo are so close we have had clients choose to stay at both and walk between the two on the day they check-out of Kaingo and into Lion Camp.

les112

thanks for that advice. By private vehicle I mean sole use of a Kaingo safari vehicle and guide.

canadian_robin

If you stay at Kaingo, you MUST spend a night in their elephant hide - it provided one of our most memorable nights in Africa. Scroll down towards the bottom of page 1 for a photo. Book ahead - it is popular! CR

http://bert-and-bin.smugmug.com/Trav...0148040_sCzBLk

canadian_robin

Sorry - I should have answered your questions...

There were other guests at Kaingo when we were there, but we always seemed to have the vehicle/guide to ourselves. I am not certain if a private vehicle is guaranteed, but it was certainly our experience. There was a photographer in the camp when we were there, and he also had his own vehicle with an elaborate set-up in the back. His guide seemed to be bending over backwards to accommodate him.

As for going off road - the network of roads in the area of Kaingo is extensive, so we seldom needed to go off road. However, we did pull off the road for a better view at several lion sightings.

There were not many vehicles in the area and, when we encountered another vehicle, our guide was very good at placing our vehicle so that we would not have the other vehicle in our photos - there seemed to be an unwritten agreement amongst the various guides (from Kaingo and other camps) that they would work together in this situation. I think the most vehicles we saw at a kill (the buffalo/lion kill at the river) was maybe four or five, and most were coming or going. There was no limit to how long we could sit at a kill - we stayed at the buffalo/lion kill for several hours.
CR

travellinghappy

We stayed 3 days at Kaingo and 4 days at Mwamba, the sister camp, in September, 2011. They are both excellent camps that cater to photographers. We liked it so much that we will be returning to Mwamba this year.

There are many roads in the area but very few vehicles. The most we had was 3 vehicles at a lion kill. Usually we were the only vehicle at a sighting. They will go off road if there is something interesting.

I think you will be very satisfied with your stay at Kaingo.