amolkarnik

Sounds crazy, that I've been back 5 days and already looking forward to planning another Zambia trip.

Looking to go in July 08 for around 2 weeks. and planning a combination of SLP+NLNP or SLNP+Kafue or SLNP+LZ or Kafue+LZ.

Any thoughts on this?

At Lower Zambezi - Sausage Tree + Old Mondoro or Chiawa + Old Mondoro offer some appealing 7 night packages. Has anyone been to Chongwe? Its just outside the park and about 30% cheaper; whats the catch? Ana is a new lodge thats recently opened at the eastern end of the park. Any opinions on this one?

Any opinions on Kafue. It seems to have been completely taken over by Wilderness and all internal transfers are by chopper.

barnetda

I would suggest of those choices Sausage tree. I have also visited chongwe as i am a partner in one of the lodges in the lower zambezi.
July weather is superb as you probably know. Just for your info you might want to consider booking shortly as looking at our bookings for next year we have sold more for next year than we had for this year at the same time.

matnikstym

I've been to Chongwe and really enjoyed it. Beautiful location and views. Nice tents, elephants in camp most of the time, good food and activities. It is outside of the park, but getting to the gate is still a game drive and saw lions on the other side of the gate so it's no problem not being in the park.

nyama

Some camps inside Kafue:

Shumba Camp - WS's flagship and most luxury option. I would call it the 'Verseilles' of Busanga Plains - you can see it from kilometres away. Wheelchair compatible. For my taste too much bush hotel, too glitzy, and a terrible boma where you see nothing of nature. www.shumbacamp.com

Kapinga Camp - Shumba's sister camp. Same tent size and layout, less glitzy, but a wonderful site and well integrated into nature. My recommendation if you want luxury. www.kapingacamp.com

Lufupa Lodge - not marketed internationally by WS, but still available. Great river cruises and once the most spectacular leopard night drives of southern Africa. I would expect less exciting game drives today, but still good value for money - if you find an agent who books it.

The Plains Camp - located between Shumba and Kapinga. The 'Zib' of the Busanga Plains, a true classic safari camp, only 3 tents. If you want to be close to nature this is your dream camp. www.mukambi.com

Hippo Lodge - for those young at heart. Bathing in hot springs, fly camping on Lunga Island, walks and fishing. Most individual accommodation in the park. www.hippolodge.com

McBrides' Camp - great for birders. www.mcbridescamp.com

Mayukuyuku Camp - budget option with 3 tents and nearby campsite. Most scenic location by the Kafue River. www.kafuecamps.com

Nanzhila Plains Safari Camp - I haven't visited it so far and can't tell much. www.nanzhila.com

There are new developments in the north-eastern section of the park. I will post it here if information become available.

jweis

Just returned from 6 days in Kafue, 4 days in SL (Luangwa River Lodge) and 2 days LZ.

Kafue is amazing. I'd recommend to go later in the year (late July-October), for better game viewing. The flood recedes in a "typical" year beginning around end of June, but this year, with the exceptional rains, the water was still going out last week.

We did 2 days at Lunga and 4 days at Kapinga.

Lunga is strictly a river experience IMO - do not bother much with drives there yet - the game is still habituating. For birders, it is amazing on the river (African Finfoot, Ross's Turaco, Schalow's Turaco, Giant Kingfisher, Black-backed Barbet, Red-throated Twinspot, etc.)

A quick heli transfer and you're into the Busanga Plains (Kapinga, Lunga and Busanga Bush Camp or BBC). Lunga sits in a small island with the plains surrounding the camp and lots of puku and lechwe all around in the morning mist. Lovely camp and all on raised walkways.

Kapinga is where we stayed and it sits in a larger island, with huge mature trees, but the tents and main deck have lovely views also. The main area and tents are raised, but the walkways are on the ground.

BBC is on the ground completely and also has stunning views of the plains.

We spent time at all three camps (we were doing brochure work for Wilderness) and each camp is different and special depending on your taste.

All these camps share the same general drive areas. There are boats for the channels, but they are only used in the deeper hippo pools now as the water is receding. The boats use Go-Devil motors and can run in 8 inches of water. I would actually love to return in late April, when the area must be something like the everglades and a haven for storks and other water birds.

We did a couple helicopter flips and saw herds of buffalo, Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, Lechwe, Puku, Wildebeest, Roan and others. I was hoping to see the Kafue Lechwe, but they are apparently only found a bit further south down river.

For those who want big herds of Roan Antelope, we saw them every day in the Busanga.

The area is loaded with hippo and huge crocs.

I'm not sure it's really a place for a first-time safari guest (pricing is similar to Botswana), but it is truly a special place, with enormous potential. Its only downside is the seasonality (camps are closed for 6 months a year and everything is packed away into containers for storage).

James

jweis

Sorry - quick correction to the above post to avoid confusion (I typed Lunga where I meant Shumba)...

A quick heli transfer and you're into the Busanga Plains (Kapinga, SHUMBA and Busanga Bush Camp or BBC). SHUMBA sits in a small island with the plains surrounding the camp and lots of puku and lechwe all around in the morning mist. Lovely camp and all on raised walkways.

HariS

Hi james,

If all of the WS camps in Kafue share the same general game drive area, then, is it right for me to assume that by just staying at one of the camps: i would be able to access the entire Busanga plains area and catch the best game viewing opportunities of the busanga area?

amolkarnik

Thanks for the replies.

Has anyone been to / heard about www.anatreelodge.com?

Any thoughts on Hari's suggestions. It makes a lot of sense and rather than waste time and money hopping around in choppers, it might be worthwile stating put at one lodge for a number of nights and exploring the area.

nyama

Shumba, Kapinga, BBC and Plains Camp share the same game viewing area in Busanga Plains. Actually the camps are not far apart. Choose the camp that meets your accommodation requirements, the rest is the same. When I visited all these camps in mid August 2006, game drive area was still much limited because of remaining water and swamps. Thus if game drives are of priority I wouldn't go before mid August. IMO mid August to mid September is the best time to visit the area, June/July is good for water activities, October can become very dusty. (I've visited the area in August, September and October.)

I havn't been to Ana Tree so far. This camp already exists for some years and is now going more upmarket.

HariS

Nyama: Thanks for the camp info.

Any insight about Nanzhila area?


Thanks
Hari

GreenDrake

I just got inspired by your trip and others and just booked a "last minute" trip to the N. and S. Luangwa for the end of this Sept. I booked Remote's 8 day walking trip and altered it slightly by adding one extra day in the North Luangwa (5 days total).

This will be my 2nd trip to the North and I would highly recommend the North Luangwa. The area exceeded my expectations on my last trip.

amolkarnik

Wow. I am sure you'll have a great time.

I'd like to do NLNP+SLNP combined with another park next year. But thats too much flying. Getting to NLNP requires either a flight through SLNP or a charter from Lusaka and the charters are megabucks.

GreenDrake

Yes I agree. I went through that exercize and once you start combinig Kafue or even the Lower Zambezi with both the North and South Luangwa the intra country flight costs really start to sky rocket.

nyama

I never went to Kafue by plane. Hiring a driver and vehicle to Kafue is about US$350-380 per leg. Divide this rate by the number of people you're travelling with and you get your ticket rate. It's a 5-6 hour drive on a good tar road. If you arrive in Lusaka with the mid-day flight from Joburg, you're in Kafue on the same day. Note: this doesn't work if you only want to visit the Busanga Plains (too remote for a half-day drive), but it works for most other areas of the park. Usually I use these drives to take a nap and recover from the international flights (Kafue is always my first destination on a Zambia trip).

The only time I used a private air charter in Kafue was for a direct flight Kafue-Ndola-Kasanka.

nyama

Hari - re Nanzhila: read the Bradt Guide (I guess you have it). From all what I've heard Chris McIntyre's descriptions are quite correct.

nyama

PS: Chris has published an edited online version of the Zambia Bradt Guide at www.zambia-travel-guide.com.

http://www.zambia-travel-guide.com/b....asp?bradt=439 gives a good overview what to expect in Kafue.

nyama

Regarding 'eco-tourism': did you know that heli transfers produce by far most CO2 emissions per kilometre of all available safari transfer options?

HariS

I'll take a look at the Bradt guide, thanks...i only ask because my once-planned trip to Kafue included Nanzila, although the trip didn't materialize....

Hari

nyama

Hari, the above link gives a good overview by regions, including wildlife sightings, also in the Nanzhila area.

HariS

I just saw the Wilderness safaris updates of their Kafue camps in the "news" section...sounds like they had a very excieting month at Shumba!