barnetda

Just back from the Lower Zambezi.

Weather was excellent and the game viewing spectacular.

We saw Leopard on every single game drive. Some really nice Lion sightings. 2 females with 3 cubs.
Hyenas, many Elephants of all sizes. Incredible trip.

I will put some photos on my site tomorrow and post the link here.

matnikstym

Welcome back! Glad you had a great time. Where did you stay? looking forward to your pics.

barnetda

I will definately have the photos on the site tom orrow. Just need to compress them a little.

I am an owner of Kasaka River Lodge in the Lower Zambezi and therefore of course stayed there.
I took my daughter on a father / daughter trip and had an amazing time.

The wildlife was just awesome.

Roccco

Hi Dave,

Perhaps you could also put the pictures of the "Hippo Hide" rooms on your site?

For the benefit of the readers, the Hippo Hide, is a wonderfully appointed 2 bedroom suite that is new to Kasaka River Lodge this season. There are two of these suites and they make excellent sense for families with children who want a certain amount of privacy but do not want their children to be on their own.

Dave, any other information you may post on Kasaka River Lodge will be greatly appreciated. Your guide(s)? The activities you engaged in during your stay? The types of meals you enjoyed at Kasaka?

Thanks.

matnikstym

and how you were so lucky to own part of a lodge, what a dream come true! how often do you get to go?

barnetda

I have put a few photos on my smugmug site at
http://djbarnett.smugmug.com/Travel"...mug.com/Travel

If you click on Zambia 2006 you will see my photos or if you would like to see 4 photos of the new Hippo Pod at Kasaka click on Kasaka.

Rocco thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.

Some information on my trip.My daughter and I took the o/n flight from London arriving at Kasaka in the Lower Zambezi just after 9 am. Breakfast and a laze around the pool before heading out on an afternoon game drive.
It was my daughters first visit to Africa so I was desperately hoping we would see some good wildlife.

We certainly werent disappointed. We saw may elephants and Hippos, crocs and Zebras and then stumbled on 2 Lionesses and 3 cubs feasting on a dead buffalo. We stayed with them for 30 or 40 mins before sundowners.
On our way back to camp we picked up a Leopard stalking 2 Impala. He then turned away from then and climbed the trip above us and went to sleep! We sat underneath him for 30 mins. An incredible start to our trip.

Weds was more of the same. We found a smaller female Leopard in broad daylight and watched him move around the Park.

Thursday we spent at Muguramano Basic School where I am a trustee. Another incredible experience.

Friday was the highlight of our Safari. We awoke to the sounds of Elephant outside the Hippo Pod. We stood on the deck and watched the magnificent animals
eat happily maybe 25 feet away from us.
We spent the morning at the pool and had a fantastic evening drive. We saw the Lionesses and cubs again this time feasting on a dead Hippo before they literally fell asleep at the side of our vehicle. We spent more than an hour with them before heading home. We were just about to leave the park when our guides spotted another Leopard. This time we followed her and she spent a lot of time checking out a large bush. Inside the bush was a Hyena and cubs. The Leopard weighed up the opportunity but then decided to move off in search of easier pickings.

We left early the following morning for London.

I have been to Zambia many times but without doubt this was the best.

As for Kasaka: Our guides throughout our stay were Bert and Weston. Bert is in his 2 nd year with us and is a South African expert guide.
Weston is a local guide who joined us this season. He has incredible eyes and seems to have knowledge of where the animals are minutes before we see them!!

We went by boat to the school and also enjoyed a boat trip into the Park one evening. Our driver Lewis was tempting me to fish for Tiger but my daughter was impatient to get to the Park. The wildlife on the banks of the Zambezi was excellent. We saw many Hippos, Elephants and of course huge Crocs.

Food as usual was superb. Esther was at her best and the kitchen staff surpassed themselves. We had a bar b q evening in the Bush which was a wonderful experience.

As for the Lodge, as Rocco mentioned the Hippo Pod is brand new and has just been completed. We anticipate a further Pod being built in the close season. These Pods are totally private and have a private Vehicle for the guests. They sleep a total of 6 people. A huge wraparound deck gives wonderful views of the Zambezi River.

Maknikstym: I am very lucky to be an owner of the lodge. We purchased it 21/2 years ago and have steadily worked on improving it. I am fortunate enough to go 3 times a year as I am retired.

I am a trustee of a charity that essentially runs a local school in the area. We have 500 children there and have provided basics to the children although the teachers and the local people tell us the basics are luxuries! We have provided them with toilets, clothes, shoes, swings, football posts etc. I believe that a Safari experience is enriched by a visit to a local school.

Please feel free to post any questions. Rocco is an expert and can probably answer most things and I will do my best to answer questions and try to be as unbiased as possible. There are wonderful camps and people in the Lower Zambezi and I strongly recommend you all visit if you get the chance.

David

cary999

barnetda-
I've visited the Kawaza school. Is it by chance the one you mentioned? It was a real treat to visit the Kawaza village and the school. The kids there, of all ages, are so friendly and enthusiastic. We had a great time that morning.
regards - tom

barnetda

Hi Tom

I am a trustee of Mugurameno Basic School.

The charity web site is

www.asiz.org


It is i am sure similar to Kawaza school. As you say an incredible experience.

David

barnetda

Just spoken to the guides at kasaka. They tell me since we left on Saturday they have not seen any Leopards. Apparantly its to do with the full moon. The leopards will not hunt during a full moon. Worth checking out when going on drives i think.

cruisinred

barnetda-

Just a suggestion, but perhaps you could contribute some photos of Kasaka's accomodation to Jasher's "safari lodges photo album".
I, and I'm sure others you are considering a stay at Kasaka would appreciate seeing some more pics of the tents, as there are only a few photos on the website.
Thanks

cruisinred

Here is a link to the thread about the online photo album:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34844807

barnetda

cruiseinred:

I will get the latest photos from Kasaka and send them to the site. Its a great idea.