Safari
Nzuri's Africa Voyages
Zambia
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After reviewing our Zambia page, below,
please feel free to drop us an email at: mail@safarinzuri.com If
you would let us know your party's size; your goals and expectations for your
safari; and when you'd like to visit Zambia, we would be glad
to provide you with particular guide or camp materials that should best meet
your requirements.
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South Luangwa National Park in Zambia offers some of the
best uncontrived leopard photography opportunities in Africa. The BBC chose South Luangwa as the locale for two years' intensive
leopard photography.
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A lightly-populated,
woodland wilderness, this is Old Africa. A nation of unspoiled rivers, there
are more hippo and crocodile in Zambia than anywhere in the world, and its
leopard and lion opportunities are unparalleled. Its tourist industry is young,
and the crowds have yet to arrive. Zambia is developing a fine network of
safari opportunities through the creative efforts of Tongabezi,
Sausage Tree and Robin Pope Safaris. Through these three world-class operations,
you can build a custom safari that combines:
- Zambezi canoeing with some of the
region's most experienced canoe guides;
an elegant stay at Victoria Falls;
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At the
right: Safari Nzuri strives for grace, even in the
wild. We find it at places like Tongabezi, our
favorite Victoria
Falls
hermitage on the Zambezi River.
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- an expedition to the lion-rich Busanga
Plains in north Kafue National Park;
- a remote luxury tented safari in Lower Zambezi National Park; and, of course,
- the extraordinary predator and
prey in South Luangwa National Park.
For the latest State
Department information on Zambia, click
here.
Safari
Season
The season here is from
May-October. The Zambian summer (November-March) is hot and rainy, and many
camps close during that period.
Drawbacks
The country's
infrastructure is poor, and air service is historically spotty; however,
reliable air service along the Vic Falls/South Luangwa/Lower
Zambezi safari route now exists. During the dry season, which is also the
tourist season, Zambians burn the country's grasslands, which is an annoyance.
Walking
Safaris:
Robin Pope's Classic Walking Safaris
SGC's Robin Pope
leads the most acclaimed walking safaris in Africa, and these varying expeditions are
customarily filled 6-12 months in advance. The walking safaris that Robin Pope
Safaris leads are as follows (all Robin Pope walking safaris have a maximum of six guests):
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Left: Walking in the rich Nsefu
Sector of South Luangwa National Park is not exactly your typical African jungle
bushwhacking
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- Robin Pope Walking
Safaris (Note: in 2010, Robin Pope will be adding a
$10/person/night surcharge to fund the local South Luangwa
conservancy—a non-profit cooperative effort with the local residents
to deter poaching, improve education and build the local economy.)
2010
Guaranteed Set Departure Schedule and Availability: For current availability, Click Here
These 10-night walking
safaris have come to be known as the wilderness experience of South Luangwa. After 2 nights at Nkwali Camp (see below), the party walks for 5 days (4 days
when Robin Pope is leading the safari) covering approximately 10 km. per day,
following the Mupadmadzi River in the remote northern
frontier of South Luangwa, a full-day's drive away
from the tourist route. This clear river is a major tributary of the Luangwa. The area is remote and wild, the
terrain and habitats varied and the game shy and unused to man. From ants to
buffalo, a bird's nest to tracking lion, you will learn the many faces of the
African bush. The fully serviced mobile camp is extremely comfortable and
well-equipped with walk-in tents and full bedding. A final 3 nights at Tena Tena or Nsefu
Camp (see below) completes the safari. The 2010 price is $6450/person, and
there is no single supplement. For a detailed itinerary of this
expedition, Click Here.
Fly-Camping
Between Tena Tena and Nsefu
Most walking safaris
traverse areas with (in most cases) moderate game populations, at best. The high-density game areas are
generally reserved for game drives.
The Popes, however, give their guests an opportunity to fly camp in the
wilderness between Tena Tena
and Nsefu Camps (both described below)—a venue
that is perhaps the most game-rich in the entire park. Guests walk between these two camps, fly
camping at night. The 2010 rates
are $550/night/person. There is a
minimum of 2 people, and a maximum of four. As part of a South Luangwa safari, do not miss this
extraordinary on-the-ground experience.
A
Sample of Small Permanent Camps:
South Luangwa National
Park
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To the
right: sunsets at Buca Buca
lagoon near Tena Tena Camp
always produce pleasant surprises
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Tena Tena
Camp
Pope's Tena Tena camp is
one of Africa's very finest--it is honored in the
prestigious "Classic Safari Camps" guide. "Tena
Tena ... is altogether beyond superlatives, and must
be one of the best safari camps in the whole of Africa," according
to the London Times. This remote camp within the National Park enjoys a
stunning location on a sweeping bend of the Luangwa River. A grove of mahogany trees shade
seven large custom-made tents. From the thatched dining room and bar guests can
watch the elephants, hippo and antelope on the river banks. Near by there is a
spectacular lagoon, Buca Buca,
where a whole morning can be spent quietly sitting while the game comes down to
feed and drink. Being remote, Tena Tena has these scenes to itself. Hyena and lion are
abundant quite near the camp, and leopard are
regularly spotted. Walking and open vehicle game viewing is done from the camp,
and the array of antelope, buffalo, zebra and other big game is endless. The
rates are $650/person/night double occupancy, with no single supplement.
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To the
left: the Thornicroft's giraffe is found in South Luangwa National Park near Nkwali Camp, and nowhere else.
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Nkwali Camp
Tena's sister camp, Nkwali, is situated in similarly rich scenery,
and offers perhaps the best uncontrived leopard viewing opportunities in Africa. Nkwali's
rates are $550/person/night in the peak season, with no single supplement. Nkwali is located on Robin's private land, overlooking the
National Park. The land is superb gameviewing
country, with a beautiful area of ebony woodland and open grass plains. Its
lush forests are home to the full range of customary African characters, along
with some rare ones--like the Thornicroft's giraffe.
Elephants often cross the Luangwa, seen from the bar, or come to the
waterhole near the thatched dining room. The chalets are cool and spacious,
overlooking the river. Access to the park is through the main entrance over the
bridge, by boat or by nearby pontoon.
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The
Nsefu Sector of South
Luangwa Nat'l. Park includes
stretches of the Luangwa River that contain the
thickest concentrations of hippo and crocodile in the world. Nobody floats the Luangwa River!
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Nsefu Camp
Nsefu was the first game camp in Zambia and dates back to the early
fifties.
The Nsefu
Sector of South Luangwa National Park is a remote salient that has always
been recognized an especially scenic and abundant area. At the end of the
1970's Nsefu Camp was abandoned. Robin Pope reopened
the camp in 1982 and this is where he made his reputation. He managed Nsefu for 5 years, during which time he used the Tena Tena site as a fly camp. In
1986 he left Nsefu and moved to Tena
Tena full time. Pope is now reopening the camp, in
keeping with the original style, and so will be running the only 2 camps in the
Nsefu Sector of the park.
The view of the river from
this 12-guest camp is superb and includes a terraced area where game grazes
during the day. The bar, tucked in beside a huge extinct termite mound,
overlooks a waterhole that is very productive for game, especially leopard at
night. The original rondavels have been extended,
with a spacious bathroom added. Each room has a clear view of the river,
through large gauzed windows and from the new wooden veranda. The camp lies in
the heart of the undeveloped Nsefu sector and so
offers charm and total comfort in remoteness and seclusion. Both
night drives and walking safaris, as well as day game drives, are
conducted out of Nsefu. Rates here are
$650/person/night, with no single supplement.
Stay
a Week and Save
Book 7 consecutive nights
at Robin Pope camps (not including walking safaris), and your rate is reduced
by 10%. Or, you can have 7 or more
nights at Pope camps in South Luangwa for only $495/person/night
(minimum 2 persons, double accommodations), if you let the Popes pick your
camps (they promise at least two, and will notify you of the camp order at
least two weeks out). Or, come
during the comfortable “shoulder season” of June and October and
save $70-$100/person/night on your room cost.
Sausage Tree and Lower Zambezi National
Park
Sausage
Tree Camp
Along the Zambezi, Sausage Tree Camp is
situated in one of the few true wilderness areas in Africa-Lower Zambezi National Park--nestled amongst mature mahogany
trees and a large shady sausage tree on the banks of the Zambezi River, opposite Mana Pools National Park. The camp offers both rich scenery
and varied wildlife. Huge herds of buffalo, elephant, hippo
and plains game occur here, along with lion, leopard and cheetah. Canoeing,
walks, boat game viewing and both day and night game drives are arranged out of
Sausage Tree. The camp is run with Mayfair propriety by its luxury-conscious owners). The camp is
comprised of large, cool, oval-shaped marquee-style tents, each privately
located with expansive river views. A typical Sausage Tree day: depart for an
early morning walk, return for a bush breakfast followed by an exploratory few
hours of canoeing through the channels of the Zambezi River. Have a picnic lunch before
returning to camp for a relaxing afternoon followed by an evening game drive. 2010
high-season rates are $895/person/night, double accommodations. Stay at Sausage Tree for 4 nights for
the price of 3, or 6 nights for the price of four. Note that neither Sausage Tree nor Old Mondoro (below) will be charging a single supplement in
2010.
Old
Mondoro Camp
Here is simple, wilderness
luxury in complete isolation. This
small camp is a quiet satellite of Sausage Tree, and a must for anyone wanting
a couple of nights in exquisite African silence, alone with the same range of
game as is present at Sausage Tree itself.
2010 high-season rates are $575/person/night.
Victoria Falls
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To the
right: remote Sindabezi Camp, on its own island in
the middle of the Zambezi where elephant cross the Zambezi River each night
between parks, is one of our favorite hiding places in all of Africa
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Tongabezi and Sindabezi Island
At Victoria Falls, 16-bed Tongabezi
is a luxuriant hermitage on the Zambian side of the falls, with superb day
canoeing along this abundant stretch of the river. While the tourists are all
bunched up on the Zimbabwaen side of the falls, you'll
have this natural wonder to yourselves, in a roomy and gracious riverside
tented cottage, with your shaded lawn sloping down to the Zambezi. The staff, of course, arranges all
the customary Victoria Fall's activities--from whitewater rafting to tiger fish
fishing to bunjee jumping, and the lodge keeps an
ornithologist on staff. It is, however, the elegant isolation in such an
otherwise busy tourist area that makes Tongabezi so
special. As the London Independent put it, "Tongabezi is what Tarzan might have achieved had he had the
cash flow." As David Bristow, editor of Getaway Magazine concluded,
Tongabezi is "the finest accommodation I have
had the pleasure of enjoying in Africa."
Tongabezi also offers a remote, Crusoesque camp on a palm-fringed island called Sindabezi. The island sits on an utterly isolated
stretch of the Zambezi just above Victoria Falls. It is sandwiched between national
parks on both sides, and resultantly enjoys probably the best wildlife in the Vic Falls area. No more than 8 guests share 4
luxury riverside cottages. The island has its own staff to cater to those
guests' whims. Have them pull your bed out on your own private veranda. That
way, when the elephant cross the river directly under your bed at 4 a.m., as they most assuredly will,
you'll be awakened sharp and proper. Because of its striking remoteness,
idyllic canoeing and rich wildlife, Sindabezi is one
of this agency's favorite places on this wonderful continent.
Tongabezi’s 2010 high-season rates for Tongabezi are $540/person/night for their charming
river-front cottages (with a 40% single supplement), and $650/person/night for
their Swiss Family Robinson-like luxury houses, double accommodation. Sindabezi’s
high season rates are $465/person/night, with no single supplement.
THE
ZAMBIAN PACKAGES
For 2010,
Robin Pope is offering two 3-park Zambian packages:
- The Gem of Zambia, which
splits 14 nights between a Robin Pope Safaris Camp in South Luangwa, either Chiawa or Chongwe Camp in Lower Zambezi National Park, and Busanga Bush Camp in Kafue
National Park. The Busanga Plains is home to absolutely extraordinary
lion populations, as well as the plains game on which they feed. It lies in Kafue National Park, which is Zambia’s largest. The 2010 price is
$10,676/person, which includes
internal Zambia flights, with a minimum of two
persons traveling; and
- Zambia’s
Classic Safari,
a 14-night safari with 7 nights spent at a Robin Pope camp in South Luangwa, 4 nights at Chongwe
River Camp on the Lower
Zambezi
and 3 nights at Tongabezi. The 2010 price is $9370 per person
sharing, which includes internal Zambia flights.
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Lion carpet the
landscape on Kafue National Park’s Busanga Plain, where vast herds of puku
and other prey keep them fat and plentiful.
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