Dear all!
What an exciting month of June we just had!
Sightings have been amazing with wild dogs taking center stage, leopard cubs and lion cubs not far behind! Elephants are visiting our properties almost every day and Ginger & Garlicjoined our guests at Kafunta for a few days too!
But this month the gold medal definitely goes to our Assistant Manager Wilson Malambo for his performance in the annual Fun Run and for his involvement and support of the local football league.
The CSL Annual 10km Conservation Fun Run and Sports Day is a yearly event in Mfuwe. Attracting approximately 3500 locals it is organised by Conservation South Luangwa to promote wildlife conservation amongst the Mfuwe community through sports and games. The day starts with a 10km run for all ages with different categories (up to 400 runners!) and carries on with football, netball and volleyball matches, and fun games such as bottle races, relays or tugs of war, providing great entertainment for all – participants and supporters.
Three of our staff members finished the run, with Wilson coming in at an incredible 14th place out of 400 runners!
Well done too to Courtney (Hospitality Manager – left on this photo) and Nashon(Kafunta waiter) for participating and representing Kafunta in this great event!
The month was also busy for our local football league. A couple of weeks ago the "Under-15’s" spent hours cleaning up the pitch in preparation for the annual league tournament. It is no small task, with no machine or fancy tools, but everyone participates and takes pride in the result. Sure it’s not exactly the green grass of a premier league stadium, but that’s as close as we get to turf management here in Mfuwe!
In the meantime, 5 of the younger players were recently spotted by an international football scout at the ongoing inter-district games, and they are currently undergoing trials in Lusaka for a future Under-12 Team at national level. Good luck to them, but it’s already a huge achievement!
Finally the highlight of the month on the football front was the friendly game between our all-star team Malambo United and the Real Mpezeni FC in the presence of Zambia’s Eastern Province Paramount Chief, His Royal Highness Chief Mpezeni.
It is a huge honour for our talented boys and girls of the Mfuwe Junior Football and Netball projects to receive the first ever recognition and blessing from the Province’s paramount chief. As for the game itself, the Mfuwe boys won 2:1, which quite pleased our own hosting chief, HRH Chief Kakumbi!
With now several hundreds of players involved in the league it is essential to provide them with proper equipment. This is why all generous donations are always welcome, such as the latest one from Stephan Tuengler of InAfrica and Marco Nagel who have been supporting Kafunta’s role in the football league for years through their Football Africa project. Thank you to you both!
If you are interested in supporting sport projects in Mfuwe, contact Wilson to have a better idea of what the current needs are (this is under the umbrella of Project Luangwa).
News from the bush camps
Both bush camps re-opened end of May and have already seen more guests than in previous months of June, so all is going well. Wildlife abounds and sightings are on the increase with animals getting more habituated, which is fantastic. Look at these elephants at the waterhole at Three Rivers!
We had a bit of an upgrade at Island Bush Camp’s main area, with an extended bar lounge and sitting area to give our guests more space to relax under the cooling shade of a thatched roof.
Both camps offer spectacular bush walks and short game drives, in a relaxed atmosphere. Guests enjoy the slower pace and quite often request to be in camp for sundowners.
The game viewing at the bush camps and on activities has been really good. In the past month we’ve seen leopards, wild dogs, lions (with cub!), buffalo, giraffes, hyenas, elephants, all sorts of antelopes and lots of birds including Eagle owl and Pel’s Fishing owl.
These lions photos were taken by Enrique, our current volunteer, just a week or so ago when he stayed at Island Bush Camp.
Enrique is studying Tourism and Business Management and has lived and worked in various environments in Mallorca, Germany, UK… but certainly nothing like what he is experiencing now!
In the meantime… at Kafunta River Lodge
Well at Kafunta, it’s business as usual! As mentioned earlier, sightings in the park have been fantastic (cubs, cubs) but things are happening right at the lodge too.
With the drying of the bush, elephants are frequent visitors, keeping everyone on their toes.
But it’s not just elephants lurking the grounds of the lodge!!!
A few mornings ago, our pool attendant came across these prints…
No it’s not some sort of art safari, but real marks left by drying water on the new deck. They were found just outside the…. hot tub (it is winter here after all). And clearly left by a big cat who decided to check the temperature of the water!
But the mystery was short lived. Not one but two big male lions have been circling the lodge for several days already, and were seen that same evening on the access road. Who are they? No less than Luangwa celebrities, Ginger & Garlic!
I know a lot of our readers and past guests will love to hear that these older males, who were chased away last year by a band of 3 brothers are still around and well. They actually enjoy "this side" of the river quite a lot and know to stay away from the youngsters. We certainly were very happy to have them as "guests" for a few days! Check these photos taken by our guest Dick de Hertog, just outside of Kafunta.
Here are also a couple of photos taken by our Lodge Manager TJ of a lonely lioness with one cub. This was in the park.
In the spotlight… René Krayss
Our long term return guests René and Irma were with us for 3 weeks in May. Visiting from Switzerland, they come every second year and by now probably know the park like the back of their hands. René never leaves his camera far behind, and it’s always with great anticipation that I wait for his photos! There are too many to share at once (we’re talking hundreds) so I’ll start with a few here to tease you! If you follow us on Facebook and Instagram, you will see many more photos over the coming weeks! And there will be plenty left for future newsletters too!
I’d like to end this newsletter with a huge thank you to our Hospitality Manager, Courtney Hoffman, for the amazing work she did on 25th and 26th June, when Kafunta Safaris "took over" the Instagram account of Zambia Tourism UK.
If you are Instagram fans (or followers of our Facebook page) you must have seen one of the dozen stories posted by Courtney over the 48 hours we were given the chance to promote our properties, our staff and the incredible South Luangwa. And thank you to those who liked, commented and shared our stories.
Tune in on the @ZambiatourismUK account to find out what Zambia has to offer and follow other takeovers by the key players of this industry.
#EveryoneFallsForZambia
That’s it for now! Wishing everyone a fantastic month of July, enjoy the summer if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, or stay warm if you leave south of the Equator.
I’ll be back in a month!
Izzy
Kafunta Safaris
Last Minute Breaking News!
As I was finishing up the newsletter, these excellent news came in. The government of Zambia decided to halt its plan of building a hydro dam in the Ndevu Gorge, just south of South Luangwa NP! Well done to WWF Zambia and all those who lobbied against the project, including the 200 000 people who signed the petition asking to declare the Luangwa River, one of Africa’s last free-flowing rivers, as a Water Resource Protection Area.
#KeepTheLuangwaFlowing
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Kafunta Safaris
Mfuwe, South Luangwa, Zambia
