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| Dear all!
In a few days time, our 2016 season will come to an end. It has been an amazing season, very busy with visitors from all over the world and a wonderful year for wildlife sightings.
We are thanking you, our guests and business partners, for choosing Kafunta Safaris amongst the many excellent lodges in South Luangwa and Zambia. We are honoured to serve you and we look forward to doing so again in 2017!
In this end-of-season newsletter I will share with you even more pictures of the superb wildlife we have here in South Luangwa. And I invite you to connect with us on Facebook on December 31st and January 1st to see our Year-In-Review slideshows, to remember what an awesome season we’ve had. It is our way of thanking you all for also sharing your pictures with us.
Click here to "like" our Facebook page, that way you won’t miss out on our daily posts. |
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| December is also the time to thank our hard working staff for their long season. Soon they will be able to take some well deserved leave time, before returning and getting the lodge ready for a spic & span reopening on April 1st next year.
A small party took place at the lodge with Christmas hampers being distributed to each one. They all went home with goodies such as 25kg-bags of mealie-meal, whole chickens, rice, bread flour, orange juice, etc – in order to fill up the pantry for the holidays.
And it gave us the opportunity for a great "family" picture! |
| A Christmas at Kafunta
We like to treat our guests to a special Christmas and this year was no different.
On Christmas Eve, guests from all lodges are invited to join, should they wish to, the South Luangwa Christmas Carols which take place at the Kalawani Pans – weather permitting. This year the heavy rains that preceded Christmas took a break to allow for this lovely tradition to continue.
Lisa and Wilson brought back a couple of pictures from this year’s Christmas sundowner at the pan. |
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| This year Father Christmas (or rather Mother Lisa Christmas) brought festive uniforms for our staff, and this made for a very special Christmas Day at the lodge with beautiful colours to celebrate in style! |
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| Another wonderful Christmas Day. We hope that all our guests have enjoyed the attention and the delicious meal.
They have been kept busy on game drives as well, despite the rain and mud, they have had spectacular sightings with lions and cubs, leopards and wild dogs on the menu over the past couple of days. December in South Luangwa is truly an amazing time. |
| Seen at the lodge
Throughout the month of December, we’ve also been very lucky with widlife at the lodge, without having to go any further than the main deck.
One morning, wild dogs came and made a kill just a couple of hundred meters away from the lodge. You can see on these pictures how the puku were all looking in the same directions, so we knew something was going on. Turns out the dogs had killed a beautiful male impala, before running around the plains in front of Kafunta. |
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| Pukus are alert, looking in same direction to the right |
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| Wildogs are then seen at the edge of the plains |
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| The dogs, running around the plains, with Kafunta in the background |
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| Vultures enjoying the leftovers |
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| On another day we had 2 lions relaxing by the edge of the river |
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| And at dusk, hippos are taking over for an early meal of fresh green grass |
| And the rains came…
They did indeed!
You may have noticed on the pictures how green everything looks. This is all due to the good rains we’ve had in the month.
The first big bucket came down on December 6th, filling up the lagoon in front of the lodge. It was spectacular to watch the water rise so quickly. |
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| And of course, when the first big rain comes, so does the inswa! They are the flying termites which are emerging in millions from their underground nests after the first significant rain.
They fly away from their parent nest, then land and immediately shrug off their very long wings to search for a mate and start a new colony. It is a very special moment, caught on camera this year by Anke. |
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| Look in the above photo for the beautifully heart-shaped one in the middle! |
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| The next very big rainfall came on December 20th, with over 50mm of rain by morning, and it kept coming. That day was definitely a "stay-at-home" one but luckily we didn’t have any guests then. Our guests arrived the 21st, and rains have been much lighter since. And as you read above, it hasn’t had any impact on the sightings! |
| In the spotlight – Simon Stafford & Ian Loney
Before giving way to 2017, I’d like to share more pictures from 2016. First are a few photos taken by Simon Stafford who was the tour leader for the Tatra Photographic workshop who came to Kafunta in early June. Simon is coming back in 2017, there are only 3 places left on this workshop. |
| Next are a few pictures shared by Ian Loney. Ian and his wife Julie are return guests to Kafunta. This year they came in September and had an amazing time. They are already booked to come back next year! |
| Be Our Guest – Jane & Mike Costello
Jane & Mike are a very special couple who came to Kafunta and Island in late August, early September this year. Both in their eighties, they travelled from Australia to pay a solemn visit to an ancestor’s grave in Mazabuka (Southern Province of Zambia).
Jane agreed to share some bits of their travel journal, along with a few pictures. Look at them, happy campers, in the Kafunta pool!
From Jane: "Kafunta Lodge is beautiful. The rooms overlook the flood plain of the river with spectacular views of the wildlife grazing there. As we started to settle down the baboon troop moved through with a great deal of noise taking time for a quick ride on the rocking chair on our verandah." |
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"The first safari drive we had, took us across the river and into the park proper.
This was the car ferry across the river, not possible during the wet season. On this occasion, Abel lent a hand with the rowing.
I jokingly suggested that it was part of a keep fit routine. I was right. Abel was a very good guide. He is highly educated with a wide experience of the animal life in Kenya and Tanzania as well as Zambia. He has 2 children and his wife is currently in her first year of nursing at the University of Lusaka." |
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"I had let it be known that I wanted to see wild dogs. On the third night at the lodge, we saw them.
It was amazing to watch them as well as feeling sorry for the impala they killed." |
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"The following morning we were told that there was a buffalo stuck in the mud. It was dead and a pride of lions was feeding on it. Our guide, Josephat, noticed that one of the lions had a wire noose round its neck. He rang the ranger station asking for a scout and the vet to stun the lion and remove the wire. We sat for about two hours and watched.
The rest of the pride moved down the river bank and about a dozen hyenas approached. The hyenas seemed to have quite a sophisticated language. 4 moved off onto the river bank to make sure that the rest of the pride didn’t return and a couple kept the vultures at bay until they had finished feeding." |
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"Later that day we were transferred to the Island Camp some 3 hours away. This was on the bank of the river containing many hippos. These came ashore at night and roamed through the camp with the occasional elephant.
The cabins themselves were raised on stilts, complete with en suite bathrooms. The showers were filled with hot water three times a day and were an absolute delight as there were no doors and the views were lovely.
The walking safaris were interesting and we were accompanied by a scout in case of trouble. We had one extra night at Kafunta Lodge before moving on to Lower Zambezi National Park and Kasaka River Lodge by Proflight to Royal airstrip." |
| Till next year!
That’s all for this year folks!
I hope you have enjoyed our newsletters through 2016, I’m always amazed at the number of compliments received when sending them out. Thank you so much!
It is now time for New Year celebrations! Afterwards we will be saying goodbye to our very last guests of the season and then close the lodge on January 8th until April 1st, 2017.
2017 will be an exciting year for us, with the opening of our third camp, Three Rivers Camp. We certainly hope you will come in big numbers to enjoy the beauties of South Luangwa and the superb widlife.
But don’t worry, I’ll be back with another newsletter before then!
From all of us:
Happy New Year!!
Izzy
Kafunta Safaris |
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Kafunta Safaris, Box 83, Mfuwe, Zambia |
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