Exciting 9 night Kafue safari…!!!

Zambia’s Kafue National Park offers a truly remote wilderness safari with good game viewing, comfortable and reasonably priced accommodation.

To get the best out of the Kafue, we recommend a combination of three wonderful camps in the area, starting at Hippo Lodge which is located on the banks of the Kafue River. It’s a perfect destination for nature lovers, bird watchers and anglers alike. Days can be spent game-viewing on foot, by vehicle or boat. Guests can fish the Kafue hot spots, tick away at the bird list or unwind with a “sundowner” in the beautiful natural hot spring.

Hippo Lodge is set in a remote wilderness, teeming with seasonal wildlife. The Zambian Ornithological Society has categorised Hippo Lodge as one of the best birding sites in Zambia – a real birdwatchers paradise.

The lodge is small and traditional with four stone and thatch cottages and two safari tents providing a choice in the style of accommodation. Located on the east bank of the Kafue River, the setting is idyllic with access to particularly remote areas of the Kafue National Park. The diversity of habitats supports a variety of wildlife, including hippo, crocodile, buffalo, elephant, lion and hyena.

Guests would then be taken on a scenic road and boat journey to Plains Camp on the Busanga Plains – the only independent camp in the area. The Busanga Plains is a wetland area in the far north of Kafue and from July to October the plains are accessible by 4×4 safari vehicle.

Large groups of rarities like red lechwe and roan antelope are always present, as are huge herds of up to 1,000 buffalo, wildebeest, zebra and sometimes eland. Lion are abundant, along with cheetah hunting for their prey on the open plains.

The camp consists of four comfortable safari tents, complete with en-suite bathroom, hot water bucket showers and flush loo. The main boma area for dining and relaxation provides outstanding views across the huge plains and to the fig and palms opposite.

The third leg of this exciting journey would be Manyukuyuku which is a charming and rustic camp, part Zambian owned. The camp is located on the southern edge of the Northern Sector of Kafue National Park, just 8 km from Mongu Road which allows year round access. Situated close to the banks of the Kafue River, alongside a highly wooded treeline, Manyukuyuku has magnificent views both up and downstream.

The large shady trees and the river’s boulders and rock formations make relaxing days all the more enjoyable and the area is rich in wildlife, so game viewing is a major attraction. The guestbook is brimming with sightings, especially lion, leopard and wild dog.

Opulent Africa’s 9 night Kafue safari costs from £2,295 per person and includes all road transfers, full board accommodation, safari activities and park fees. For more information on this itinerary or any of our current specials, please contact us.

Northern Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania is understandably regarded as the eight Natural Wonder of the World and quite rightly so. This unique World Heritage Site is the largest intact caldera in the world and with its walls standing proudly at over 2,000 feet it is estimated that its original height would have overshadowed Mount Kilimanjaro.

The floor of the crater covers an area in excess of 100 square miles and provides a sheltered haven for nearly 25,000 animals including all of the Big Five (elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard). Aside from wildebeest and zebra which migrate away from the crater during the wet season, all of the resident wildlife are more than happy to stay put throughout the year. The only animal notably absent from the Ngorongoro Crater is the giraffe which apparently find the walls too steep to negotiate.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Ngorongoro Crater is the fact that man and beast have survived alongside one another here for centuries. The local Maasai often graze their cattle on the fertile crater floor with barely a flicker of the tail from the perilously high concentration of lion which inhabit the open plains.

The Ngorongoro Crater has dramatically increased in popularity over the last two decades and it can be quite a busy place with high numbers of safari vehicles during peak season. Our advice is – don’t be put off as this is a “must see” on any northern Tanzania itinerary and with a good choice of comfortable accommodation in the area, combines perfectly with Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Serengeti.

Some of our clients’ favourites properties in the Ngorongoro Highlands:

Crater Lodge is undoubtedly the most opulent accommodation in the area and is perched right on the rim of the crater within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The design of the lodge was inspired by the traditional Maasai manyattas and each of the thirty luxurious suites has with spectacular views down into the crater.

Plantation Lodge is located amongst the coffee plantations in the lush green hills around Karatu just outside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. With sixteen individually styled suites, good food and a warm welcome, this is one of the best small lodges in the area.

Gibbs Farm is a characterful working farm located on the slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, mid-way between Lake Manyara and the crater. There are twenty cosy cottages all of which have recently been upgraded to even higher standards than before. One of the features of Gibbs Farm is its “Farm Life” program where guests are given an insight into the interesting history and culture of a working coffee farm.

Crater Lodge

Gibbs Farm

Plantation Lodge

Walking safari in the Eastern Serengeti

Walking safaris at Nduara Loliondo – a uniquely designed safari camp located in the Eastern Serengeti, Tanzania. Constructed as a combination of the Mongolian Gers and local Maasai bomas, the camp celebrates two different nomadic lifestyles in comfort and style.

The accommodation consists of six large yurts, decorated with a distinct African feel. Each of the light and spacious rooms has full en-suite with toilet and hot water  bucket showers. The design of the yurts ensure that guests are kept cool during the day with flaps that can be rolled down at night time to hold the warmth. The camp has a large dining and lounge area where guests can relax between activities on the soft furnishings.

As the camp is located outside of the National Park this allows much greater freedom in terms of the game viewing activities available and this is one of the main attractions of Nduara Loliondo. In addition to the more traditional game drives, guided walks and night drives add an exciting dimension to the safari.

Game viewing is exceptional during the dry season as the migration spills out of the Serengeti National Park into the Loliondo area with elephant, lion, leopard and antelope all seen regularly as well as a wide variety of bird life.

For more details and suggestions, please contact Opulent Africa.

I Dream of Africa.

Loisaba; the ultimate for peace and serenity to rejuvenate your soul.   Loisaba is all about connecting with nature and relaxing in your surroundings.  The game here is abundant and the scenery that provides the backdrop for a restful safari is breathtaking.

What draws one specifically to Loisaba?  The remote location, the fabulous game viewing, or perhaps just the lodge itself and its renowned Star Beds? Sleep out and star gaze on a star bed and listen throughout your dreams to the sounds of Africa below and all around you. 

Loisaba Lodge has two different types of star bed.  The original beds are located amongst a rocky outcrop looking out over the Kiboko waterhole in one of the eastern valleys.  The second more recently constructed beds are a few miles further south on the banks of the Ewaso N’giro River.  The beds cantilever over the river beneath and they are approached by a bridge from the opposite bank.  These new star beds are named after the Koija community of Laikipiak Maasai who together with Loisaba created and constructed them.

Even actually reaching your starbed is an adventure as you are guided through the African bush by Samburu and Laikipiak Maasai warriors.

Imagine laying there in the African night on a handcrafted wooden raised platform with a comfortable mattresses plump pillows and soft blankets with a picnic and wine to tide you through until morning.  A night under the stars has to be one of the most memorable on a safari along with the waking in the morning to hear an Elephant beneath you taking his morning wash in the pool below.

 Loisaba is excellent in combination with the Masai Mara and the Amboseli National Parks.

Gorillas Trekking in Uganda

There is a fabulous safari camp nestled deep inside the very heart of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in southwest Uganda. The camp has just eight tents and is one of the most remote and atmospheric in Africa.

 

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is the big screen in the flesh with volcanoes sculpting the skyline and valleys cutting deeply into the landscape.  The scenery if almost unfathomable to the virgin eye.  But tucked away almost in a secret place on a flat ridge high in the forest, is Sanctuary’s Gorilla Forest Camp.

Gorilla Camp Bathroom

Gorilla Camp Breakfast

It’s difficult to understand how such luxury and sophistication can exist in such a harsh and remote location.  The camp is the ideal place for the discerning safari traveler to head out to track the gorillas that live in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.   

 

We have had recent reports that our primate relatives also recognize how nice this camp is too.  A guest taken ill and unable to go out on the trek, was visited by a Gorilla who wandered into camp.  Perhaps a surprise but one that was welcomed immensely as he would have missed out on this once in a lifetime encounter had the Gorilla not been so accommodating. 

 

After a day trekking to see the gorillas guests relax around a roaring fire with a few nightcaps after dinner before retiring to one of eight comfortable tents with wooden floors, comfortable beds and most importantly large bathtubs in which to soak tired muscles.

 

Cape Town; Sunshine and Flowers..

Sometime during the months of August and September, almost overnight, the dry valleys of the West Coast and Namaqualand transform into a flower wonderland. The winter rainfall spurs a myriad of wild flowers into bud and Namaqualand becomes home to the richest bulb flora of any arid region in the world.

The West Coast National Park is the closest to Cape Town. Here you can enjoy hundreds of spring flowers , with the Langebaan Lagoon being the most focal point. This is also home to thousands of seabirds, migrant waders, and golden beaches, a nature lovers heaven. The Postberg section of the park is only open to the public during this spring season and provides a unique setting to view antelope as well. After a few days in metropolitan Cape Town venture out of town a little and enjoy this park for a day or so before heading of to the Seychelles or off on safari.

Here come the Whales!

Once again the Southern Right Whales are on their way to the southern coast of Africa. Just an hour and a half from Cape Town you can visit the coastal town of Hermanus, to witness these wonderful creatures at one of the twelve best land-based whale watching sites in the world. From May onwards Southern Right Whales can be found in these warm, shallow waters waiting to calf their young and to mate.

The absolute best time for whale watching in South Africa is between August and November, the coast is simply dotted with whales and you would have to be particularly busy or unlucky not to see them . These giant attractions can be spotted even from the cliff path walk which stretches for 12km from one end of the town to the other. The wales can be seen quite up close a mere 20 metres away frolicking in the sheltered bay or just beyond the breakers.

Opulent Africa put together some fantastic trips that cover all of Southern Africa, so combine a spot of whale watching with a jaunt up to Botswana to explore the Okavango Delta, or fly over the sand dunes and Skeleton Coast of Namibia. Whatever the combination it can seemlessly be achieved.

Elephants in Botswana..

Were you to ask a thousand safari enthusiasts to name their favourite animal, some might be attracted by the sultry beauty of a giraffe’s eyes, or entertained by the snorts and comic aesthetic appeal of a hippopotamus, but many the world over would immediately say the elephant.  Just like humans, they are clearly family creatures which tend carefully for their young and build complex relationships within the herd.  Both strong in stature yet gentle with their footsteps these huge creatures can pick a small flower with the tip of their trunk, or approach so quietly that you don’t realise this immense six ton creature is behind you until you feel its warm breath dampening the back of your neck.

 

If you want to see big herds of elephant on your safari then the best place to head is to northern Botswana, and the best time to be there is from August to early December which is the long dry season which turns the land a marvellous ochre yellow and bakes the surface to dust causing the elephant herds to congregate around the age old perennial rivers and springs.

 

It’s fascinating to watch these creatures move slowly yet purposefully through the heat of the day iwith a cloud of dust swelling around their feet.  Refreshment is found as they lower their trunks into the rivers quenching their enormous thirsts before wallowing and enjoying cooling mud baths whilst the young bulls played.

 

A mature male elephant can drink 60 gallons of water a day and if you are fortunate enough to stay at Savuti Camp, you’ll enjoy and enthralling hour or so in a hide built of fallen tree trunks.  You’ll be within mud slinging distance so duck as the elephants flick water and mud across their backs in the heat of the day.

Zambia’s Mfuwe Lodge and finest walking safaris

 

Opulent Africa would like to share a little secret with you…there is a fabulous safari lodge in the South Luangwa National Park ideal for your first couple of nights on safari allowing you to acclimatise to the African heat before heading out to the bushcamps.   Mfuwe Lodge is an absolute must on the Zambian circuit. This unique lodge is situated in the South Luangwa National Park. With 18 luxury, en-suite thatched chalets each with private decked area overlooking a sparkeling lagoon that

attracts abundant wildlife, this is the perfect stop over for you first night or two. Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park is home to some 60 large mammal species including wonderful numbers of leopard and subspecies of zebra (Crawshay’s), wildebeest (Cookson’s) and giraffe (Thornicroft’s) that occur nowhere else on Earth.   Mfuwe Lodge has the added edge that it is one of the few places in this area that stays open during the summer, when the landscape in the valley transforms into a lush green environment that attracts wild dogs as well as a variety of migratory birds.

Mfuwe Lodge is the result of a partnership between The Bushcamp Company and Safari & Adventure Co. that combines the conservation effort of the two organisations. A major focus of both is to increase anti-poaching measures to protect the South Luangwa’s wildlife.

In addition to Mfuwe Lodge there are a good selection of bushcamps to choose from strung along the river where you’ll have the opportunity to walk from camp to camp with your belongs transferred for you. The camps compliment the Lodge perfectly and are ideal for a true African wilderness experience for those wanting to get close to nature.