The Kafue National Park, known locally as KNP, is one of Africa’s best kept secrets. A giant untramelled wilderness with an outstanding variety of wildlife; it embraces a rich blend of woodlands, grasslands and aquatic environments in a complexity of shapes, colours, adaptations and interrelationships. Larger than the well-known Kruger National Park in South Africa, Kafue covers 22,480 km2 (8,650[…]
Read moreA couple of days ago I was very happy to receive this email from Will Hore-Lacy and his wife Jackie saying what a great time they had on safari in Zimbabwe. If you’re interested in reading more about their safari here are the links: Chundu Island The Hide – Hwange NP Bomani Tented Lodge – Hwange NP
Read moreOne of my favourite safari camps is Bomani Tented Lodge at Ngamo on the south eastern corner of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. For me, Bomani manages to combine all the necessary comforts of a first class camp without succumbing to gratuitous luxury. The accommodation is superb, with each tent looking out onto the surrounding plains, and the staff are[…]
Read moreDay 4 One of the recurring themes of our trail was Matt telling us of his insomnia. What he did not mention is that when he can’t sleep he talks. He talks to whomever happens to be on watch and if he is on watch he talks to himself or into his voice recorder. We always knew when Matt was asleep[…]
Read moreDaylight on Day 3 showed us a river that looked very different from the night before. The rhino photo above was taken early evening on Day 2 This was the same stretch of river early morning on day 3 I had a few minutes to spare while the others got ready to leave and so I took the chance to[…]
Read moreThe night seemed to be an endless succession of tossing and turning. No matter how comfortable my sleeping position seemed, that comfort would only last a short time before the rocky ground began to dig into my back or my hips. So it came as quite a surprise to find that I was actually asleep when I got woken for[…]
Read moreWhat have I let myself in for? In May 2015 I was invited to join a small group of friends on a 5 day / 4 night hiking trail in South Africa’s iMfolozi National Park. Without giving any real thought to what such a trail might involve I said ‘Yes’. I love being out in the wilderness and sleeping under[…]
Read moreCombine the Serengeti with the Indian Ocean Coast Tanzania is where crystal clear beaches meet intimate wildlife experiences. As one of the most attractive locations on Africa’s safari circuit, from the vastness of the Serengeti, to the calm waves of the Indian Ocean, Tanzania has so much more to offer than game viewing alone. From the beating heart of the[…]
Read moreThe term ‘private vehicle’ is often used in the context of African safaris and game drives but what exactly does it mean? And, more importantly, do you need one? When you go on safari as part of a group you will find that you almost always have a vehicle to yourselves, exclusively for members of your group only. When you travel alone, or[…]
Read moreElephants at Kanga Pan Our first sight of Kanga Pan did not fill us with optimism. What we saw was a lot of mud, with a few small pools full of stagnant green water and it certainly bore little resemblance to the year round waterhole we’d been expecting. Appearances can be deceptive though, and over the course of the 2[…]
Read moreto read the previous chapter of our Safari Diary An elephant named Boswell, Wild Dogs and a Leopard click here 26 September 2014 The topic of conversation when we gathered for our morning drive was noises that had entertained us during the night. I’d heard hyaenas and lions but apparently at about 5am 2 wild dogs had run through camp[…]
Read moreThis follows the previous chapter in our latest safari diary – Matusadona, a birding paradise on the shores of Lake Kariba 25 September 2104 Mana Pools here we come Our flight to Mana Pools was booked for 9 o’clock, so we had to make an early start. Our stay at Rhino Safari Camp was much too brief (much much too[…]
Read moreThe 9th installment of our latest Safari Diary follows on from – Cheetahs and vultures on our last morning in Hwange Matusadona National Park As we come into land the first plane is sitting waiting to take off again and no sooner have we taxied off the runway than it roars off kicking up another dust storm. We disentangle ourselves[…]
Read moreThis is the 8th installment of our Zimbabwe safari diary and follows on from – Game Driving in Hwange National Park 23 September 2014 Our last morning at Bomani. On our way to the gate we spot a pair of Yellow Billed Kites in a tree above us, they’ve got some fresh meat. No idea what it might be though.[…]
Read moreThis is part 7 of the Chobe and Zimbabwe Safari Diary and follows on from – Elephants, more elephants and a lion 22 September 2014 One of the things that I’d been asked to arrange for this group was a visit to a local school. They had brought with them some children’s clothes and boxes of school materials (books, pens[…]
Read moreThis is the 6th installment of my Safari Diary and follows on directly from Elusive Sable and idle Cheetahs – Hwange NP Elephants everywhere Some time ago the folks at Bomani installed something that they call the ‘Look Up’. A shipping contained was buried in the ground beside one of the waterholes and converted into an underground hide or blind.[…]
Read morePart 5 of my Safari Diary and follows on directly from my previous post – Victoria Falls – so much more than just a waterfall Bomani Tented Lodge – Hwange NP As we pulled in to Bomani all the staff came out to greet us and we were led in to the large communal building that houses the bar, lounge[…]
Read morePart 4 of my latest Safari Diary this follows on from my previous post – The Chobe River – A Birdwatcher’s Paradise A game drive in the Stanley & Livingstone Private Reserve Mike told us that of the 8 rhinos that needed to be caught and treated they had managed to entice all but one. This lone renegade was a[…]
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