Kristina Lehnhoff, Hamburg Germany, visited in December 2007

Peter Madeley - August 2007

Die Green Saeson

2004 waren wir erstmals im Luangwa-Valley. Für 13 Tage genossen wir die tolle Gastfreundschaft von Anke und Ron mit dem Ergebnis, dass wir 2005 wiederkamen. Beide Male erlebten wir den South Luangwa National Park im Juli bzw. August während der Trockenzeit.

Nun waren wir neugierig auf die Green saeson!

Wirklich, die Natur zeigte sich völlig verändert. Im satten Grün leuchteten wohlgenährte Antilopen, Büffel, Zebras und farbenprächtige Vögel. Die Luft war klar und die Sonnenuntergänge nicht minder spektakulär als in den Wintermonaten.

Unsere Skepsis, dass wir weniger Tiere zu Gesicht bekommen, war unbegründet.

So viele Elefanten, auch außerhalb der Parkgrenzen, haben wir bisher nicht gesehen!

Meyam und Martin Danke für die tollen Fahrten. Tracy und Bryan haben uns mit allen

Angestellten auch 2007 unvergessliche Tage beschert.

Allen ein dickes Lob und Danke! Wir kommen garantiert wieder.

Christiane und Michael aus Greifswald, Germany

Quest for the impossible dogs…

Having always had a fascination for dogs in general and spent years working in the zoology field I always followed the progress of conservation projects for wild dogs in Africa. During 6 years of working all over Africa these endangered carnivores just went out of their way to prove that they did not exist (or constantly hid behind the nearest bush when I came near!). Having worked in areas where there are good populations of dogs including South Luangwa, Southern Tanzania and Botswana, I had by last year all but given up hope of ever seeing them. Finally, last June in the Selous Game Reserve, I got my first ever glimpse of a pack of 15 – strangely from the balcony of our room at a lodge on the edge of the reserve, we were resting after a 3 day journey to get there which had involved a broken down train! There they were in the middle of the afternoon walking on a dried up stream out of the forest below us…… I managed to get one photo from the distance and watched them as they quickly trotted out of sight. I still had yet to get up close to a wild dog……

At Kafunta in early June this year I was telling this story to Josphat, Kafunta’s very knowledgeable and long standing guide. He was driving me through the park on a game drive in the morning and we were almost back at the main Mfuwe road towards the bridge when we passed the entrance to the Lupunga spur …. There was a large pile of dark shadows in the road in the distance which at first glance I thought were some buffalo. Josphat just grinned at me and said “there are your wild dogs!” I didn’t dare to believe him until we got right up on top of them and indeed, there they were – a beautiful lazy group of dogs who then moved across the road and sat dotted around in the shade of the trees and across the track while I happily took about a 100 photos! Eventually we had to move on, though I would have rather spent all day with them. Later that afternoon I set of again to find them and watched them waking from their long siesta and greeting each other before setting off on a hunt ….. a wonderful experience and I do now believe that they exist in Luangwa and hope to be back to see them again!

Julie Croucher

Mary Duncan, Cape Town SA, December 2006

My trip to Kafunta was absolutely fabulous. The team at the lodge were welcoming, relaxed and professional, and I thought the camp had been beautifully designed. I must make special mention of Mayam, who made special effort to point out birds and tell us interesting things about the wildlife.

We had incredible sightings including a pack of 18 wild dogs, mating lions, all the babies and 100 bird species, including Pel's Fishing Owl. And after some very strong rains, the 'ferry' the guides rigged up across a swollen river near camp added to the adventure!

Charles Kinsey, Bristol, UK - Kafunta 7th to 14th Nov 06

Many thanks to all at Kafunta for giving us such a wonderful time; the whole of our group was delighted with the visit. The game viewing was magnificent and, as a veteran of many safari holidays in South and East Africa, I can say that this was the best. Seeing the lion cubs playing around in the river on our last morning game drive was the icing on the cake.