News

Dear all! Zambia celebrated its 53rd birthday on October 24th, and so did our staff! When that birthday comes along, we know that the end of the peak... Read More

Dear all! What an awesome month of September we’ve had! I have a newsletter ready for you with lots of good stuff, as the game viewing has... Read More

Dear All! It’s heating up here in the Luangwa Valley as we are switching to summer, and the safari season has reached its very peak!... Read More

As the game drive was approaching the plains of Puku Ridge in South Luangwa, Zambia, on the way to find a nice sundowner spot, our safari guide... Read More

by Deborah Regen Q & A with Ron and Anke Cowan, Founders, Kafunta Safaris, Mfuwe, Zambia. Offering lodge accommodations and expert guided safaris in the... Read More

Kafunta Safari Lodge recently received a visit from former Austrian international footballer, Walter Hörmann, and his wife Barbara, who spent time with the Luangwa Safari Football League... Read More

The Thornicroft’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti), also known as the Rhodesian giraffe, is a morphologically distinct subspecies of giraffe found only in the Luangwa Valley in... Read More

Dear all! July is already behind us, which means we are well into the second half of our 2017 season, it’s amazing how quickly it... Read More

Recently, our Lodge Manager at Kafunta Safaris in South Luangwa, Lisa Peake, joined a guest game drive. She was fortunate enough to see a leopard relaxing in a... Read More

Dear all! With our May newsletter coming out late, you are spoiled with a second newsletter this month but I made a point of sending... Read More

Recently, staff from Kafunta Safaris in Zambia were fortunate enough to witness an incredible encounter right on their doorstep! Anna van Doorn and Ludovic Wilmart... Read More

Dear all! It’s June already! I could probably find many excuses for the delay in sending you our May newsletter, but let’s just say it’s... Read More

Dear All, Welcome to our 2017 season! Wow, it’s been an awesome start to it with Kafunta River Lodge reopening with a full camp! And... Read More

Dear all! Two months have passed since our last newsletter, and we are now only a few days away from reopening Kafunta River Lodge for... Read More

Wishing you a wonderful New Year 2017! Dear all! I know, New Year celebrations seem far away already, but nevertheless I couldn’t resist and had... Read More

by Sarah Kindgom Friday, 6th January 2017     “Turn left. Continue along the road, through a dry riverbed. When the road forks, keep to... Read More

Back in November, we had the visit of Mr. Christopher Spry who came to Kafunta River Lodge from the UK as part of the NatureTrek... Read More

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... Read More

During the month of November 2016, Kafunta Safaris and the Mfuwe Sports Association supported the very first  Carnivore Conservation Cup football tournament organized by the Zambian Carnivore... Read More

There have been a number of articles about tree-climbing lions and some parks around Africa have claimed it their own specialty, declaring such sightings as extremely... Read More

Dear all! November was another extremely busy month for Kafunta River Lodge, as we were fully booked for 2 weeks straight with guests who were... Read More

Written by: Hadley Pierce As we sat down for high tea at Kafunta River Lodge, we noticed an eerie sense of stillness had settled over... Read More

Dear all! I’ve titled the above picture: “Reflection in the pool”. Right, it’s not exactly original, but it’s actually the meaning of “thinking” or “thoughts”... Read More

Dear all! October is only a few days away, it’s really hard to believe the safari season is going by so quickly. And yet, it... Read More

Baboons are not typically known for their love of the water. When they are forced to enter the water, normally because a body of water... Read More

Arriving in the late afternoon at Island Bush Camp in the near-untouched wilderness of South Luangwa, I was warmly welcomed by the local Zambian staff and camp manager. ... Read More

Less than three minutes into our afternoon game drive with Kafunta Safaris, we rounded a corner and came across a herd of buffalo coming down... Read More

Guests at Kafunta River Lodge have been twice as lucky lately! A pack of eight dogs, known as the Manchesa pack, has been denning not too far from... Read More

A herd of elephants and a nearby mud wallow is always a good combination! Kafunta‘s safari guides know that too well and always exploit the opportunity... Read More

We are almost at the end of August, which has been an interesting month here in Zambia – presidential elections were on August 11th, and the... Read More

We’ve now tipped over the second part of the year already, with July marking the start of our peak safari season. Kafunta & Island are... Read More

So we are reaching the end of June already. Depending on where you live, you are now either in winter or summer! In Luangwa we... Read More

Dear All!! Another month has gone by and we’ve kept busy in South Luangwa! First we would like to thank all of you who have... Read More

Even if we spend all day, every day, observing wildlife in its natural environment there are always surprises, and once in a while we see things that... Read More

South Luangwa is now internationally recognised as a prime destination for photographic safaris with its very high number of lions, elephants, buffalo, hippos and above... Read More

Earlier this week we woke up to a big, grunting surprise. A hippo, slightly injured to the back leg, had taken refuge in our infinity... Read More

Kafunta River Lodge reopened a month ago with a full camp and Easter celebrations. Click here for full newsletter

It has already been two months since our last newsletter; I hope you have enjoyed the festive season, had a wonderful Christmas and that you... Read More

And here goes another month! Can you believe that less than a month away it will be Christmas and soon after that we will be in... Read More

The South Luangwa Valley, famed for having the highest concentration of hippos in Africa as well as excellent opportunities for observing lion, leopard, elephant and other big... Read More

  The heat in South Luangwa is now intense, October is well known for the temperatures reaching above 40 degrees centrigrade and this year is... Read More

A few days ago on a morning game drive in South Luangwa National Park with Kafunta Safaris, we came across a young female leopard that was comfortably tucked... Read More

Leaving Kafunta River Lodge for our morning game drive, we took the usual trail leading across the floodplains of the Luangwa River. However, we didn’t even... Read More

September is associated with many things here in South Luangwa! Firstly, September means the beginning of summer here in the Southern Hemisphere, and this is... Read More

It was a normal day at Kafunta River Lodge with a wake up call at 05h15, followed by breakfast on the deck overlooking the flood plains of the... Read More

South Luangwa National Park is well known for its colonies of colourful southern carmine bee-eaters. This species of bee-eater is a summer migrant to Zambia, arriving... Read More

We stopped to take photos of some impalas when two wild dogs came out of nowhere and starting chasing them. We were caught by surprise. The dogs headed south... Read More

Since the start of the season the sightings of wild dogs have been so frequent that we are tempted to call this the Year of... Read More

Were did July go? Has July really come and gone? Wow, I didn’t see that happen. We’ve had a great month of July at both... Read More

New Season sees old and new staff And yet another safari season has started! Kafunta River Lodge re-opened on March 23rd, 2015 after over two... Read More

Although Christmas may be a long way off, Andy Williams understood the magic of the winter season when he sang: “It’s the most wonderful time of... Read More

On a morning game drive at Kafunta Safaris in May, guests spotted a few lions stalking some zebras. After watching the lions’ failed attempt to hunt the... Read More

A couple of weeks ago you may have seen the blog about the one-eyed leopard sharing a kill with some toothy crocodiles. Well, Kapani (who was... Read More

Ron & Anke on a scouting trip Ron, Anke and Luke have been at Kafunta for a few weeks, while Luke was on school holidays.... Read More

Kafunta River Lodge has once again been nominated for Best Value Safari Property in this year’s Safari Awards. Safari Awards Running since 2008, the Safari... Read More

Izzy Joins the Team We are delighted to announce the arrival of Isabelle (Izzy) Defourny to our reservations and marketing team. With over 16 years... Read More

Kafunta Safaris is excited to announce our new bush camp – Three Rivers Camp. As the name suggests, Three Rivers Camp will be located at... Read More

Klaus Fenger, who hails from Bavaria in Germany, has joined Kafunta Safaris as our Bush Camp Manager for the 2014 season. Klaus has a lifelong... Read More

Kafunta Safaris is pleased to announce that Kafunta River Lodge is a finalist in the Best Value Safari Property category of the 2015 Safari Awards. In the Safari... Read More

Zambians have a passion for football and so do Ron and Luke Cowan and the staff at Kafunta Safaris. A few years ago they got... Read More

Bush Camp Brilliance We have had some astonishing sightings at the Island Bush Camp this year; a pack of 9 wild dogs, beautiful birds and... Read More

Our recent guests Jonathan & Amber Langham used more than half their luggage capacity to bring goods to donate to the local community in Mfuwe... Read More

Proflight has made an announcement regarding an increase to their free baggage allowance and alliances with major airlines serving Africa. Effective 01 April the free... Read More

The Kafunta Safaris team are busily working away on renovations to Kafunta River Lodge in preparation for the 2014 season. Not only will the renovations... Read More

Kafunta Safaris has appointed Alessandra Gnesutta as our new Operations Manager. Alex brings a wealth of management and hospitality experience as well as being fluent... Read More

Kafunta Safaris has been hosting the Kids in the Wild event again this year. Many of the local kids who live near the South Luangwa... Read More

The Kafunta team is excited to welcome Carl Ruysenaar as our Island Bush Camp Manager. Sadly, Andreas had to return to Germany to attend to... Read More

We’re pleased to welcome Keith Hayman to the Kafunta team as our new Operations Manager. Born in Zambia but raised in South Africa, Keith brings... Read More

Kafunta Safaris is very pleased to receive a TripAdvisor 2013 Certificate of Excellence award for Kafunta River Lodge. The accolade, which honours hospitality excellence, is given... Read More

We are pleased to report that we have recently finished building our tree deck. It is situated along the river bed, providing a beautiful birds... Read More

Our football team – The Super Strikers, have successfully defended their title this year! We had a great football season in the valley this year,... Read More

What a great day for the teams of the Mfuwe Youth Soccer Academy! Being visited by three members of Chipolopolo doesn’t happen every day for... Read More

Kafunta constantly aims to reduce the impact we have on the environment. As many know deforestation is a serious threat to the whole of Zambia... Read More

After some finishing touches we opened our new wellness hideout, called Kafunta’s Natural Touch. Tucked away in a quiet corner at Kafunta River Lodge we... Read More

Kafunta River Lodge is open again! The rain season finally has come to an end. After some heavy rains on the first days of April... Read More

Island Bush Camp is open for the season. After 3 weeks of hard work we can confirm the team has done a great job… it... Read More

While Europe is often covered in snow this time of the year and people are waiting for spring to arrive our green season is in... Read More

We offered 24 local kids a 4 days stay at Kafunta River Lodge. For many of these kids from the local communities this was the... Read More

It has become a tradition in the valley that all lodges, guest and many other valley residents meet on Christmas Eve for carols in the... Read More

A pride of lions is probably the most sought after sighting when you go on safari in Africa. Even though it is not always all... Read More

A very special place. As the dry season grips the valley the prolific wildlife that inhabits the mopane woodlands and open plains are drawn to... Read More

What started out as a minor refurb turned into a major rebuild at Kafunta. Each of our chalets now has a bigger bedroom – making... Read More

The last couple of years, the Kafunta Super Strikers (Luke’s team) were almost the only team in Mfuwe, so mostly they were playing amongst themselves... Read More

As the park is drying up and we are getting ready for the bush camp season, the first trip down to the camp will revel... Read More

The rainy season has been unusual dry, this was in our favour during the big lodge renovations. Now the lodge is open again and everyone... Read More

By Jennifer Thomas Spring is here and the temperature is rising. No rain for three months now the bush is looking dry and dusty. A... Read More

By Jennifer Thomas On a Saturday morning in June, we left Kafunta River Lodge, in an open safari vehicle, to drive to Island Bush Camp.... Read More