Tom’s Talk — Facelifts and new adventures at Kaingu, Kafue National Park, Zambia

Hippo in the Kafue River

After 10 years we have decided it is time for a new look and an upgrade of our facilities at Kaingu Safari Lodge in Kafue National Park. But still the same friendly, helpful, team we introduced you to in the last Tom’s Talk. This year we also plan to open two photographic hides and launch some amazing canoeing expeditions on the Kafue River.

Manager Egbert is back from spending Christmas and New Year with his family in Europe. The remainder of the team have had a chance to tend to their crops back at their villages. We have all had some quality time with family and friends before we tackle the coming season full of enthusiasm and energy.

Kaingu Safari Lodge as it is now

Turaco perched in the fig tree above 'Turaco' chalet

So in terms of facelifts here is what we have in the pipeline for you:

• A nice new deck in front of the main Boma, with a small private side deck and a natural looking rock pool overlooking the Kafue River which we envisage will become the ‘chat’ pool.
• To make Chef Elizabeth and her kitchen team happy we are going to make some changes to the kitchen with a nice tiled kitchen floor and a new pantry.
• The chalets will be re-decorated and fitted out with some new furnishings and linen to make sure you have a really good night’s sleep with the hippo’s grunting in the background (no change there).
• Some of our previous guests may remember the half developed house at the northern end of our property. This will now be completed as a luxury self-contained unit with its own deck and a small plunge pool beneath a huge wild fig tree. When the fruit start to ripen the tree attracts many Turaco (formally known as Loeries, pictured above), Trumpeter hornbills and Meyer’s parrots. In front of this unit, that has for obvious reasons, been called ‘Turaco’, there is a green grassy dambo that is a regular evening feeding ground for puku’s, impala’s and bushbuck. At night one will be able to hear the hippos munching away keeping the grass short and sweet.
• This year we will also complete two photographic hides that for the past three years we have been promising to finish. One is in a tree overlooking a natural salt lick at the spot where the Mweengwa stream flows into the Kafue River and the other is south of the lodge at a small dam built by the Tusole team, a community based project we helped get off the ground.

Canoeing expeditions on the Kafue River launch soon at Kaingu Safari Lodge

Canoeing expeditions on the Kafue River

New adventures to launch soon

But for me, the most exciting project for this year will be our move into the unexplored, untouched central sector of the Park with game drive loops, walks, hiking trails and the spectacular canoeing expeditions.

For some time now we have been carrying out walking trails into the park but have not really penetrated deep into the unknown territory. Maps of the area show some interesting river courses and grassy plains. So with the sanction of the Wildlife Authority we plan to open up a number of game driving loops and walking trails into these areas. We will station a vehicle across the river and cross over by boat to carry out the game drives and walks and explore these areas together with you.

Young Andrew Danckwerts from Choma, who has recently completed his guiding course in South Africa has joined Maurice and myself on the guiding team and he will also be actively involved with the wilderness canoe trails — a new operation that recently launched by Mawimbi Adventures in conjunction with Kaingu Lodge as a joint venture. More about this in the next Tom’s Talk…

The Tom’s Talk series

This is the second article in a series about happenings in and around Kaingu Lodge, Kafue National Park, Zambia.

1: Introducing Tom’s Talk from the Kafue National Park
2: Tom’s Talk — Facelifts and new adventures at Kaingu, Kafue National Park, Zambia

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