The Kafue River Camp

Feedback from Jackie Connor:-
1. The story of the young hartebeest:- A baby hartebeest joined a herd of impala as an orphan. Mother obviously killed by something. The hartebeest was smaller than the impala. Newton thought it had died as he had not seen it for a long time but on a drive we saw the herd of impala with a lovely young hartebeest, now quite a bit bigger than them and with little horns.
2. Walk up the hill. I went into the national park on a walk with Newton, the game scout and 4 others. We were taken up a hill and had lovely views of the national park. Really interesting – out for about 3 hours. While up at the top we watched a huge bushbaby in a tree.
3. Hot springs-fantastic! So interesting again. You drive back towards the pontoon and not far from the pontoon you turn right down a little track. There is no sign. There are three beautiful hot springs, lots of steam coming out of them and the water is so hot you can only just put your finger in. Lots of animals have been nibbling the minerals there.
4. We saw two groups of three wattle cranes in the dambo on the same side of the hot springs.
5. Lots of game on the GMA side. Just in your area we saw puku, impala, bushbuck, kudu, oribi, duiker, warthog, ground hornbills and had more than one lion walk along the track just behind the chalets.
6. Heard lion and leopard at night. On our last evening we were sitting by the fire and a lion roared from directly opposite us on the bank. It was amazing.
7. Bird watching was fantastic.

The Swiss group also saw sable.

Lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog – this month has been out of this world as far as animal sightings on game drives are concerned, particularly the cheetah that have recently moved into our area.

Lions have become pretty much an every-day sighting on the drives, with their calls echoing in the still of the night.

Leopard and wild dog have also been sighted on occasion. With the bush as dry as it is now, we expect to see more and more animals as they have to come down to the river to drink, the inland water sources having dried up, save for a few small riverbeds here and there.

Fishing has become a very interesting affair as the water is rather low now. Once you have cracked the riddle of where the fish are hiding, fishing is excellent, with many 1.5-2kg fish of all species being pulled out.

Shallow running crank baits have been working incredibly well, especially in very bright colours, i.e. fire tiger, hot tiger, and my personal favourite – bleeding copper flash! Natural colours have also been working well.

Guests are advised not to bring their own boats from now until the end of the season because the river is extremely shallow in some parts; sometimes no more than calf deep.

Kafue River Camp hosted the first ever fly fishing competition in Zambia, following the Fly Fishing Association’s recent formation. The competition was a huge success, the weather was great, and quality of fishing fantastic, with many of the larger-end fish being caught.

The competition was primarily a species competition, with ten species on the catch list There were also prizes for the largest fish in bream, pike and catfish categories.

The Rankings in the competition were as follows:-

Species Competition:
1st Dave (3 rod) Dansie
2nd Richard Monge
3rd Dylan Brandt
Largest Bream Prize – Leon de Wit
Largest Pike Prize – Dylan Brandt

Special thanks to Roger Monge, Jumbo van Blerk, and Kevin Bonel for helping to organize the event and for choosing Kafue River Camp as the venue.

Kafue River Camp has been an exciting place to be lately. Not only did we had great fun with the competition, but we have also had some amazing animal sightings around the camp during and after the competition. For example, during the competition, two male lions took down an old hippo on the opposite bank of the camp and remained there for almost three weeks, feeding off of the large carcass. We have also had elephants wandering in and out of camp on a regular basis, with one deciding to take up residence on the island in front of the camp for a of couple nights. As the water around Kafue River Camp is deeper than at other sections of the river, a number of hippo have begun to congregate in the immediate vicinity. Rarer species of animals for the area have been coming in more frequently now, with sightings of leopard, wild dog, and cheetah.

On the bird front, we have had several bird watchers in camp, with sightings of Pels Fishing Owl, Black-Backed Barbet, and African Finfoot. We are looking forward to September, when the Northern Migrants will be arriving. A mixture of Falcons, Eagles, Hobbies, and a variety of other species should make for interesting aerial displays, from mating to hunting.

We have continued to open new roads for drives, which will allow us to explore new areas and find more game. In addition, we have started to put the finishing touches to the campsite in order to bring it to its full potential.

(July 2010) Kafue River Camp’s campsite is now operational. It is situated 800m from the main lodge and comprises hot and cold water showers, toilets and designated camping areas for up to 14 people. Cooking facilities include braais (barbecues) and a washing bay. Wood is supplied free of charge. Prior booking essential (kafueriver@iwayafrica.com).

Fishing Report:

The water levels have risen exceptionally high this April, which resulted in a lot more flooding into the grass and dambos. This has all lead to fishing being a challenge, making it difficult to find those perfect fishing spots. When a good spot is encountered, most of the fish are hiding deep in the long grass that has been flooded, where the fish are currently feeding. Having said that, on a good day – even with the water being so high – one can come out with some decent sized fish over the kilo mark. Jig baits have been working exceptionally well (especially the soft plastic grubs.) The best colors include: motor oil, chartreuse, butterscotch, firetiger, pink, bloodline red, black, pumpkin seed, and pearl white.

Rapalas and other crank baits have also been successful. 3-7 ft depth Rapalas have been working quite well in areas where the banks are steep and the water is deep. Working the shoreline of the flooded grass banks with these quick diving crank baits, allowing you to get down to the fish, has yielded good results. But be warned: there is structure down there as well as fish!

Catch Report:

A couple of decent sized fish have come out of the Kafue during these past couple of months. Some fair sized yellow bellies were caught further upriver in the faster waters and some decent sized purple-faced, speckle-faced, and three-spot large mouths caught along the grass banks in the slow flowing areas of water, especially amongst the islands and trees.

Game Report:

Unlike the fishing, game activity has been exceptionally good around the camp. With lion and elephant more active than usual, we have been privileged to watch elephants whilst at the dinner table. We were also able to see hippos fighting under the deck of the lodge overlooking the river, literally under our feet.

Bird life is as fantastic as ever and we have recently had a group of twitchers in camp who ticked off several new birds from their lists, including Black-backed Barbet, Green-backed Woodpecker, and Pels Fishing Owl.

Feel free to pop in and see us at the ZITE (Zambia International Tourism Expo) show at the Mulungushi Conference Centre, opposite Arcades, Great East Rd. The show runs from 24th-26th March 2011.