At least I saw rollers…

I’d been to Africa many times, and I’d never got angry with any of the staff before. It was almost inconceivable because they were all so friendly and helpful. Well, there’s a first time for everything, I suppose, and it arrived when I visited Mfuwe Lodge…

It happened on my first morning when I got a wake-up call I’d specifically cancelled. Rather than apologise, the guy rather churlishly pointed out that I’d left my key in the lock and pointed his torch at it so that I could take it out at once—even though I was half-naked at the time!

I had to shout at him to go away…

The Lodge

Part of the problem, I think, was that the lodge was so big. There were 18 thatched chalets and an enormous open-plan lounge, dining area and bar overlooking two lagoons. That made it very different from the intimate, boutique safari lodges I was used to. I’d also never been there before, so I didn’t know any of the staff. As a result, I didn’t feel comfortable, and little things started to annoy me:

• There was virtually no wildlife to see on game drives.

• The walking safaris I was offered were really just nature walks.

• My guide wouldn’t leave the road so that we could photograph a pride of lions.

• We had a very long break for tea and coffee, but I preferred juice, and there wasn’t any. 

• I was forced to go on a night drive even though I couldn’t really take any pictures.

• I got bitten by a tsetse fly.

• My guide didn’t know how to use the clock face method when pointing things out.

• I had to have my meals with the other guests from my vehicle.

• Drinks weren’t included in the day rate, so it was a cash bar.

• My laptop didn’t charge properly.

• After I’d told my guide I was going to skip dinner, someone still came to ask if I was ready for dinner.

• Someone else came to tell me what I already knew about the plan for the next day.

• My room was shabby rather than chic.

• There was no Wi-Fi in my room.

• The sound of grunting hippos kept me awake.

Now, I guess all those things had happened to me before in other places, but they still made me angry. It didn’t help that I was in a pretty foul mood when I got there. My most valuable possessions are my images, and I thought I’d accidentally deleted thousands of them!

I couldn’t understand it. I had 15,000 from my first Chikunto game drive, 10,000 from the last but only 2,000 from the one in the middle—and I couldn’t find a nice shot I remembered of a lilac-breasted roller taking off. I checked the time stamps in Lightroom, but there were no obvious gaps. Very annoying.

In the end, I did find my ‘missing’ photos, and I left Mfuwe Lodge after a couple of nights for a tour of the bush camps, where things improved a little…

Daily Routine

I drove to Mfuwe Lodge on 21 July 2024 and left on the 26th. While I was there, I was offered the usual morning and evening game drives. However, I did lose one drive on my final morning when I had to take an early transfer to Kuyenda Bushcamp.

Apart from that, the daily routine was fairly standard:

• 0600 Breakfast in the main area (with the Operations Manager on the second morning)

• 0630 Morning game drive with Abraham (and other guests) in his Land Rover

• 1100-1200 Brunch in the main area

• 1500-1530 High tea in the main area

• 1530-1830 Afternoon game drive with Abraham (and other guests)

• 1900-2000 Dinner in the main area

Wildlife photography

After spending a couple of days at Chikunto Safari Lodge, I knew I wasn’t going to see much wildlife in South Luangwa National Park. And that was fine, I suppose, and I’d come to terms with it. It was my first time in Zambia, and the whole point was to find out what was available and what the shooting experience would be like.

However, there was even less to see at Mfuwe Lodge. We did spot three lions and another pride from a distance, but the only other cats came after dark, so I missed the chance to photograph a leopard and a South African small-spotted genet. Normally, I would simply have switched to birds, but apart from an African barred owlet, an African harrier-hawk and the odd lilac-breasted roller, there weren’t even many of those!

I didn’t take any five-star images, and my best opportunity came when we saw a baby Thornicroft’s giraffe. It was the first time I’d seen that particular sub-species, and I took one decent shot of it standing in a clearing before it lay down (see above).

Apart from that, it was pretty quiet…

Verdict

Well, I guess I’ll have to put Mfuwe Lodge down as a ‘learning experience’! It was only a couple of nights, and the real problem wasn’t the lodge but the park. I’d heard such good things about South Luangwa, but it ended up being a huge disappointment.

There simply weren’t enough animals to keep me busy. The main reason I’d wanted to visit the park was to see the African wild dogs, but they were denning, which meant they were less active and less mobile. It would’ve been nice to know that in advance…!

In addition, I’d visited too early. The animals would’ve been more visible down by the river when it was hotter and drier in September/October, and the carmine bee-eaters weren’t even due to arrive until August.

I should probably have worked all that out in advance, but I’m sometimes a little lazy in doing my research, and I honestly can’t remember if I chose the dates myself after being put off by the idea of 45° C heat in the high season or if that was all Mfuwe had available.

The original plan had been to do my usual thing by visiting as a resident photographer, swapping my pictures for free accommodation. That didn’t work out in the end, but Mfuwe did offer me a heavily discounted day rate for my entire stay at the lodge and the various bush camps, so I’m very grateful for that.

In future, I’ll keep trying new places to see what I’m missing, but there’s also a good argument for sticking to the best places I know. I’ll just have to balance the two approaches and see which works best.

I’m glad I had the chance to visit Zambia, and I’ve just booked a trip to another new location: Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. However, I’m also looking forward to going back to Kicheche in December. I’ve seen cheetah kills every time I’ve stayed there, and there’s nothing quite like a hunt for what ails you…!

Species

Animals

African bush elephant 

Banded mongoose 

Cape buffalo 

Common waterbuck

Crawshay’s zebra

Hippopotamus 

Impala 

Leopard 

Lion

Nile crocodile 

Nyala

Puku

Scrub hare

Slender mongoose

South African small-spotted genet

Spotted hyena

Yellow baboon

Birds

African barred owlet

African fish eagle 

African harrier-hawk

African hawk-eagle

African hoopoe

African jacana 

African openbill 

African pied wagtail

African sacred ibis

African skimmer

African spoonbill

Bateleur

Black-winged stilt

Blacksmith lapwing 

Blue waxbill

Egyptian goose 

Emerald-spotted wood dove

Fork-tailed drongo

Great egret

Greater blue-eared starling 

Grey-headed kingfisher 

Grey go-away-bird

Hadada ibis 

Hamerkop 

Helmeted guineafowl 

Hooded vulture 

Lilian’s lovebird

Little bee-eater 

Malachite kingfisher 

Meves’s starling

Pied kingfisher 

Red-billed firefinch

Red-billed spurfowlRing-necked dove

Saddle-billed stork

Southern red-billed hornbill

Spur-winged goose

Tropical boubou

White-backed vulture 

White-browed coucal

White-crested helmet-shrike

White-fronted bee-eater

Wire-tailed swallow 

If you’d like to order a framed print of one of my wildlife photographs, please visit the Prints page.

If you’d like to book a lesson or order an online photography course, please visit my Lessons and Courses pages.