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Tafika
Tafika
Tafika
Tafika
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Tafika
Tafika
Tafika

Reviews of Tafika

Wildlife sightings and reviews

318 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Tafika and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in May-2018, 78 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Tafika.
Lion

87% success

Leopard

92% success

Wild dog

45% success

Hippo

100% success

Giraffe

99% success

Zebra

99% success

Elephant

97% success

Buffalo

92% success

Spotted Hyena

91% success

Wildebeest

49% success

Eland

11% success

Roan antelope

3% success

Sable antelope

2% success

Aardvark

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Showing 51-60 of 318
Duration
Arrival date
Mrs S.
Zürich

"Warm welcome to a great Safari experience "

3 nights Arrived 7 Sep 2019
"We‘ve stayed at Tafika before - nothing changed much to our great pleasure.
The staff is very well trained, knowledgeable and helpful. Animals are plenty, Elephants and Hippos sometimes roam through the Camp but no need to worry as there is always somebody there to look out for you.
My husband enjoyed the bike ride with John - very different to home and so many interesting explanations and hints. He joined us then for the sun downer, John did take care that someone else rode the bike back to Tafika" See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia; 6n in Malawi
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

8 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

3 sightings

Spotted Hyena

6 sightings

Wildebeest

1 sighting

Zebra

10 sightings

The A team
London

"Tafika review"

2 nights Arrived 3 Aug 2019
"We were in the family suite which was simply fabulous. Great location and the food and our hosts were superb." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

4 sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

2 sightings

Zebra

2 sightings

Two Travellers
UK

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 22 Jul 2019
"We really enjoyed our stay at Tafika.

The location right on the river was fantastic and we found the atmosphere wonderfully relaxed and welcoming, due in no small part to the warm and inclusive hosting of Carol and John and the unfailing patience and empathy of the delightful Michele. It was also great to be assigned the family chalet, which seemed perhaps a bit more secluded than some of the other rooms and had the added amazing bonus of having its own hide.

Although we initially anticipated doing some walking at Tafika we actually ended up focusing on game drives, but felt that this was OK given that our other Remote Africa camps focused on walking. That said, and knowing all too well that nothing on safari can ever be guaranteed, we felt that sightings on game drives could be a little 'stop-start' and that a visit perhaps slightly later in the season might have resulted in the game being a bit more concentrated? The sense of exclusivity was very nice however and we barely encountered another vehicle." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs C
E Sussex

"Lovely Tafika"

3 nights Arrived 17 Jul 2019
"This was our third visit to Tafika and was every bit as good as the previous visits.

Everyone involved in the running of Tafika from the Bosses to the night watchmen are very cheerful and helpful.

A visit to South Luangwa would not be the same with out a visit to Tafika." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

3 sightings

Eland

1 sighting

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

6 sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Zebra

2 sightings

D & S
NZ

"A charming institution"

2 nights Arrived 7 Jul 2019
"The drive in to Tafika, through the Game Reserve and then the National Park, was depressing because of the amount of burnt land, and then the numbers of dead mopane trees standing. But Tafika itself is a vibrant and attractive camp, obviously an institution of long standing. It glories in the fresh food from its gardens and the obvious long-term family care it embodies, and has many very happy repeat visitors, though for us it felt a little large and busy,

Location:
Tafika's gardens are possible because it is not actually in the National Park, but it feels as if it is, with a beautiful site on the bank of the Luangwa River and immediate access to the wildlife world.

Accommodation:
The rooms are solid, beautifully detailed and comfortable, though a little enclosed at night for our taste.

Activities;
The game drives were very good, with plenty of sightings of birds, elephant, bushbuck, hippos, crocodiles, baboons, leopards, big herds of buffalo, giraffes, zebra. Night drives showed us hyenas ( in pairs rather than groups, as they apparently focus on stealing leopard kills rather than hunting in that area), genets, elephant shrews, scrub hares and a chameleon. Lloyd's guiding was excellent.

David went for a bicycle ride with founder John Coppinger and a few others - an interesting variation.

As our next few camps would be walking ones we didn't do walking from here." See all these reviews: 19n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

5 sightings

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

4 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

3 sightings

Zebra

9 sightings

Mr & Mrs L
Ilkley

"Fantastic Tafika"

10 nights Arrived 6 Jul 2019
"From start to finish our time at Tafika was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed excellent game drives with Mukupa and were occasionally accompanied by Lloyd, Moffat and Nick. We had fantastic sightings of so many things: too many to list really but a buffalo heard of 600 strong, stands of giraffe and beautiful sightings of leopard, lion and wild dogs certainly stay in our minds eye. The bird life is just amazing and the landscape is breath taking. We also thoroughly enjoyed bush walks led by Amon, Issac and Mukupa and Moffat. Nothing beats being out in the bush environment on foot, in our opinion. Although we did also sample the delights of cycling which was just great!

Having stayed here on other occasions it did not surprise us to find that the Tafika team had pulled out all the stops as usual. The rooms are lovely, well appointed and are kept spotlessly clean. All the meals provided by the catering team led by Rona were just lovely. We especially enjoyed the lunches. Freshly prepared food, much of it grown in the garden and on every occasion always served hot and with a really interesting menu. Rona and team seem totally unfazed by any dietary requirements!

You are always sure of a friendly welcome from John and Carol (the owners) now joined by Jenny and Nick (the next generation) and also Heather who ensures that your stay is the most interesting and well supported as it can possibly be.

We always find it really hard to leave Tafika, no matter how long our stay has been and we just can't wait to return." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

10 sightings

Lion

4 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wild dog

2 sightings

Wildebeest

2 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mrs F.
Dallas

"Tafika"

2 nights Arrived 5 Jul 2019
"We could not have asked for more convivial camps! We stayed at Tafika, Chikkoko, Crocodile and Mawleshi camps, and all camps were very comfortable with a friendly, welcoming, and efficient staff. Truly an experience to be repeated!" See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mrs P
South Wales

"Wonderful camp on the anks of the Luangwa"

3 nights Arrived 4 Jul 2019
"Beautiful position, wonderful food, great staff. Can't fault anything" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs S
Portsmouth

"Tafika review"

1 night Arrived 4 Jul 2019
"As before excellent place to stay.
[Ed. see below]

Amongst other animals we also saw genet, bushy tailed mongoose and a monitor lizard." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia; 3n in Malawi; 1n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

1 sighting

Elephant

1 sighting

Giraffe

1 sighting

Hippo

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

3 sightings

Zebra

1 sighting

Donaldsons
ADK, NY

"Tafika review"

4 nights Arrived 30 Jun 2019
"We were again (our second visit) greeted by owners Carol and John Coppenger and daughter Jen.

This camp is perfect for us... low key, relaxed, professional. Accommodations are comfortable: thatched roof and walls, private baths with private open air showers. Not fancy, but comfortable and very nice. Exactly what we wanted our children and grandchildren to see and experience. As close to open-air camping as possible yet completely safe.

The guides at Tafika are outstanding professionals. A walking tour with Isaac is highly recommended: hippos, a pride of lions, birds, et. al. Cooper and Lloyd are highly knowledgeable, and able to keep everyone aged 11 to 74 engaged and excited.

The common space is large, open and comfortable. We ate most dinners under the stars in perfect weather. The game drives were uniformly excellent.

As far as we are concerned, Tafika is a must." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Showing 51-60 of 318
98%
318 reviews of Tafika by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
294
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2
1
0
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