Reviews of Kakuli Bushcamp
(97%) From 62 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Kakuli Bushcamp review
The highest points of our stay in Kakuli Bushcamp:
1- The people - different names but the same dedication, support and warmth. Philemon (manager), Gloria, Jack (meals), Joseph (ranger) and a special mention to John (guide - the walking encyclopedia). All of them are very good on their jobs. John seems to know everything about South Luangwa ecosystems, and each and every species of animals and plants that live there. We've learned a lot from him!
2- The food - it's amazing how so delicious dishes can be cooked in such secluded places. Thank you very much Judith and other kitchen people!
3- The Bushcamp itself - location, accommodations, service, facilities.
4- The activities - the walking safaris are really special and very good opportunities to learn from such experienced guides like John. I wish I could have done more. Impressive density of animals!
An aspect to improve (the same apply to other camps that we visited - Chongwe River Camp and Mchenja Bushcamp): the lack of communications, including the internet, although it is great to keep you focused in your job (walk and drive safaris) can be a serious limitation if you are in need to hear from your family very far away...
Kakuli Bushcamp review
We first visited Kakuli over ten years ago and it has changed enormously but has maintained the character that we remembered and, as ever, all the staff, across the board, were excellent. It was great to come back - the only sadness was to learn that Aubrey had passed on - what a lovely man he was.
The romantic surprise dinner for two on our veranda suddenly included an elephant "in the room" eating the pods from the acacia next door and we had to continue with an armed guard to protect us! Huge fun.
More close encounters with elephants at the surprise lunch on the banks of the Luangwa - a really memorable stay.
Kakuli Bushcamp review
Better sited and more game that anything else in South Luangwa NP ( including comments from other tourists we met).
The best guides in the trip so far!
Saw lions from all 3 prides in the area.
Finishing on a high
My third and final bushcamp on my first safari.
I think Kakuli had my favourite chalets - they were rebuilt earlier this year and were so fresh and very large. Like Mchenja, the front is open during the day with canvas walls pulled down at night. The en-suite is actually inside, although screened off rather than a separate room, but there's an outdoor shower too. The polished concrete floor extends into a verandah with a comfy two-seater sofa (and a pair of shy skink living underneath mine). My chalet overlooked the river - but quite high above it - with a view of a well-used hippo trail across to the other side. Sitting on the sofa one afternoon, a small troop of baboons passed in front of me, each one doing a double-take when it realised I was there.
The Kakuli lounge/dining bar area has been extended apparently - I didn't see it before but certainly the current version is spacious. There's a balcony overlooking a small lagoon: two elephants had stopped by for a drink when I arrived and as I left (protestingly) two warthogs were splashing about. Despite it being the dry season, there was actually a brief heavy shower on my last night, and the balcony was awash with tree frogs which we then discovered had migrated to the sofas, resulting in us all shuffling to the dinner table so we didnt step on any en route. Underneath the balcony is now a hide, complete with sofa which cant be common in many hides.
Excellent camp
Fantastic accommodation , complete with tree frog hosts, which offered luxury and a rustic feel in one. Comfortable, clean and in a good setting, the rooms really were very good.
Staff at Kakuli were excellent, friendly and helpful and with a great sense of humour. Food was excellent given the location and facilities. Watching these guys cook breakfast over a small fire was a sight, but the other inventive ways they cooked and presented the food was very good.
Guides and scouts were readily available to easily cover the small number of guests, and amazed with their keen eyesight and enthusiasm and knowledge.
6 leopard sighting in one day!!
We stayed 3 days in the family open cottage. The view from the master bedroom was great and the location of the cottage is perfect (right next to the communal area). We saw several herds of Elephants from the deck and were serenaded by the sound of hippopotamus. We witnessed Dixon bathing in the mud not far from the deck and had the visit of a lion or lions one night. Hearing his/their roaring at night was incredible. We never felt unsafe as the watchman stay by the cottage when he/they got closer (or so it seems!). The staff was wonderful, very attentive and the food was fabulous. Siku, the Manager of the camp is amazing and make you feel like family. Her leadership and her kindness make this place very special. Our guide, Phil was incredible. His knowledge was so impressive that he led us to 6 leopards sighting and one kill in the same day! His love of the wild animals and the park is contagious and we hope this place will stay the way it is for a very long time. We highly recommend it.
Read more about the whole safariFriendly, efficient hosting
This was my first visit to Kakuli - it was the only NCS camp I did not visit in 2012. The hosting here was a vast improvement on Luwi and Nsolo, with Claire doing an excellent, friendly and very efficient job. I also loved the camp a lot more than I expected, especially the open fronted design of the rooms and the river view. Philemon was a great guide and the 14km walk with him from Nsolo to Kakuli was a highlight of my trip and perfectly paced. I had some super sightings here including lions on the "beach" taking down a baby puku.
The only downside to Kakuli was the same problem I experienced in 2012 at Mchenja and the reason I confined my visit this time mainly to the Norman Carr walking camps rather than the more driving based camps. For anyone remotely serious about photography, an early start to a game drive is crucial, and there is just too much faffing around over a fancy breakfast. On one morning it was 7am before we left!! This is compared to the Robin Pope camps and Lion Camp, where there is no mucking about, the guides are on the ball at getting everyone out in the vehicles promptly after a simple but adequate breakfast, and as early as possible.
Perhaps this is a Norman Carr business decision to pitch themselves at the more relaxed safari goer, but it doesn't suit me personally.
The peeping mouse
Julius was not the only guide who asked us in the morning what we would like to see and then delivered it by nightfall, but it was with him that we began to set, as we thought, unattainable challenges. Wondering how high the bar could go, one day I said, "I'd like to see a leopard climbing a tree" and then, by dinner-time, there she was! We stayed out longer than usual for that one. The leopard started out as just a small patch of spots in the undergrowth, but then she walked over and seemed to take an interest in a tree, sniffing it and looking upwards. It was really time to go back to camp and we kept saying, "Oh well, never mind....", but suddenly, up she went, first about twenty feet, and then another twenty, where she made a lunge for a roosting guinea-fowl and missed. They all flew squawking out of the tree and we went back for our dinner, which thankfully we hadn't had to catch for ourselves.
We were a bit late, but hadn't been able to tear ourselves away. The peeping mouse came out of the thatch when I was having a shower. It was very pretty and not at all worrying. John thought there was a bit of debris near the sink, though, and when he went to pick it up, it jumped away, showing itself to be a little tree frog. These are also very appealing creatures, but easy to overlook, which is when they can make you jump.
As our move to Kakuli marked switching from Robin Pope to Norman Carr, I thought the latter didn't have hosts in the way to which we had become accustomed. Julius ate with us, drove us about the place and looked after us all the time, then on the third day Claire arrived and apologised for absence and Julius was allowed to go and eat with his colleagues and relax "backstage".
Kakuli Bushcamp
We were met by our guide Prince at the Mfwue airport who was with us for the two days. He was excellent.
The camp was great and Claire and her team were friendly and welcoming.
Kakuli Bushcamp review
Again a well organised team creating perfect conditions for an agreeable stay. Thank you Claire.
Aubrey is a well experienced guide, proving his skills at a surprise too close encounter with a lonely elephant bull.
and a witty storyteller. ( why the hippo spreads his poo, the king of the bush, the buffalo and the guinea fowl .. )
When on a nightly game drive KAKULI proofed to be be not as remote as the two other camps.
