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Reviews of Tafika

Wildlife sightings and reviews

326 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, 86 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Tafika.
Lion

85% success

Leopard

93% success

Wild dog

43% success

Hippo

100% success

Giraffe

99% success

Zebra

99% success

Elephant

98% success

Buffalo

93% success

Spotted Hyena

91% success

Wildebeest

45% success

Eland

10% success

Roan antelope

3% success

Sable antelope

1% success

Aardvark

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 326
Duration
Arrival date
Mr & Mrs R
Glos

"Tafika review"

4 nights Arrived 2 Jul 2024
"Good animal sightings. We had gone with a wish list of Pel’s fishing owl and Serval and saw both with Lloyd our guide, as well as wild dogs, lions and leopards multiple times. We thought that we had perhaps seen more in earlier years in south luangwa, but that may have been the time of year rather than a drop off in numbers.

Lloyd was a great guide and we often had the car to ourselves so could focus on our interests.

Camp was comfortable and all the staff were extremely professional and helpful." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

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

Buffalo

6 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

4 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

9 sightings

Lion

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Wild dog

3 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mr J.
United Kingdom

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 1 Jul 2024
"We loved the family feel of the camp led by Nick & Jen.

All the staff were warm and welcoming. The excellent quality of the food was a delightful suprise. Really innovative, healthy and well prepared meals that one would never believe could be produced in the bush miles from any supplies other than their own vegetable garden" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Seema
USA

"Tafika review"

2 nights Arrived 30 Jun 2024
"Tafika was the most intimate of the camps we stayed at since it is family owned and managed and we had most of our meals with the family. It was wonderful to spend time talking to John and Carol, John being one of the original pioneers of the Luangwa valley, as well as their daughter/husband Jen and Nick who manage the camp, and their daughter/husband Christine and Bruce who were visiting. An inspiring and generous family. Vel and the rest of the staff were fantastic as well, and we enjoyed having the very experienced Lloyd as our guide.

We loved the very rustic and open reed and thatch chalets built around trunks of the sausage tree with eles walking around camp on both days. We were the only jeep most of the time given the remote location of the camp and there is no radioing between camp jeeps which makes for a truly serene safari experience. We ran into the BBC jeep with Will and Lianne who are still tracking and filming Olimba, and were able to see her a couple of times and speak with them a little about all the leopard activity in the area one morning.

Our highlight here was seeing a flap necked chameleon on a night drive and our time spent with Olimba at the end of our very last game drive of the trip.

Tafika was the perfect cherry on the top ending to our trip." 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

2 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

4 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

3 sightings

Spotted Hyena

7 sightings

Zebra

6 sightings

Harvey and Jo
Lewes

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 27 Jun 2024
"Great to meet the very welcoming Coppinger family owners (John, Carol and Jen) again on our third visit. One of them (or another staff) joins each table for lunch and dinner, and this is a camp where you sit out on the river bank under the stars for dinner, which is charming. The personal touch draws us back......

The simple pole and straw bedrooms appeal to us and are spacious and comfortable, but may not be everyone's choice: contrasts with other camps, which we like.

Guiding is excellent (as every other year). Nsefu sector is splendidly free of traffic from other camps, but takes 15 minutes to reach from the camp (only like crossing the river in other camps of course). Small shop opens at your request. All staff are excellent." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Buffalo

5 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

4 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

2 sightings

Zebra

7 sightings

Mr. P
NL

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 18 Jun 2024
"A lovely camp with a wonderful vibe overlooking the Luangwa river.
A very well operated place with a great staff.

Loved the opportunity to do walking safaris as well as game drives including evening drives to spot nocturnal animals. (servals, bushbabies, honeybadgers, side striped jackals )

The guides limit themselves to a relatively limited area of the park (camp concesion + parts of Nsefu sector) and don't venture further out unless specifically asked.

Exploring more of the park would for me be a reason to go back and/or stay longer. Otherwise, 2 days is quite enough to avoid going over the same grounds over and over again. Game density and viewing overall was great with exceptional guiding." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Buffalo

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

8 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

3 sightings

Lion

6 sightings

Spotted Hyena

3 sightings

Zebra

5 sightings

Mr & Mrs S
Leicester

"Please see previous review"

2 nights Arrived 8 Jun 2024
"This is an excellent location and place to stay in all aspects. We have reviewed previously on this site for Tafika.

[Ed: "From the moment we arrived at Tafika everything about this place was superb. Its location, the views, the people, the food and most of all the wildlife were beyond our expectations.

All the staff were so lovely and couldn't do enough for you. The Coppinger family have a dream set up here and proved wonderful hosts. The food was outstanding and the accommodation was 5* in a unique and authentic way.

We would like to say a special mention to Vel, she was the perfect host and so friendly and helpful. Also a special thanks to Lloyd whose knowledge and persistence proved to be the perfect and professional guide.

We couldn't have wished for more." ]" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Buffalo

1 sighting

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

3 sightings

Hippo

3 sightings

Leopard

5 sightings

Lion

4 sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Zebra

2 sightings

Mr & Mrs S
Leicester

"Faultless in all respects"

1 night Arrived 5 Jun 2024
"From the moment we arrived at Tafika everything about this place was superb. Its location, the views, the people, the food and most of all the wildlife were beyond our expectations.

All the staff were so lovely and couldn't do enough for you. The Coppinger family have a dream set up here and proved wonderful hosts. The food was outstanding and the accommodation was 5* in a unique and authentic way.

We would like to say a special mention to Vel, she was the perfect host and so friendly and helpful. Also a special thanks to Lloyd whose knowledge and persistence proved to be the perfect and professional guide.

We couldn't have wished for more." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

1 sighting

Giraffe

1 sighting

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

1 sighting

Zebra

1 sighting

Miss P
London

"Tafika review"

7 nights Arrived 12 May 2024
"I've always really loved Tafika and its family run atmosphere, and this was my seventh visit . It was a pleasure to spend time with John and Carol, and a shame Jen and Nick were absent attending a tourism show in South Africa, but I hope to see them when I return next year.

I was given the family chalet all to myself, which was a pleasant surprise!

I really enjoyed the guiding from Lloyd and Amon in particular.

We had some great sightings, including wild dogs that chased a puku into a lagoon where a crocodile grabbed it by the neck and then the ear and tried to drag it under. We had plenty of leopard sightings, mainly at night, but including one of a 3-4 month old cub up a tree." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mr. C
New Forest

"Tafika review"

4 nights Arrived 19 Oct 2023
"An established and excellent camp in a great location with wonderful staff and the usual amazing food.

You do have to be prepared for elephants wandering around the camp at any time but for me this is one of the best parts!

A real home from home." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs W
UK

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 14 Oct 2023
"We had been to Tafika many years ago and enjoyed it , this time we travelled with friends and the atmosphere was not the same. We had a great guide Billy, the camp is in a fabulous location and as documented the game viewing is superb. The accommodation is spacious and is great but sadly our welcome was poor manger was off sick which I guess didn’t help. This was such a contrast to the camp we had left it really stood out but of course first impressions count. The staff didn’t seem that happy and although the family were often around and friendly just a few changes would take it back to being excellent. Food needs updating and they were the only camp that didn’t seem to have got dietary requirements for us and even when we checked it took 24 hours and having to raise it as a issue before things improved but compared to the other 3 camps we stayed in, did not make the same effort. Still you can’t beat the camp for location, guiding and the fact it is in a quieter bit of the park which is busier these days so still worth a visit but maybe trading on these things and needs a bit of updating ." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

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

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Sable antelope

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

4 sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Showing 1-10 of 326
98%
326 reviews of Tafika by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
301
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2
1
0
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Mchenja Bushcamp

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Kakuli Bushcamp

Kakuli Bushcamp

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Nsolo Bushcamp

Nsolo Bushcamp

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Kafunta River Lodge

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Luwi Bushcamp

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Robin Pope mobile

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Puku Ridge

Puku Ridge

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Mfuwe Lodge

Mfuwe Lodge

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Kuyenda Bushcamp

Kuyenda Bushcamp

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Luangwa Safari House

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Three Rivers Camp

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Island Bush Camp

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Chinzombo

Chinzombo

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