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Tafika
Tafika
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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 231-240 of 318
Duration
Arrival date
Prof & Mrs S
Scotland

"Wild dogs at Tafika"

2 nights Arrived 12 Nov 2011
"Long drive from the airport. The rooms are very open to the outside - a bit daunting to anyone of a nervous disposition, especially when hippos visit during the night and are only inches away from the pillows. Good walk-in mosquito nets.

Lack of electricity (so no fans) means it's difficult to keep cool - damp kikois are the answer. The microlight flight with John is well worth doing.

Bryan guided us on a wonderful morning when we "hunted" (and killed a puku) with a pack of 16 wild dogs - thrilling.

There were still lots of carmine bee-eaters at the hide - lovely." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Average
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Average
Mrs D
London

"Tafika review"

2 nights Arrived 26 Oct 2011
"Tafika is every bit as good as we remembered it and we were so warmly welcomed back. The Coppingers are the most charming hosts and we also loved Heather, who gets everything on the hospitality side absolutely spot on. The atmosphere is so welcoming and relaxing, the location is stunning, lodges so comfortable and well maintained and the balance between comfort and fitting in with the environment is perfectly struck. Tafika is magical.

And so is the food. Rhona and her team create the most delicious and interesting meals, I will remember them for a long time.

We enjoyed some day and night drives - one with Isaac Zulu, whom we first met 30 years ago - and the walk with Bryan for two of us was much enjoyed. Our other guides were also delightful and knowledgable. The only bad thing is having to leave." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr F
Dublin

"super time at Tafika"

4 nights Arrived 13 Oct 2011
"Guiding, food and company were excellent as usual." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Mrs B & Ms W
Surbiton

"Tafika"

2 nights Arrived 11 Oct 2011
"A truly inspiring camp! We thoroughly enjoyed visiting Mkasanga village and school which Tafika supports through the Tafika Fund and would urge other guests to go to see another perspective of life in the bush. It seems that Tafika really makes a difference to the lives of people here.

In my mid-70s, I had my first flight in a microlight - a wonderful experience with exceptional views over the Luangwa." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Dr P
Aberdeenshire

"Tafika review"

2 nights Arrived 2 Oct 2011
"I completed the Tafika review earlier. [Ed: See below.]" See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Dr P
Aberdeenshire

"Tafika review"

1 night Arrived 28 Sep 2011
"I reviewed Tafika earlier. [Ed: See below.]" See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Mr W & Ms W + kids
NL

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 27 Sep 2011
"Coming back to Tafika felt like coming back home.

We had ridiculous luck on our game drives with wild dogs everywhere (again). The guiding was excellent (Mukupa and Amon)." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia; 13n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Dr & Mrs C
Henley

"walking whenever we could"

3 nights Arrived 25 Sep 2011
"This is our 4th visit and we chose to walk every day- across the river by boat and into the park is a fine way to start the day. Stephen found hyena and lion and these we watched, keeping very still as they were within 40 yards.

Fine microlight trip with John when we saw a fledgling giant eagle owl on its nest. Night drives were a bit sparse but Tafika kept it's record for us of always providing a leopard - this time on its kill on 3rd night.

John & Carol make this a camp we will always try to return to as it is unpretentious but offers excellent guides and staff, and choices of what to do." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Dr P
Aberdeenshire

"Tafika main camp"

1 night Arrived 24 Sep 2011
"Tafika is perfectly positioned on the bank of the Luangwa and close to the park entrance, not that it matters much, as there is a lot of wildlife outside the park, too, as there are no fences around the South Luangwa park. Guiding here is truly excellent and the food is fantastic, with fresh salads from the garden. The atmosphere is relaxed and unpretentious, and a lot is done to make mealtimes an intimate experience in smaller groups of guests instead of the traditional long table. A tour in the microlight aircraft is not to be missed, this is what flying is all about and the views are stunning.

One small downside for me personally is the rooms; I found them to be a little dark and enclosed, with only a small breeze and almost no light coming in at night. With all the wildlife moving around in the camp at night, some separation is of course nice to have, but I would have liked a little less. I guess this is a hard balance to strike!" See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Dr & Mrs B
Herts

"Tafika review"

3 nights Arrived 22 Sep 2011
"We love this camp. On a broad site overlooking the Luangwa river, with large reed chalets and plenty of space to unpack and organise items. Heather and the team were extremely welcoming and the relaxed atmosphere just helped us immediately to feel at home. Bryan, Alex, Amon and Mukupa were great guides, and tried really hard to find the elusive leopards. However, too many lions around this time.

Experienced our second kill on a night drive with Alex - a small and unfortunate puku caught by a couple of lions in a ditch right next to our vehicle was quickly followed by the appearance of eight more inlcuding several young ones - the adults allowed the latter to commit the "coup-de-grace" and a rather grizzly scene ensued. Hyena, elephants, hippo, giraffe, impala, baboons, monkeys, zebra plus a great night sighting of a very relaxed porcupine.

The microlight flight with John is an absolute must - experience an African sunrise watching elephant cross the Luangwa river while two hundred feet high, and add in the bonus of the Hollywood pride of 17 lions relaxing a couple of hundred feet away from an empty Crocodile Camp, and you know why you will keep coming back.

Thank you John and Carol, and all the staff at Tafika - we'll be back. Highly recommended." See all these reviews: 16n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Showing 231-240 of 318
98%
318 reviews of Tafika by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
294
21
2
1
0
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Island Bush Camp

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