I do hope that you are all super well and have had a fantastic weekend. Here in the Luangwa well we have one very busy week ahead of us as we open Luangwa River Camp, Tena Tena and Nsefu but I am going to keep all of that for next week today we have some super exciting news to share and that is news from our Zimbabwe team up at John’s Camp in Mana Pools National Park. So for this week over to Milo and Sarah:
“On the 1st of April, the team rallied in Harare to start mobilizing the camp which had been in moth balls for the last two seasons. Our wonderful team have all returned post-pandemic with excited energy. As you can imagine, there was a lot to be done. Tents were erected and checked, vehicles serviced, duck boards sanded and oiled, trunks of linen packed, pantry items replenished just to name a few.
Trucks were loaded on the 15th of April and in the early hours of the morning left in convoy for Mana Pools arriving safely in the park 12 hours later. A very long, very slow journey.
On arrival we were greeted by some of the team who had spent the previous 10 day in camp clearing the bush, opening water pipes, clearing dead and fallen branches and flattening ground in preparation for the build.
It didn’t take long for John’s Camp to be resurrected and by the 1st of May the finishing touches were taking place.
Of course, when building a camp in the bush nothing is ever straight forward. Disruptions from resident elephants wandering through (as they have done without our disturbance for the past two years), lions and sometimes buffalo occasionally put an immediate stop to work!
On the 4th of May, John’s Camp welcomed its first guests into camp. The team were thrilled to learn that they were repeat guests joining us for 10 nights! News from camp tells us they are having a wonderful time and some good game sightings.
At this time of year, the bush is still thick with a green tinge. However, it won’t take long for everything to start drying up.
We are also lucky enough to have John Stevens, my father, in camp guiding for us for a couple of weeks! He of course feels very much at home and we are all looking forward to a busy season ahead and hope that we may welcome you one day.”
Such amazing and exciting news, thanks so much Milo and Sarah! We are so pleased to hear that you are open again and we cannot wait to hear more updates from you as the season progresses.
In the meantime though, one small update from us here in the Luangwa: Bertie has had an addition to his camp building visitors as the hyena den just outside camp seems to have been re-excited and thus Tena Tena is now getting regular visits from the local clan, checking all that is going on in camp. Bertie is now hurrying to get his tents tensioned so that we don’t get any mucky paws on our freshly painted floors.
We can not wait to update you all next week with news from the opening, so between now and then I shall bid you all a very fond farewell and hope that you have a smashing week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another
