In late June this year (2023) Toby guided a wonderful group of fourteen family and friends through Zambia. Below is his report and photos.
I love being on safari, no two ways about it. I am also incredibly privileged to be able to not only regularly head out on safari as part of reconnaissance trips for our guests, or on mini-adventures with my family, but I'm also lucky enough to occasionally host and guide some of you through this phenomenal paradise of a world that I call home. Having now finally got through the editing of my photos from the trip, I'm very excited to share it all with you.
The lovely Latitude 15 Hotel in Lusaka. The best base to start our adventure.
We began our safari in Zambia's capital city Lusaka at the wonderful Latitude 15, the perfect base for everyone to meet up off their various flights and recover from a long journey before heading off to the bush the following morning.
With the anticipation of what animals we'll be seeing first front of mind after a merry evening placing bets we rose early to head back to the airport, jump aboard our private plane and fly south-east to the wonders of the Lower Zambezi National Park.
Moments after landing in the Lower Zambezi a herd of elephant cross the runway.
We spent 4 nights at the newly renovated Chonge River Camp, which was the perfect base for the family and friends who could take the camp out to themselves.
Chongwe River Camp.
Over the course of the four nights we were treated to amazing game viewing, fun boating on the river, card games and much more.
A small selection of wildlife sightings.
We also made some great friends with our guides and the camp staff.
Chiza the main man!
After our four nights in the Lower Zambezi it was time to fly north to the South Luangwa to spend three nights taking sole-use of both Nsolo and Luwi, bush camps operated by Time + Tide. Once again we were treated to fantastic game viewing, including phenomenal sightings of wild dog and leopard, in fact by the time we got to the South Luangwa we'd lost count of how many leopards we'd seen.
More incredible sightings in the South Luangwa.
The lovely family I was guiding also introduced me to the brilliant game of Wiffle Ball, which for me is a garden cricket version of Baseball. As a rather competitive soul, I must admit that I fully immersed myself in the game and don't have any photos. I'll try find some to update this article in due course.
After an amazing seven nights on safari it was time for our Bonamy guests to head off to the beach for some well deserved R&R. As they headed off to Kaya Mawa, I made my way to England to catch up with my wife Olivia and son Phin and our families that are based in the UK.
Closing shots from the Lower Zambezi and South Luangwa.
I can't thank the family that I guided enough for being such amazing guests who welcomed me wholeheartedly into their midst.
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