Lunga River Lodge

We spent a few great days at the Lunga River Lodge on the border of the Kafue National Park in June for Piérre’s birthday. The distance of about 320km from us (Lumwana) to the lodge took 7½ hours to drive. Visitors to Kafue usually fly in but we decided to do the trip by car (seeing that we have wheels now). The road between us and Kasempa (about 1½ hours) is a lovely tar road. However, from Kasempa it is very testing to say the least. The 79km between Kasempa and Kamakechi took us over two hours and the 20km between Kamakechi and Jifumpa about an hour. The 5 minutes/3km from Jifumpa to the hearpin bend that turns off to the lodge itself is not too bad. Once you turn off to the lodge it is another 28km which takes about 1½ hours as it is on a little bush track which already falls in the Game Management Area (GMA). We encountered swarms of tsetse flies on this section. But! It was all worthwhile as the Lunga River Lodge is a stunning place. It is run by a lovely Dutch couple, Rob and Ingrid. They made us feel welcome and special from the very moment we set foot. They also have a few special touches to make your stay even more comfortable like a wake‑up call in the morning with a tray of coffee and biscuits and a warm water bottle waiting in your bed when you return to your room after dinner. They also have knee blankets to see you through the cold evenings around the dinner table and fire pit. The lodge is set right on the Kafue river and the chalets are on the river bank (definitely not a place for children though). They have 6 chalets in total and can sleep up to 14 people. Each chalet has a bedroom that opens onto the river view with a patio under the beautiful trees. It also has a lovely modern bathroom with a shower/basin/toilet/large mirror and view onto the river. Bird life is absolutely amazing with all kinds of birds (including turacos) perching right above your head! The bar/lounge area has a wooden deck slightly overhanging the river. Our meals were all really great (they serve you something every four hours so no chance to get hungry). The venues for meal times were moved around so we had our meals in different locations all the time. They have a cosy boma facing a grassland towards the back of the lodge, a patio under the trees right on the river bank, a covered/open plan dining area and a fire-pit spot under the starry African sky. We did some game drives, went on a guided walk in Kafue National Park accompanied by three guides of which one was armed (in case we encountered any dangerous animals) and did some fishing on the river. The rest of the time we just relaxed and Piérre spent some time catching up on work. The Friday evening we were the only guests in camp. What a treat – people pay lots of money to have a camp exclusively to themselves and here we had it out of the blue. Our last evening, on our return from the game drive, we arrived at our room and had a lovely surprise waiting – a romantic dinner for two on our patio. They served us a great three course dinner and while we were enjoying that, we heard an odd sound. The next morning we were informed that there was a leopard outside the chalet while we were having dinner on the patio. Wow! Luckily he’s not into cream bruleé! The lodge is closed from Desember to June every year because during the rainy season it is impossible to get there. We were their first guests for this season. Guests usually fly in as they have their own landing strip. Apparently we were their first guests ever to arrive in our own vehicle – they thought we were mad! We’re already planning another trip there later this year. We have to go – I forgot my pillow there so I now have an excuse to go back.