South Luangwa National Park and Tena Tena Camp

Onwards we must go and our next stop was in the South Luangwa National Park in one of Robin Pope’s camps, Tena Tena.  We were met by Simon Pitt, the manager and one of the guides at the camp, at the Mfuwe airport. 

Tena Tena camp is situated in the shade of Sausage trees and Natal Mahogany on the eastern bank of the Luangwa river. 

The camp is simple but comfortable and gives us access to a remote area of the park where walking is allowed. The camp remains in situ from May to November and then is dismantled for the wet season.  

We enjoyed a guided walk with Simon and one of the Park Scouts where we were able to appreciate the game and trees, tracking and stretching our legs! A breeding colony of southern carmine bee-eaters was a highlight as was seeing the Thornicroft giraffe which is endemic to the Luangwa valley. 

We also went on a night drive back to camp after our sundowner and saw a couple of honey badgers. One of them narrowly escaped a sticky end when he ventured close to the water edge of an ox-bow lake and a crocodile lunged out at him! 

There were also a lot of elephant, bushbuck, puku, buffalo, kudu, impala, baboon and of course, masses of hippo and croc in the Luangwa river, in fact Phoebe counted fifty five croc as I was photographing the carmine bee-eaters. 

I think this was my favorite place on this safari as it was very much a bush camp, simple but comfortable, wild and remote with great hospitality and guiding and the feel of ‘old Africa’ about it. 

 The game was wild but we saw plenty and there was always the feeling of the next adventure just around the corner.