Reviews of Kapani Lodge
Wildlife sightings and reviews
78 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Kapani Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
"Great place to start your safari"
Abraham was our giude and was brillant and was our special person here, my nieces and nephews loved him.
Having been on safari many years ago we did notice that there were quite a lot of vehicles in the Park in this area.
Loved the way that they tried to make each day a little different, sundowners set up on the river bank one day and then the trip over to the park on the pontoon the next - all made you feel special.
The evening / night trips were quite long though.
The food was excellent, especially the brunch!" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia; 3n in Tanzania
"Kapani Lodge review"
The other facilities include a pool, which I didn't use, a comfortable map/reading room, and a small gift shop.
The food was fine and plentiful. Breakfast was cold with cereals, fruits, breads, yogurt, fruit juices, tea, coffee; and with eggs cooked to order and porridge (which was very good). Brunch/Lunch was good with a selection of hot and cold entrees/salads. Afternoon tea was usually a nice cake and beverages. Dinner was a 3-course affair. In general, the food was very good.
Guiding was good. I had John as my guide and he was certainly knowledgeable and diligent about spotting game. He was also my host at meals.
Game drive vehicles were standard Landcruisers with 3 rows of seats. The camp was very quiet, and I basically had private game drives while I stayed here." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Kapani Lodge review"
"Afternoon tea with baboons!"
As you walk around the grounds you meet monitor lizards and monkeys as well, which is great.
One night we were woken by a loud noise of branches being broken. We looked out of our window and at first we saw just darkness. I kept thinking this noise must have been from an elephant. We looked harder and realised that the whole "darkness" was in fact the elephant standing less than a meter away from the window. We watched until he finished his dinner and he then turn around and we were almost face-to-face with him (he was so close that he gently brushed the wall turning around). This was amazing, even at 3 am!
Our guide Brian was great and friendly and he took us around by car and on foot (at our request) even if this was not the best time for walks. I wanted to see "babies" and I did! Baby zebra, giraffe, puku, elephant, monkeys, baboon....endless list!
In a drive we stopped to watch an elephant trying to protect her baby from an unseen (by us) threat; it was really interesting as she was backing into the thick bushes pushing the baby behind her. We watched for a while but we could not see whom she was so scared of. Later on the same drive we (ehm... the guides of course) spotted a leopard on a tree quite near to the car. We watched as he slowly climbed down, stopped for a moment looking directly at us between two branches (wonderful picture!) and then gently moved away. We were quite excited as this was our best leopard sight. Unfortunately that was also the evening when a surprise champagne sundowner had been set up for us on the river and....we were late! By the time we got to the spot the sun was gone and the poor member of the staff had been waiting for us for a long time. Brian agreed with us that a sundowner can be organized at any time and you cannot ignore a leopard....
These are just a couple of details as it is impossible to describe every day in details.
Another very good idea is that at NCS they keep your group with the same guide. When we came back from Kakuli Brian was with us again, welcoming us as old friends. They also send out one car for each group (on our last day they had 3 cars out, despite there were only 7 people).
Staff and service were great. Our room , the bar/restaurant and the pool were all good. Food was plenty and very good. We liked the buffet brunch so you can have as little or as much as you like. They catered for my vegetarian menus really well.
This is a lodge and not very remote, but we knew how it was in advance. Being outside the main gate I can imagine how busy it can become in the dry season. On the other hand being close to the local village allows members of the staff to go home when off duty and probably enriches the local community as well." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia; 5n in Zimbabwe
"A warm welcome and good game drives at Kapani"
Our knowledgeable guide, Brian, maintained an enthusiasm on each game drive which belied the fact that he has been doing the job for years! Staff at the lodge were friendly and welcoming and the food was good. We felt comfortable, safe and looked after during our stay.
It was encouraging to see that local people were employed at all levels in the organisation. This is a refreshing change compared with many companies who seem only to employ local people in the more menial roles." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
"Peaceful riverside camp"
Levy was our excellent guide, always smiling and cheerful and imparting knowledge about the animals, birds, flora and fauna in a professional way. There was plenty of game to watch and we enjoyed our trip across the pontoon to explore further into the park, particularly as there were fewer vehicles in that area. Levy was always courteous, keen to care for us and show us everything.
It was gratifying to meet David Wilson, the managing director of Norman Carr and also Abraham Banda who was shortly to undergo a trip to the UK to compete in the Wanderlust World Guide competition." See all these reviews: 6n in Zambia
"Lovely to visit Kapani again"
Abraham guided us and was fantastic. We had great fun with him and we also enjoyed our visit to Yosefe school." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia
"Great introduction to South Luangwa"
The team were welcoming and attentive and as a vegetarian I was very well catered for with a variety of dishes from vegetable kebabs on barbeque night to risotto, salads and wonderful cakes!
The suites are very comfortable and well equipped. Clean, spacious and cool." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia
"Nice start at Kapani for a great trip"
Arrived for dinner at Kapani, also people there (Enoch) took care about the problem I had with my luggage (that did not arrive in Lusaka with me....), and that was very reassuring.
Even if I had in my hand luggage all what I needed, at least for a few days (underwear, shirt, trousers, socks, etc.), the opportunity to use the laundry service is very useful in these cases.
We spent the two nights in Kapani having a great time and great food, as it will be for the rest of the trip in all the camps, where the food was always fantastic." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia
"Kapani Lodge review"
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