Not the place where I was born but where I hang my hat is home ~ African Proverb
Office Africa - Open Season 2022
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Shenton Safaris promotional video from the 1990’s; filmed by Derek and his mother, Marianne.
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Thirty camp building seasons ago as a young man I began the construction of Kaingo on the banks of the Luangwa river, a dream job for me. To this day I am still completely humbled by the good fortune that has allowed me to share with all our guests over the years the beauty and energy of this natural wonderland.
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Way back in 1992 after winning the tender for the site from National Parks, together with my parents Barry and Marianne who had an established commercial farm in Mkushi, Central Zambia, we got started on Kaingo Camp. My father Barry, had spent 20 years in the National Parks Service and had sited and built eleven camps during that time in various National Parks around the country, including Nsefu Camp in 1952, just across the river from modern day Kaingo - 70 years and still standing! His patient wisdom, counselling and experience laid the foundation for the Shenton Safaris you see today. His choice of site and camp layout was crucial. My mother Marianne also had a huge input and spent many hours helping out. Her Swedish flair was put to good use towards opening with regards to soft furnishings and setting up the kitchen. Drawing from her worldly travels, she gave weight to our fledgling marketing campaign as we travelled to trade shows together to introduce our new safari experience.
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Derek and his siblings on the bank of the Luangwa river just up river from the site now known as Kaingo Camp.
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By the end of that year we had 4 chalets built together with the main dining area, staff housing and kitchen. We obtained permission to use the massive thousand year old leadwood tree that had fallen halfway into the river, near our hippo hide site as a bar counter.
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Using farm equipment, practical skills and harnessing local manpower we managed to set ourselves up with the emphasis on self-sustainability and by midway through our next year we were ready to open up for guests. Shenton Safaris was up and running! Our first guests were a dentist and his family from the Copperbelt. Four years later we were receiving a sprinkling of international guests and added two more chalets to Kaingo and established our 6 bed bush camp, Mwamba, along the nearby Mwamba stream. We then put in the decks over looking the Luangwa at each chalet and set up more hides including the elephant hide, Numbu platform and the breathtaking carmine hide. In 2011 and 2017 Kaingo had a major facelifts as did Mwamba in 2018.
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Thirty seasons later after one or two small changes in life including two beautiful daughters and my soul-mate wife, Jules, I am still on the riverbank at Kaingo, watching the river flow by in my favorite place in the world. The beauty of the natural surrounds has not changed a bit and wildlife numbers for most species have increased over the years proving that photographic tourism together with committed antipoaching efforts (from Rachel Mc Robb and her team at CSL in partnership with DNPWZ) undoubtably does have a positive impact on wildlife.
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Camp building this year started as usual in mid-April. It has been an intensely busy time as both camps require an immense effort in order to get them ready for guests after what has been another season of late but heavy rains. The annual floods swept through both camps again a metre high in March but without much physical damage as we plan for them well in advance, every year by packing everything above the high-water mark.
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Firstly all 150km of access roads and game viewing loops need to be opened up again using our tractors and equipment. I want to send a huge thank you to our guests who donated through the last two covid years and enabled us to keep the full road network open as access for the anti-poaching teams. The survival of game in our area is hugely reliant on this protection. The Hippo and Wild dog lagoon hides are constructed with new grass and reeds and the elephant hide repainted. Our vegetable plot garden close to the airport outside the park is fully planted by the end of March and is already abundant with produce including fruit and eggs. It takes all of our 50 dedicated local Zambian staff a good six weeks to get both camps and all things in shape and we are now ready at Kaingo with our first guests who will arrive next week.
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Joining our management staff at Kaingo this year are the wonderfully enthusiastic Ben and Mary Delport who come from a rich safari background while young Rubin Doria (Craig and Janelle Doria who were my contemporaries in the early days of the valley.) is picking up the media role as Tom Roper who has been pushing out amazing posts for the last two years has left us to pursue a career in education. We wish Tom all the best in his new journey. Charming Catherine still holds the kitchen side of things at Kaingo while locally grown foodie Madelaine Nicolle will host at Mwamba. Gerard will be in and out making guest appearances and of course our usual friends Patrick, Sly, Yorum, Hendrix and Elias are all raring to guide our guests sharing all creatures great and small. James, Richard, Joseph and the rest of our team are excited to look after all your needs back in the camps.
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Top left - right: Ben and Mary Delport, Rubin Doria
bottom left - right: Catherine Garden, Madelaine Nicole
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Left - Right: Joseph, Keenan, Simon
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We have already seen the Mwamba-Kaingo pride as well as our local leopards. The wild dogs were around last week and there are herds of eland and Cookson’s wildebeest along the Mwamba and on Lion Plain. Young are everywhere including many baby elephants as well as thousands of tiny caterpillar eggs hanging from lilac trees, shortly to hatch out as butterflies. The birdlife is abundant with recent sightings around camp of black breasted snake eagle and even some late woodland kingfishers. Every night a family of wood owls call to each other around camp. The air is fresh and the grass is green and lush.
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Two impalas watching the MK pride very carefully as the MK pride looks back
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We are all looking forward to what appears to be a ‘ back to normal’ season again after the two quiet covid years. We can’t wait to receive our returning family, and our new guests who will be travelling out to Kaingo Camp and Mwamba Bush Camp shortly from across the world.
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In the meantime, greetings and ‘ salani bwino’ – stay well from
Derek, Jules, Saphire, Jayabella and the Shenton Safaris Family
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