Inside Mukalya Private Game Reserve

CELEBRATING A 30 YEAR LEGACY

CHUNDUKWA RIVER LODGE & ZAMBIAN HORSEBACK SAFARIS

THE STORY OF DOUG EVANS. CELEBRATING A 30 YEAR LEGACY.

[WRITER: Gail Kleinschmidt / Vanessa Nielsen]

Doug’s passion for both horses and wildlife started at a young age, growing up amidst wildlife, with hands-on learning alongside his mother - who nursed and hand-reared orphan rhino, elephant, buffalo, eland and anything else on behalf of National Parks. On a horse since the age of two, Doug participated in his first gymkhana aged six years and, growing older, was known to disappear for weeks at a time into the wilderness on horseback.

Doug opted to build the river chalets on stilts so that guests would feel the synergy – to be immersed in the riverine forest and river, without affecting the natural movement of hippos and river life along its banks. Doug explains that he built it in such a way to take no vegetation out. ‘It was quite mission to get the stilts in. We had to sink 44-gallon drums into the riverbed, put the poles in there and pour concrete. All manually of course!’ The walls are made from hessian, Kalahari sand and cement.

Thirty years later, Chundukwa River Lodge retains its immersive nature, but has developed into a luxurious eco-lodge on the Zambezi River. Sitting just 25kms from Victoria Falls, we are close enough for guests to experience all that our beautiful destination in Southern Zambia has to offer - yet far enough to offer a quiet ‘off the beaten track’ sanctuary, tucked away in nature. On our horse ranch with a large active stable yard, we enjoy an abundance of space for horse trails, bush meanders and birdwatching in our indigenous gardens and lagoons. This is a place where you really can put your feet up, relax and have a holiday! A place you may feel completely content in doing nothing at all – and with the option to be as adventurous as you want.

[PHOTO: Gail Kleinschmidt ] [ Your host Doug Evans, a conservationist who has been exploring, observing and championing wild places in Zambia for over forty years. ] Doug developed his knowledge of wildlife with a posting at National Parks – here his work in wildlife management and conservation included the capture and relocation of wildlife, as well as training of horses to work in wildlife areas for anti-poaching patrol work. On his return to the Zambezi, Doug’s ambition was to share his Africa – the bush and wildlife in an immersive mobile safari experience in the Zambian wilderness. In 1992, Chundukwa River Lodge was created as the base camp, four small rustic chalets built on a shoestring budget with Doug’s lifetime savings – a small government pension from National Parks. And so Chundukwa was born! An adventurous spirit, Doug would ride his horses to the airport to collect guests. In the early days of course, he laughs, this was possible. At that time there was only Mokoro Quest operating under Colin and Mary Lowe and one other lodge - our neighbours at Tongabezi who were building. When I first met Doug, says Gail, his partner, we’d sit in the afternoons at the stables and count 150 elephants walk by on their way to dink at the River. Those were special days!

[PHOTO: Gail Kleinschmidt ] [ Wake up with the sun from your luxurious river chalet and peer out over the magnificent Zambezi River, place of the wild. Sit back and watch the river come to life with colours, sights & sounds. ]

Owner-run by Doug and Gail, we are dedicated to three activities: the hosting of guests; working together with our community to promote sustainable living practices; and the running of our stables and horse safari operations at home and in the Simalaha Wildlife Conservancy – Zambian Horseback Safaris, a place where Doug’s dream of leading horse lovers on multi-day rides in remote wilderness has finally come true.

Chundukwa River Lodge 2022 Offers – please refer to our website for more information.

Zambezi Getaway 2022

Your River Retreat – Take 10

A Night on Us – Pay 3 Stay 4

Self-Cater at Chundu Cottage

Chundu Cottage Long-Stay Getaway

Horse Safari & Victoria Falls – A 7 Night Story

www.chundukwariverlodge.com www.zambianhorsebacksafaris.com

HISTORY OF KAFUE PARK

by Gill Staden

The History of Kafue Park tells the stories of the people who used to live in the park and the surrounding area before it became a wildlife reserve. It covers the Ila, Kaonde and Nkoya people who hunted and farmed the land, battling each other and the wildlife which surrounded them. It tells how these people interacted with their neighbours, the Lozi, Tonga, Sala and Lenje, and how they coped with the invading Kololo and Matabele who arrived with their trained warriors to steal and kill. The Mambari slave traders from the west entered the park to capture people for sale, pillaging and burning villages as they went.

When the Europeans arrived, it was the missionaries who came to spread Christianity. They were followed by British administrators who built forts and bomas where often just one officer was left to look after a vast district with no roads, just scuffled footpaths between villages. At first, they walked or were carried in a machila (hammock), then they used the bicycle. Horses could not survive for long in tsetse-flyridden Kafue and cars had not been invented, but the mining companies brought in traction engines of which hundreds plied the roads built for them.

With the importation of guns, wildlife was easy to shoot for the pot or for sport. There were, at first, no thoughts about conservation of wildlife because there was so much of it. But then the inevitable happened and some places were empty of wildlife. The book tells of the research and discussions which went on before wildlife reserves were set aside to conserve the flora and fauna, and how tourism changed from being hunting tourism to photographic tourism. Kafue Wildlife Reserve was the largest with men like Norman Carr and Barry Shenton

BOOK REVIEW

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employed to build camps and construct roads throughout.

With Independence, the government had little resources to invest in the parks which brought about the decline of Kafue Park but then world attention on African wildlife brought about a reversal of Kafue’s fortunes with experts and funds being brought in from overseas.

We do not know how Kafue Park will look in twenty years’ time but its history is important for future plans. I enjoyed writing it and I hope others will enjoy reading it. It is available on Amazon.