Tena Tena Camp

elegant service and superb guiding

Tena Tena Camp is located in the South Luangwa North area of eastern Zambia.

The camp is in an impressive riverside position under the deep shade of an ebony grove on the eastern bank of the Luangwa River, with broad view across the surrounding floodplains, often with a range of wildlife in view. It lies in the reasonably quiet Nsefu sector of the park, which tends to experience low levels of vehicle traffic, especially at either end of the day.

The camp was one of the first to be established in the Nsefu Sector, way back in 1985, which makes it ancient by safari standards. It had an extensive makeover in 2012 and is now a really gorgeous tented camp.

From the vehicle turnaround we enter the grove and arrive to the rear of the lovely open-sided public areas, open-sided under a large canvas canopy and with dark adobe floors and low walls. Comfortable and stylish bar, dining and lounge areas are set on two levels, with a nice campfire area out front, closer to the river.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Tena Tena Camp is in six widely spaced and very lovely tented suites, with the same dark adobe theme on the front verandah and around the bathroom to the rear. The main bedroom is a substantial safari tent, entered via a zipper-flap door, spacious and beautifully light inside, with cream-coloured canvas inside and light concrete floors. Another zippered door on the side leads to a very well-appointed outside bathroom, with conventionally plumbed basins, shower and loo-with-a-view. These are amongst our favourite rooms in the valley, they really are special and a really nice blend of real camping and utter luxury.

Animals in camp

One aspect of which we particularly appreciate is the amount of wildlife which can be seen both in camp and out on the river directly below.

Elephants are regular visitors, lured in by the shade and the seed pods which fall from the ebony trees, they can often be seen at very close quarters.

Quite a few guests have reported seeing leopards pass through the camp too.

The guides are able to show you the spores of lions and leopards around the camp almost every morning.

One of the greatest joys is the chorus that rises from the pods of hippos throughout the day and deep into the night, combined with the characteristic cry of the fish eagle, this really should be the national anthem of Zambia.

Activities

Tena Tena Camp provides the following guided activities …

• vehicle safari
• walking safari
• night vehicle safari

South Luangwa is a very high quality safari area that often serves as the primary location in a trip.

The stay duration tends to be 5-8 nights split between two camps, or more occasionally 3-5 nights at one camp. Three camp combinations are also possible.

Seasonality

The best time to visit South Luangwa is during the May-Oct dry season, when the wildlife is focused on the riverine areas and easy to find.

Within that period, May-Jul is pleasantly cool at night, but the animals may not yet be fully migrated back into the river.

Towards the end of that period, Oct-Nov the wildlife should be at its strongest, but the weather is likely to be uncomfortably hot, especially at night. Bear in mind that most camps do not have air-conditioning.

Getting around

South Luangwa lies to the east of the country and is usually accessed by light aircraft services from Lusaka or Livingstone.

From Mfuwe Airport it is two hours by road into camp.

usually combined with Livingstone and other safari areas