Jabes

Transfer Driver, Grandfather and agriculture expert

Spends most of his days ferrying guests back and forth between Lusaka and the lodge
But has spent most of his working life as a commercial farm manager, making use of his 3 diplomas in agriculture, marketing and wildlife forest conservation
Comes from Chipata and has worked at Mukambi since 2013
Was the assistant manager for The Chongwe River Camp in the Lower Zambezi National Park
Spends his spare time reading wildlife books and studying hard for his guiding licence as he has a passion for wildlife
He has 4 grown children, one of which lived many years in Russia where he qualified as an ecologist

Purity

Front of House

Purity has been with Mukambi since 2012 and likes to drive the boat across the river taking guests to the harbour
She values education above everything else and even went back to school in 2008 to finish her studies
She has 2 children and loves shopping in Mumbwa
Not only is she a trained masseuse, but hopes to one day set up a Mukambi spa with professional massage service
She is also called upon often to braid her friends hair in her spare time
She once mistook Impala for Lions and ran for her life

Victor

Head of HR and Guiding Dept

Victor has been at Mukambi since it was built over 25 years ago
Victor always puts guests safety first and enjoys providing in-house training to the various teams
He qualified as a guide in 1994 and has spent many years guiding thousands of guests around the Kafue NP
A keen photographer, Victor spends his spare time out in the bush with his Canon 40D or fishing on the river
His love of the bush started at 5 years old as a member of the Chongololo wildlife club in his village

Ntanga

Reservations Manager and Resident DJ

A member of the Mukambi management team, Ntanga arrived in 2014
A keen sportsman, Ntanga played for both the Zambian and Botswanan rugby clubs and enjoyed fame playing on national TV
A music lover, he also enjoys partying behind the music decks as a DJ in his spare time
He was born in Zambia, but has spent the majority of his life living in the bush in Botswana
He speaks 3 languages: English, Nyanja and Setswana
Loves cooking – particularly savoury snacks and Asian cuisine
Ntanga is a keen traveller and would one day like to visit The Himalayas, but top of his bucket list, is a trip into space with his brother, David
He is an avid collector of Airforce Nike shoes!

Brian

Head barman, waiter, head of department and team joker

Brian enjoys being the referee for local football matches and is a devoted Manchester City supporter.
He is a very good swimmer and at the age of 15, he saved a friend from drowning in the river.
A keen birder, Brian loves the humble Namaqua Dove and loves taking a boat out on the river to go birding.
Best thing about the Kafue NP is the abundance of bird and animal species.
He can speak 7 different languages.

Mary

Waitress and “Supermum”

Mary has worked at Mukambi since 2009 and joined at the same time as Chipo.
As well as looking after her own 5 children Mary looks after 3 additional orphaned children!
Mary likes to join her friends fishing for Bream in the river when she gets time off
Mary is happiest when she is collecting firewood in the quiet of the bush and building fires to fry fish

Chipo

Waitress at Mukambi since 2009

Married with a baby daughter called “Hope”
Also surrogate mother to 3 orphaned children from her wider family
Chipo enjoys reading magazines and novels by West African authors
The best thing about living in the bush for Chipo is the peace and quiet; being able to listen to the sounds of the birds and animals
Chipo would like to some day travel to America
Her colleagues describe her as incapable of arguing and friendly to everyone she meets

Naomi

Waitress, wife and mother

Naomi loves to fish with her friends in her spare time; for Bream which she likes to fry until they are nice and crunchy
She is very afraid of crocodiles which she keeps a good look out for when fishing!
She enjoys singing gospel songs in the SDA church choir
Naomi thinks that the best thing about the bush is the fresh air that surrounds us
One day she would love to visit South Africa
Her colleagues describe her as very hard-working and never holds a grudge

Loveness

Waitress, fundraiser and church singer

Loveness has been with Mukambi since 2013
She is married to one of our Mukambi Community School teachers
Her children, Salome and Timothy both attend the school and one day, baby Faith will follow
She has relatives in Angola and would one day love to visit Botswana or Zimbabwe
She is impressed by the difference that schooling has made in the local community in recent years and assists with the fundraising activities to continue this progress
She loves to spend time praying and teaching her children new songs

Derrick

Waiter, winning fisherman and newest arrival

Derrick was born in South Africa to a South African Mother and Zambian Father
He comes from Siavonga in the Southern Province where he has a wife and children
He has worked many years in the bush on the Lower Zambezi and Lake Kariba
Derrick once won first prize in a fishing competition in Mongu with a very large Tiger fish
Plays football for the Mukambi team
Loves cooking, particularly local Zambian food
His goal is to empower his children to succeed in life and is currently saving to build houses on his 3 plots of land in his home town

Nevers

Night Guard

Born in Kasempa, Nevers is the cousin to our Chef Botson and is married with 5 children.
After spending some time working as part of the building team for other lodges in the area, Nevers came to Mukambi in 2017 as a night watchman.
His school was 9kms away from his village, so it was incredibly difficult for him to attend when he was a child, but now all 5 of his children attend the Mukambi school a few metres from where they live.
Nevers loves to dance and will often be the first member of staff to start the dancing for guest birthdays or for annual celebrations.

Clifford

School Chairman and Lodge Security Guard

Clifford works nights at Mukambi taking guests safely back and forth to their rooms and patrolling the grounds throughout the night.
As well as being a football player, Man Utd fan, and singer in the church choir, Clifford is also chairman of the Mukambi school board.
A keen herbalist, with an interest in medicine, he once worked in a hospital laboratory testing specimens for diseases for the Luampa Mission.
Clifford is married to Harriet and has 3 daughters. He speaks 8 languages.

Friday

Night Guard

Originally from Kaomo district, Friday speaks 5 languages, and is married with 6 children.
After working in Lusaka he came to Mukambi to be one of our trusted night watchman.
He loves cooking, driving and farming vegetables.
Being a huge fan of Bruce Lee, Friday would one day like to visit China and make some new friends there.

Joanne

Guide, Fig Tree Camp Manager, Digital Marketeer…

Joanne grew up on a dairy farm in the heart of the English countryside where she still owns a small piece of protected woodland
She first came to Africa in 1995 when she toured Zimbabwe for 5 weeks with her friend, a tent and a portable gas stove, in an old Datsun Sunny
After 25 years as a software systems consultant the call of the bush became too much and she enrolled in a guiding course with EcoTraining in South Africa
She has climbed Machu Pichu, dived the Great Barrier Reef, driven 11,000kms around the coast of Europe and worked on a cattle ranch in Australia
She is a deadly shot with a bolt action rifle and a qualified wilderness first aider

Maggie aka “Batman”

Administrator, 4×4 champion, and Office “DJ”

Born in Zambia, to South African and Zambian parents, Maggie speaks English, Afrikaans and Nyanja.
Although she loves Scotland, even lived there for a while, she cannot wait to visit Italy and the Lamborghini factory there.
Maggie and her brother, Willem, collectively have more than a dozen lions at their home farm just outside Lusaka.
Fascinated by tattoos and body modifications, Maggie attended formal training in body piercing in the UK.