Our Story
Chapter 1 - A Legacy Born on the Zambezi
Royal Barotse Safaris is the story of a dream — a lifelong vision to build something extraordinary in one of Africa’s last truly wild places.
Toward the end of his professional rugby career, South African Springbok Gavin Johnson set out with his wife, Penny, in search of a place where their love for the African wilderness could take root. After exploring game farms that never quite felt right, a whisper of a secret riverside location in Western Zambia led them on a pioneering journey north.
Camping beneath the towering canopy of a pod mahogany tree along the Upper Zambezi, Gavin and Penny found themselves immersed in a peaceful haven unlike anything they had ever known. The river’s rhythm, the wild bush, and the purity of the place stirred something deep — and Royal Barotse Safaris was quietly born.
Inspired by the immersive, conservation-driven model of South Africa’s iconic Mala Mala Lodge, the vision was bold: to create a sanctuary that could serve as a gateway to the untamed wilderness of Zambia’s Western Province. Their first step was the creation of a riverside lodge — now known as Mutemwa “The place of big trees” — which would anchor this vision.
Over the next three decades, Gavin and Penny built a life and a legacy on that riverbank. Through challenges and triumphs, they raised three daughters under the Zambian sky, ran an intimate and successful tiger fishing lodge, and became part of the very fabric of the land and the community.
To many, Mutemwa was the entire story — a beloved fishing lodge known for its authenticity, exclusivity, and warm, family-style hosting. But in truth, it was always just the beginning.
Today, Royal Barotse Safaris stands at the threshold of a new chapter. With the same pioneering spirit, the Johnson family is expanding their vision — establishing a network of personal and exclusive camps, rooted in the rich cultural heritage of Barotseland, and set in some of the most remote and ecologically rich corners of Western Zambia.
Built on decades of faith, resilience, and passion for wild places, Royal Barotse Safaris is a legacy in motion — offering unforgettable, purpose-driven safari experiences that honor the land, its people, and the journey that brought us here.
Chapter 2 - The Start of Something New
More than thirty years after that first campfire beneath the trees of the Upper Zambezi, a long-carried vision has begun to take on a life of its own.
For decades, Gavin and Penny shared a simple but powerful idea across the vast communities of the Sioma Ngwezi region — a vision to restore value to the land through wildlife and tourism, and to establish a great reserve that could stand alongside icons such as the Kruger National Park. It was never just about conservation, nor tourism alone, but about creating a sustainable future where the people of Barotseland could directly benefit from the natural wealth that surrounds them.
Year after year, the vision was carried from village to village — received with interest, yet never fully realised.
Until now.
In 2025, something shifted.
For the first time, the people themselves began to take ownership of the vision. A local committee was formed, not led from the outside, but from within — moving across the region, sharing the same foundational document that had been spoken of for generations. Conversations have deepened. Alignment has begun to form. What was once a distant idea has become a collective possibility and the people are hungry for it.
Engagement with traditional leadership, including the Barotse Royal Establishment, has begun and has marked a significant step forward — not as a top-down directive, but as a reflection of growing support from the ground up. From the very beginning, the principle has remained unchanged: this vision can only succeed if it belongs to the people.
For many years, restrictions on land use and limited economic opportunity have left communities unable to benefit from it. Wildlife, the most valuable natural resource in the area, has only become a source of conflict. The absence of structured value has led to pressure on both people and the environment.
The vision seeks to change that.
By establishing a large-scale, community-supported game reserve across the Sioma Ngwezi GMA, the aim is to unlock the true economic potential of the region — creating a model where wildlife becomes a source of prosperity rather than conflict. Through carefully developed lodges, guided safaris, and long-term conservation efforts, the land can begin to generate sustainable income, employment, and opportunity at scale.
But more importantly, it creates a pathway for restoration — placing value, dignity, and ownership back into the hands of the people.
Royal Barotse Safaris exists within this story not as an external force, but as a catalyst — a channel through which experience, infrastructure, and vision can help bring this reality into being.
Today, we stand at the threshold of something far greater than a safari operation.
A regional transformation, shaped not by ambition alone, but by alignment — between people, land, and purpose.
