No idea it is Monday, btw, it's just another day on safari. I lost track of the date a long time ago, we've done so much. Today we're up at 5am for a 6am game drive through South Luangwa National Park. Apparently, everyone bar Helen and I were kept awake by Hyenas last night.
We set of on the game drive -- myself having dropped my camcorder as I launched myself onto the truck, d'oh! -- at the [game vehicle] standard 40kph. These trucks don't go any faster on the open road. US$20 to get in (Zambia is notoriously expensive) for 24 hours. We see some giraffe and later a few elephant and buffalo and a crested heron but the park seems quite empty of animals today.
At the halfway point we get some [elevated] pictures over the park and of a batolier (a bird of prey with a short tail). On the way back we startle some elephants snoozing at the side of the road. A male adolescent trumpeted and started a mock charge but no-one was quite quick enough to capture it on film. He then went on and hid in the bush -- brave boy!
We saw a lilac roller (a bird we think we saw in Vic Falls) then a small group of zebra including a youngster. But that was it -- our vigilant leopard watch was in vain.
Back to camp at 11 for a fry-up brunch in the burning heat!
We had an afternoon break by the pool. After we started playing with a sponge ball in the (small) pool some kids (aged 4-8) muscled onto the scene and took over leaving us acting as water taxis and being kicked in the nether regions to go faster.
We, and most people, opted for the evening safari (4-8pm) having seen so little during the morning drive. South Luangwa, and Zambia in general, spends so little on its infrastructure that it detracts tourists and the cost of the night drive had come down US$5 to US$20. We bounced off down the track at 4pm in broad daylight determined to be in the 60-70% who see leopard in South Luangwa (the highest rate in Southern Africa).
Croc river (the Luangwa) didn't live up to its name. We started [the drive] off with some (now) common or garden impala and a monitor lizard hiding in the nook of a tree. We were within touching distance of several zebra and some elephant crossed over our path a few times. Hopefully I have some good footage.
Then the driver stopped and spoke to his mate and we saw nothing. He then stood up with his binoculars and we all saw nothing. Then he drove around the corner and back up [the way we had just come] and only when we were 20 yards away did we see the swish of a lion's tail. We drove around to the far side of a culvert and watched a lioness roll around on the grass, bite her tail, scratch and generally act like a housecat only 10 yards away. Fantastic pictures, I think I can bore people with my video, now! Then suddenly she got up, ran along the culvert and up a tree (apparently a lion in a tree is quite rare).
On the way to a "sundowner" (a glass of orange juice at dusk -- what? no champagne?) we stopped for a pair of crested cranes and a fish eagle. We had lost the other truck so drank their share of juice.
Back in the truck and the million candlelight lamp came out which sweeps the bush looking for critters. The critters eyes reflect directly back at the light source so, only 2 metres away in the back, we hardly saw what the fuss was about. On the other hand, when the lamp caught a creature in the open then you get quite a clear picture. We saw an owl, several mongeese (mostly genates which look like mini-leopard) some teeny (two feet long) honey badgers, a white-tailed mongoose (by the time I brought my camera to bear all I could see was literally its [white] tail, hippos grazing, elephants but sadly, no leopard. We were 30-40%ers.
Wildlife Camp S13.10869 E31.75364 Elev. 560m.
Copyright 2002 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.