Well, hello there. I do hope that you have had a lovely weekend. Here in the Luangwa to be honest with you it’s all about taking every opportunity to cool off as the temperatures are rather on the high side. At Nkwali the guests at siesta time can be seen sitting around the pool either in it or with their feet dangling in and are more often than not joined by the warthogs and elephants doing something similar in the lagoon.
Driving through the bush any time after 9am pretty much most decently leafy trees have got some animals underneath them. There was even an incredible sighting last week of a leopard up in a tree with part of its kill and the other part down on the ground with hyenas sleeping around it and in fact one of the hyenas was using the rib cage as a pillow. Neither hyena nor leopard were going to get into a territory dispute as they were all very much enjoying the shade that was on offer.
Heading to Luangwa River Camp the guests have been woken up most mornings last week with the sound of lions roaring which led to this being the only topic of conversation around breakfast. Gulping down a quick cup of coffee and slice of toast everyone was on the same page in wanting to get out early to see the culprits of their early morning and they were not disappointed. One of the mornings they found them almost immediately and discovered that the vocal flamboyance had been over the fact that they had a delicious breakfast served up of waterbuck.
Having made the most of this sighting the guests then decided it was time to see some other animals and proceeded to have amazing sightings of elephants, giraffe, zebra and of course baboons. Heading back to camp conveniently past the lions they saw that the males had also joined in on the breakfast party but hadn’t quite been accepted so leaving them to it as everyone was getting hot, they headed back to camp only to find a lovely leopard right at the harbour.
The wild dogs have also continued loving the bank and beach opposite Luangwa River Camp. One morning when no one was expecting it, opposite camp a waterbuck came hurtling out of the bush onto the beach closely followed by the dogs. This time the waterbuck won the race. Then the following morning whilst watching the resident brown hooded kingfisher it was the puku that were in jeopardy and a short sharp whistle alerted everyone in camp to danger, scanning along the bank an impala was spotted running at full speed and then a herd of waterbuck (seems like the waterbuck at Luangwa River Camp had a pretty tough week) all followed by the wild dogs. Daudi had just crossed the river, so it wasn’t long before he was in the thick of it and I don’t think anyone in camp has made it from breakfast to the boat in such record time and soon Chilumba and his guests were also joining in on the fun.
It’s strange to think that our Mobile Walking Safaris have already closed for the season. I sort of feel like we have only just begun as it’s been so busy but once again the team up there have had an amazing season. They have had incredible sightings of the wonderful array of antelope that we get up at Mupamadzi as well as in increasing number of elephants. To think that some 10 years ago elephants were so few and far between and now the guides are doing their best to avoid them rather than find them. The wild dogs have also gone from strength to strength and everyone including the guests have been thoroughly enjoying cooling off in the river dogs, vultures and elephants included.
But for this week as I wrap up my musing and go and seek somewhere with a breeze, I shall bid you a very fond farewell. Have a wonderful week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another.
