Hello there. I hope that you are splendidly well and have had a lovely weekend. Here in the Luangwa, we continue in our same slightly hot and sticky weather pattern. We have had a few flurries of rain, but nothing compared to what we usually expect for this time of the year. That hasn’t stopped us though, as the team has been out in the bush showing the guests the most wonderful time. This week I have once again had my job done for me as we have a wonderful story from Andrew and Rosalyn Holden – our regular guests who have just been to visit. Andrew and Rosalyn over to you:
“We have been coming to Zambia and the South Luangwa National Park since 2004, but this was our first visit in the Emerald season (mid to end of February). We were expecting to see flooded plains and much cooler days, but this was not the case, there was only limited water and the temperature seemed more like summer. However, by visiting at this time most of the other camps were shut so when out and about we rarely saw any other vehicle and had the park to ourselves. Our stay consisted of 10 days with 4 at Nkwali, 3 at Nsefu and a final 3 nights at Nkwali.
At both our stays at Nkwali we were extremely lucky to be given Kiki as our guide, on our first drive we saw a leopard and our first ever sighting of a python (unfortunately it was just as we were returning to camp and never managed to get a photo). Each morning Kiki led us on a walk with some incredible sightings. And to make it more of a challenge for him we set him some daily tasks of the animals/events we would like to see that we do not see in the summer.
During our stay we managed some incredible events:
One afternoon after what had so far been a slightly quieter than usual game drive we had stopped for sundowners when Kiki suddenly spotted the dogs coming straight down the road towards us, chasing puku. The chase continued past us across a sandy inlet with the puku staying just ahead but unfortunately one of the puku made a major error in judgement and jumped into the river where there happened to be 4 crocodiles waiting. It seems this was to be our lucky sundowner spot as the next evening we watched what we thought was going to be a lone giraffe crossing but in fact turned out to be 8.
The lions were also out in force with a particularly memorable sighting as we found the pride with some cubs resting up when in the distance the dogs started approaching. Feeling incredibly brazen they got closer and closer as we sat watching for at least 30 minutes. The lions finally gave in and turned around and chased them away. All the while they were being closely watched by a hyena.
On another afternoon drive we were held up by a large herd of buffalo crossing the road!
We must also take a moment for some birding as we witnessed a Martial Eagle flying very low over our vehicle carrying a monitor lizard, it then stopped in the tree just in front of us.
The smaller birds were also rather spectacular as the Red Bishop and Paradise Wydah birds were all in their full breeding plumage something we had never been lucky enough to see before.
The boat trip up to Nsefu was wonderful although as we went past Tena Tena all packed up it looked a little sad but also shows how much is done each year to get the camp up and running again. Arriving at Nsefu Willie and Bessy welcomed us and that afternoon we took the first trip of the season out to the Stork Colony getting there by a combination of boat and walking it was well worth the leg stretch and the muddy shoes as they were all there building their nests in their full breeding plumage.
We also saw a Red Knobbed Coot which was an unusual sighting for the Valley and a first for Willie so he was very excited.
And finally, no trip to Zambia would ever be complete without one of its magnificent sunsets.
Many thanks to everyone at Robin Pope Safaris for making another truly memorable holiday, and apologies for all the sightings that never made it into print.”
Wow, thanks so much Andrew and Rosalyn! Sounds like you had a fantastic trip and we look forward to seeing you again soon. After all of those wonderful sightings it leaves very little for me to say except to bid you a very fond farewell and hope that you have a wonderful week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another.
