Hello there. I hope that you are fabulously well and have had a marvellous weekend.
Here in the Luangwa, after a strangely overcast and particularly nippy weekend, we are certainly looking forward to clearer and warmer days. However, in a month’s time, we will be wishing for the cold once more!
Anyway, this week we have a wonderful It’s Monday from regular guests and friends Ian and Jane Harris, who recently returned to visit us. So, for today, Ian and Jane, over to you:
“Well, we’ve been back again to our happy place! This time, we were joined by our friends Paul and David, who travelled with us in September 2024.
After being picked up by Nyambe at Mfuwe International Airport (which always makes us smile), we made our way to Nkwali, the starting point for our 2026 trip. Walking across the bridge always feels like coming home. We were pleased to discover that reports of Daudi’s retirement had been premature, as he was our guide for our three days at Nkwali.
We then moved on to Tena Tena with Sebastian Snr, followed by Nsefu with Daniel and, for the grand finale, Luangwa Safari House, where Sebastian Snr once again did the guiding honours. We did feel a little guilty taking him out of the Nsefu Sector!
So, what of the youngsters, I hear you ask? Well, it definitely isn’t us! The youngsters ranged from lion cubs and elephants to hippos and beyond.
We had two full days in the bush with Daudi, and the experience certainly didn’t disappoint, with many wonderful sightings, including our only sighting of wild dogs during this trip. We were also treated to a bush breakfast – always a highlight.
At Tena Tena, we took a packed lunch for a full-day trip to the stork colony. On the way, we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of an oribi – a very uncommon sighting in South Luangwa. The noise and spectacle of hundreds of yellow-billed storks were incredible, with youngsters practising their flying and their not-so-graceful landings, while marabou storks waited below for any unfortunate chicks!
We had a walking transfer to Nsefu – a wonderful opportunity to slow down and really see the bush. At one point, we had elephants all around us, with a lagoon on one side, complete with a sleeping hippo! We considered several routes to safety but, after much deliberation between Sebastian and our ranger, they settled on running the gauntlet past the lagoon and the hippo, who luckily didn’t stir from his slumber. It was so exciting!
At Nsefu, one of the highlights was a ‘hippo’ coffee break beside a large pod of hippos, including a very impatient baby who kept trying to wake its mum. She was having none of it and continued her slumber. Unfortunately, we all missed capturing the moment when the baby jumped onto mum, promptly fell off and caused a huge splash! Mum slept on – it was very funny.
Luangwa Safari House is magical. Photos and videos really don’t do it justice, and the VIP treatment is very special. You don’t even have to leave the house to see wildlife. We had resident troops of baboons and vervet monkeys feeding in the trees above, while the younger members treated the deck as their personal playground. We now know why scatter cushions are so called – they were well and truly scattered!
We had impala and warthogs grazing on the lawn, a journey of giraffes passing by and a rather mischievous female elephant – all without leaving the house.
When we did venture out, the sightings certainly didn’t disappoint, with even more youngsters. We found a small pride of lions consisting of mum, dad (who was very tolerant), two ‘aunties’ and two five-month-old cubs. Watching their antics and interactions kept us enthralled for hours.
A baby elephant mock-charged us, taking a couple of steps forward with its ears out and trunk raised, rising to its full height. It repeated this a few times before running back to mum. She continued eating throughout, completely unfazed by either the baby or us.
On our final morning, Kiki, Tisie, Sebastian and the team surprised us with our second bush breakfast, overlooking a beautiful lagoon, replete with an elephant family, while a purple-crested turaco flew past!
All this, and about 130 different bird species – what more could you want?
We will return.”
Wonderful! Thank you so much, Ian and Jane, for sharing this with us. We are already looking forward to your next visit.
On that note, I feel that my job for the week is done, so I shall bid you a very fond farewell. I hope that you have a fabulous week ahead, filled with plenty of smiles and laughter – and don’t forget to look after one another.
