Well, hello there. I hope that you are well and have had a fabulous weekend. Here in the Luangwa winter is here and in the early mornings find a mysterious and beautiful fog lingering over the river water and as soon as the sun comes up the baboons can all be found sitting facing the sun warming themselves up for the day. The impala stick all their hair up just like us when we get goosebumps and so appear much darker in colour than usual and everything else just carries on as normal.
At Luangwa River Camp the sightings have been out of this world and it’s more a question of what hasn’t been seen. Guests have seen leopard almost every night this week for the and not just sitting doing nothing but stalking and actively hunting. The lions have also been busy maybe it’s the colder weather and everyone needs to eat a bit more to keep warm, but the main pride was found on a buffalo kill which kept them going for a couple of days as well as guaranteeing some great sightings for the guests.
The highlight however has been the pack of 12 wild dogs which have been seen very regularly so everyone is super excited to have them back in the area. Lets hope that the dynamics settle down after what was a very disrupted 18 months or so for them and we now have a pack back in the main area.
With all the excitement of the predators, it is easy to overlook everything else but let us not as they are equally as wonderful. Whilst there is still plenty or water in the river the elephants have started crossing and it’s always a lovely thing to sit and watch especially with the evening or morning sun backlighting them. For a photographer at this point you have to be delighted that digital cameras were created as can you imagine how reserved you would need to be if you were still shooting with film!
There has also been a lot of hippo activity…from mating hippo in lagoons, which trust me is not very exciting, to hippos fighting in camp creating quite the alternative dawn chorus for the guests!
Moving north (just because it’s peak season and now we can) John has been busy with his first guests at Luangwa Bush Camping, and his first group were incredibly keen birders which is always a real treat for the guides. The walks obviously still saw plenty of plains game including elephant, giraffe and zebra but there was far more time spent birding, and a few special sightings including Goliath Heron and even a Pel’s fishing owl.
Having swapped walking for a drive back to camp as the sun was setting, John and his guests were watching some ground hornbills up in a tree when suddenly the impalas started to alarm. So, waving goodbye to the hornbills, they went in search of what was causing the panic and found a lovely leopard walking down the road.
After all the excitement it was time to head back to camp and warm up around the campfire with a drink and a good chat about the day.
So, there you have it for this week, another week with plenty of excitement. The next update from behind the scenes is our Mobile Walking Safaris team, which will be opening for the season shortly, so we will have the week getting everything checked, washed and counted before heading up to the Mupamadzi. I for one cannot wait to hear the updates from the team up there.
On that note, have a wonderful week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another.
