Hello there. I do hope that you are splendidly well after another fantastic weekend. Here in the Luangwa as we revel in the lovely cool weather and the guests get to spend even longer out in the bush enjoying some fabulous sightings. Those of us in the office get to enjoy the increasing number of elephants coming through camp and the familiar chirp of the mongoose as the scurry around looking for food. There is also the familiar sound of panic from the kitchen as the occasional brazen vervet monkey decides to try to sneak through the doors and steal some of the delicious treats being cooked. However, for this week I am going to hand you over to regular guest Neil Andrews who has just been to visit us, this time spending time at Luangwa Safari House here as well as across the border at John’s Camp in Zimbabwe. This will be a wonderful two-part series, so Neil its over to you for part one…
“Being a return RPS guest warms the heart, familiar faces welcoming you with a beaming smile as though it was but yesterday as opposed to eighteen months ago. Sarah Garwood and I were accompanied by four relative safari novices on our four-night stay at Luangwa Safari House. Our guide, however, was anything but a novice. Kiki had kindly chosen to leave Nkwali for the duration of our stay to guide and host us.
Luangwa Safari House is something else, an abode straight out of the Hansel and Gretel fairytale but with the trademark top notch cuisine and service that equates with RPS. A light breakfast later and we set-off for the early morning crossing of the Luangwa from the jetty between Nkwali and Robin’s House to reach the park on the western shore.
There is a special joy in sharing a safari with enthusiastic beginners; it’s like seeing it afresh oneself. The taken for granted impala once again strikes one as the incredible product of evolution that it is, with its toothpick legs and classic colouring. Puku young were gambolling, some still suckling if their mothers were indulgent.
But it was the birds that took centre stage on our first few drives – especially the successful fishers … at one stop, as the water from the rains evaporate, every yellowed-billed stork seemed to have a large catfish it its beak. Comically trying to position the wriggling fish just so for an in-one swallow, all the while being wary of an African fish eagle that made unsuccessful marauding raids as it attempted to take the fisher’s catch. Ground hornbills chose a more bludgeoning tactic as their method to deal with their catch’s demise.
This was by way of an appetiser for the new band of bird enthusiasts in Kiki’s care … as the sun rose bee-eaters and lilac breasted rollers showed their colours, in flight as well as obligingly perching and posing for a photo. I was delighted how even blue waxbills and red-billed firefinches drew gasps from my friends’ binocular gazes. Everyone paying attention when informed that the saddle-billed stork with the yellow iris was the female of the species.
Then giraffe appeared in numbers, confounding the fact that the world has forty percent fewer of these lofty towers now than in 1985. Interesting how localised sightings can be deceptive. Cuddly waterbuck put on a show prior to the main attraction making its appearance … elephants. A herd, comprising a newborn, even entertained us with a late afternoon crossing of the Luangwa. Animal magic.
Anything missing? Some might say cats, even though a Pel’s fishing owl is a WOW! enough of a sighting for this RPS guest. Okay cats… Kiki was not to be denied. We were not to be denied sighting the illusive early June felines and there, on our last afternoon, recumbent amongst man-height grasses, were four hungry lions.
Satisfied? Almost, for bright and early the next morning, as if by magic, Kiki brings our vehicle to a stop as a beautiful female leopard walks out of the bush straight towards us. RPS magic!
Thank you, Kiki, and all the team at Luangwa Safari House.”
Wow, how wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this with us Neil and I can’t wait to hear about your trip to John’s Camp.
For now, I shall fondly bid you a farewell for this week as there is no point in trying to compete with any of these stories. I shall look forward to next weeks’ instalment. Between now and then have fun, take care and don’t forget to look after one-another.
