Well, hello there. I hope that you are all fabulously well and have had a lovely weekend. Here in the Luangwa after a very strange chilly and cloudy weekend we are really feeling like winter is finally here. With it has come the return of the elephant and now as if nothing had ever changed, they are back which is absolutely wonderful. It must be said though that a few days ago it really was quite the challenge at Nkwali as there was a small herd hanging out in camp for the best part of several hours making getting back and forth quite tricky.
Big news for this week is that the last of our seasonal operations has opened, as the enormous Samil 50 truck was packed up with the entire Mobile Walking Safari kit. Mabvuto the workshop manager went up with all the solar panels and supplies to get the truck rigged up and Jason went up with the team closely followed by the tractor and harrow to put up the tsetse fly traps and get the roads put in. Once everything was all done it was time for the first trip to begin, and we look forward to hearing from Jason when he gets back down.
For now, though we will have some stories from John who leads the Luangwa Bush Camping walking safaris up in the Nsefu Sector. For those of you who don’t know, this is like a mini mobile walking safari with comfortable walk-in tents, lovely long walks, lazy lunch times and drinks around the campfire at night, but instead of committing to 5 full days it’s just a night or two in-between your stays at Nsefu and Tena Tena (WATCH: A virtual tour of Luangwa Bush Camping).
The season got off to a simply fabulous start and the first morning of the first trip at 4.30 in the morning everyone was woken up by a lot of hyena calls and later lions. Sleep was not something that was going to return after all of that so everyone gave up and had an early breakfast and at 5.30 they could hear the lions calling but it sounded like they were moving away from where the hyenas were. John figured they were moving towards second ebony so off they all went and found three lionesses one of which still had a bone in its mouth. They had obviously made a kill in the early hours but had been harassed by the hyenas to the point of moving off which seems like a wise thing to do. After watching the lions for a bit John took the walk in the direction of the hyena noise and they found a few still scavenging and fighting amongst themselves over the remains of some bones.
The next morning the lions were calling again so the team tracked them and found them out by the hippo hide and after watching them for a while left them in peace and carried on with their walk seeing loads of giraffes, zebra and even buffalo.
The second trip was equally as exciting but the highlight had to come one morning when there were lots of alarm calls the baboons were simply going crazy so taking a slight detour they went to see what was going on. They found the baboons and followed the direction of their stares and finally found the reason for the commotion. Leopard!!
Hunkered down in the bush it was hard to spot but it soon gave up and decided the noise was simply too much and just decided to make a run for it. Breaking cover it sprinted across the plain being chased by the baboons until they gave up and it disappeared.
Lots of excitement but also lots of calmer and very lovely sightings with baby giraffes and then our favourite stop with the tree hyrax and when on foot you can stand quietly a little way off and wait for them to relax and continue with their daily business (WATCH: Tree Hyrax while out on a walking safari). A walking safari really is a pretty special way to experience bush.
So, there you have it for this week – as you can see lots and lots happening and a never-ending stream of wonderful stories and sightings from the teams. For now, though it’s time for me to wrap up but don’t worry there will be lots more next week. All that is left now is for me 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.
