Well, hello there. I do hope that you are fabulously well and have had a lovely weekend. Here in the Luangwa, September is working its magic. The river is dropping, the lagoons are drying up, and there seems to be something to see around every corner.
As the trees begin their annual shedding of leaves, few animals can pass through camp undetected. Mongooses snuffle through the undergrowth looking for tasty treats, baboons flagrantly fling aside the leaves that the groundsmen have carefully swept into piles, and even the usually silent elephants gently crunch their way through the bush.
In a rather surprising turn of events, the first impala lamb was spotted just over a week ago. We don’t usually expect these little ones until the very end of October, so perhaps someone has got their calendar muddled! We shall have to wait and see whether any other youngsters join it.
The guides have been enjoying some incredible sightings, from the simple joy of watching a herd of elephants cross the river to lions stretched out on the beach in front of camp. But Daniel’s day out from Nsefu last week was something rather special.
Not long into his morning drive, he came across a female leopard who had just killed a puku. She seemed wonderfully relaxed about the whole affair, sitting there looking rather pleased with herself. After spending some time with her, Daniel and his guests continued their drive, agreeing to return that afternoon.
After tea, their first port of call was to find the leopard. There she was, just where they had left her, but what followed was two hours of drama that nobody could have anticipated.
First, a hyena arrived on the scene, prompting the leopard to drag her kill up a nearby tree. With the leopard partway up, the hyena managed to grab the puku’s legs, and a tug of war ensued. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, the puku’s head then became wedged in the fork of the tree!
The hyena eventually pulled off a small piece of meat and, apparently deciding that the reward wasn’t worth all the effort, gave up and sauntered away. The leopard finally secured her kill, allowing her young cub to join her for a meal.
Peace, however, was short-lived. Eight lions appeared and began trying to climb the tree to reach the puku. The leopard and her cub retreated to higher branches, safely out of reach, and there they stayed for the rest of the evening. Quite an afternoon for Daniel and his guests!
Not to be outdone, Chizzy had a leopard encounter of his own the following morning on a drive from Nkwali. Early in the outing, he found our resident female just opposite camp, still providing meals for her ever-growing young male cub, who seems rather reluctant to strike out on his own.
She had just killed an impala, and the guests watched the scene unfold as mother and son interacted. Eventually, she dragged the impala through the bush and hauled it up a tree, where she settled down to her meal.
So, as you can see, it’s all pretty fantastic here, and our guests have enjoyed some amazing sightings over the past week. With September keeping us thoroughly entertained, we can’t wait to see what comes next and share it all with you.
For this week, though, I shall leave you to it and bid you a very fond farewell. Have a fantastic week ahead, with plenty of smiles and laughter, and don’t forget to look after one another.
