Well, hello there. I hope that you are well and have had a wonderful weekend and are now ready for the fun filled week ahead. Here in the Luangwa, we are all hands-on deck getting everything opened up once more and ready for our guests arriving in a couple of weeks’ time. The river has crept up a little bit which has certainly made things easier for Willie and his team coming up and down from Nsefu, getting the camp open and we are looking forward to also making it up there soon. Meanwhile at Nkwali the team have also been flat out as despite only being closed for a month it is amazing how nature just takes over. We are busy removing renegade plants growing in the rooms as well as encouraging them to grown outside of the rooms – it seems that things have all gone a little topsy turvy!
Meanwhile in the Park things are exactly as they should be, and the animals are just looking so happy and relaxed, and the scenery is simply sublime. In terms of what we have been seeing besides heaps and heaps of zebra, impala, and elephants all over the place… We have also been swamped with some incredible bird sightings, from Paradise wydah, pintail wydah all in their breeding plumage and heaps and heaps of open billed storks littering the Wafwa area not to mention the raptors that can be seen gliding effortlessly through the skies.
Over the weekend Kiki was out in the Park and over morning tea and cake he was discussing with his guests the different alarm calls and just how he doesn’t always trust the impalas but will always react when he hears a puku alarm calling. Not five minutes later, sure as anything, his ears pricked up and what did he hear… Now having said this he had to hope that he would not be let down and so off he went looking in the direction of the calls. Then as the stars aligned, there in the distance he saw a beautiful leopard just out in the open. Deciding to stay put and enjoy the sighting rather than rushing in, he parked the car and was greatly rewarded as this beautiful cat walked straight towards the car paying no attention to it or the guests and just a few meters away walked straight past.
After such a magical sighting the morning was thought of as complete but there were still more joys awaiting. Heading to the northern side of Wafwa the last hour of the game drive was spent watching countless hippos and elephants that were simply milling around enjoying the slightly overcast morning. What better way to spend a Sunday morning – surely there is none.
We cannot wait to have more and more guests coming through in the coming weeks and be able to share our wonderful Park with them. I also suspect that after the rain that we had last night that the river will be rising soon, and we will be able to get out and do plenty of boating. What better way to end the day than float down the Luangwa River sipping on a gin and tonic enjoying the peace and quiet, watching nature float past.
On that note I shall bid you a very fond farewell with plenty of smiles and laughter. Have the most wonderful week ahead and don’t forget to look after one another.
