Well, hello there. I hope that you are marvellously well and are sitting ready and raring for the new week ahead. Here in the Luangwa, let me tell you, we are a little bit on the soggy side. Still with 200mm of rainfall to catch up on, the heavens have opened and are playing a rather impressive game of catch up. The river is running incredibly high and the area around Robin’s Bridge is a magnificent lagoon stretching as far as the eye can see. The road in and out of camp whilst rather muddy, is quite a lot drier than the surrounding bush.
As a result of all the rain the animals seem to be congregating on and close to the road to avoid too much mud. The giraffes are even taller as they squelch through the thick black cotton soil wearing their muddy boots. And the impalas… there is a definite reluctance to get off the road when a car comes along. The elephants are having a wonderful time with an abundance of grass to eat and some fantastic mud bath opportunities at every turn and we have had some heavenly sightings of some very very tiny ones all wobbly doing their very best not to get stuck in the mud.



A few days ago the road in and out of camp was particularly busy for sightings with not only the usual animals also we had an abundance of African Cuckoos. As if that was not enough, we got to Ruben’s Bridge where there were a couple of Hammerkops busy fishing and a juvenile Fish Eagle perched high up in a tree also waiting for a potential meal, when suddenly out of the bush crashed some impalas. Well, lets face it, they are not going to be running like that for no reason at all are they?! So, what followed next – a pack of wild dogs – it’s the pack of 6 that hangs out in this area and they are thriving. Hunt was successful and one impala served up for the dogs for their breakfast. As if that was not enough, all the noise attracted the hyenas – a female and her youngster and they came out of the bush making their presence known to all and chased the dogs off their meal whilst they were eating. A few hours later, all the activity had attracted a few other predators.


As Jack and I were on our way out, we stopped at Robin’s Bridge (don’t worry quite a way up the road) and looked at some lovely lion tracks in the mud then just a few moments later found the said predators sleeping in the shade, after having chased off the hyenas and finishing off the remainder of the meal. It seems that everyone benefited from the wild dogs’ attack on the impala.

In the park we have had some avid birders in camp who have seen an abundance of species including some 50 Lesser Spotted Eagles, countless Abdim Storks, a myriad of different types of Herons and water birds and even a Flufftail. So, all in all its been quite a productive week.


We have guests coming into Luangwa Safari House today so Yona will be dusting off his safari boots and heading out into the park to see what he can find.

Kanga will also be guiding at Nkwali Camp, so I am sure that we will have lots of interesting sightings and stories from them both for you next week.


For now, I am going to bid you all a very fond, if not slightly soggy, farewell and hope that you have a wonderful week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter. Stay safe and don’t forget to look after one another.