Well, hello there. I hope that you are well and have had a lovely weekend and are ready and raring for the week ahead. Here in the Luangwa its been nonstop and one doesn’t necessarily have to be out on a game drive as has been proven over the last couple of weeks at Luangwa River Camp.
As the season progresses and the river levels reduce, we get more and more activity in and around the river and the last few weeks has been no exception. As the guests come down to breakfast one morning there is an almighty flurry of activity as a pride of lion make a kill just on the other side of camp. This is the big pride of 18 lions which is a formidable sight, and one hippo does not last long. Given we have front row seats to this, the guests got to cross the river and enjoy the sighting before word got around to other guides. It also meant that during the rest of the day we could happily choose our time to see these magnificent animals without anyone else around.
That evening happened to be Friday night beach dinner night and as everyone settles down to a scrumptious dinner by the riverbed under the magnificent night sky the evening chorus begins. Lions roaring just opposite from where we are and then some hyena start whooping. All of this is extremely exciting on its own but then on the big island to the right of camp 3 hyena run out of the grass chasing a puku. The puku managed to get away and the hyenas skulked off to the ebony grove behind camp.
The following afternoon, putting to bed the myth of leopards hunting at night, guests were coming in from the airport at the same time as the baboons started barking. Bianca grabbing the spotting scope took a look and saw impala making a run for it from a leopard. It quickly does however decide that this was not its best idea ever and so settled down in a nice shady spot on the riverbank.
The elephants have become regular visitors through camp as they silently wander through munching on dried leaves and other delicacies that they are able to find. The Luangwa River Camp bird bath was emptied in one failed swoop by a youngster the other day whilst one of the adults simultaneously carefully reached over the deck and took a very large slurp from the pool (here is a glimpse).
The river is dropping and the hippos in front of camp area are becoming a little more antsy and there are regular fights happening. Although the nighttime growling from the hippo combined with the bush baby yelp can on occasion be a little much!!
We have a few resident skimmers who patrol the shores of the river flying with impossible skill and agility and this year there seems to be an influx of yellow billed storks who are just chilling on the sand.
As the boat hide is fully ready it would appear that the carmines are not and this year, we are still waiting for them to arrive and find their nesting spot and just hope that they choose a fab spot that we can put in a hide for everyone to enjoy watching these beautiful birds from.
On that note, I shall simply bid you a very fond farewell and have a smashing week with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another.
