Zambia Safari Diary - Day Three

Kapani Lodge to Luwi Bush Camp

Transfer with Lions
Transfer by road from Kapani Lodge to their Luwi Bush Camp. Only 1 km out of camp, on the main road into the Park, we spotted two lions lying up 50 yards or so away from the edge of the road. The blood around their jaws indicated an encounter, which was subsequently confirmed by seeing a wounded buffalo a short way off. Life (and death) in the bush can involve moments of terrifying speed, interspersed with unbelievable patience and waiting for the inevitable to take place.

Somewhat unnervingly (although not particularly for us) was the fact that, at this time of day, the road in question was occupied by significant numbers of native Zambians, both on foot and on bike, making their way into town. It just goes to show that the perceived danger from predators such as this may be overrated – man just isn’t recognised as part of the lions’ food chain.

Zambia PhotoSightings along the way included crocodile lying on a sandbank, a leopard tortoise (of ‘little five’ fame), a small herd of elephant, a huge herd of buffalo (camera icon), whose tracks we later observed on the ground (camera icon), a pair of Liechtenstein Hartebeest (camera icon), a tiny grysbok and several ground hornbills. It isn’t only the game that amazes in this ‘land that time forgot’, and a baobab tree (camera icon) proved worth a short detour.

The strategy of two days’ game viewing by vehicle, in order to satisfy the need to clock up as many big game sightings as possible, before heading into the bush, and the mainly walking part of the safari experience, appears to have paid off, with numerous quality sightings. The principal omission has of course been the enigmatic leopard, although we weren’t to know just how elusive this would prove to be – and how rewarding once we met with success.

Arrival at Luwi Bush Camp
Welcomed into Luwi with Malawi shandies (American ginger ale and lemonade with a dash of angostura bitters) and cold towels by camp hostess Kerry, and introduced to our guide, Sam, together with Isaac, the armed Park scout who would now accompany us as we took to our feet in the bush. Although never having left the South Luangwa Valley in his entire life, Sam proved to be much more knowledgeable on the minor intricacies of the English football league than any of his guests! The camp itself (camera icon) was extremely rustic in comparison with Kapani, being virtually totally constructed using natural materials.

After lunch (meatballs with veggie pancakes) we took to our feet for the first time, not without one or two nervous glances over their shoulder from one or two of the guests, until they realised that being on foot in the bush wasn’t a recipe for instant attack, and they settled down to enjoy the experience. One of the ‘tricks of the trade’ is to keep an eye on the body language of the scout. If he is sauntering along with his rifle slung carelessly over one shoulder, then all is well. If he swings his gun into the ready position, then there is potential danger (if he chambers a round then you’re really in for a ‘moment’)

Almost immediately two lion were seen lying up in the distance, about quarter of a mile away. Spotting us they headed off into the bush, and we headed off after them. After tracking them for a while, without success, Brian then backtracked to where they had been lying up, and we were able to see their outline in the sand, complete with impression of a tail.


Honey Badgers
As evening approached elephant (camera icon), hippo (camera icon) crocodile, a bushbuck and – a new sighting this – a reedbuck were observed. It was also interesting to see a number of dung beetle balls that the guide told us had probably been torn open by a honey badger seeking the larva inside (camera icon), detecting its presence from the faint noise that it makes inside the ball. Although Luwi is strictly a bush camp for walking, we had of course arrived by vehicle, and hence took the opportunity for a brief evening game drive. Although sightings weren’t able to rival those of the previous evenings’, we were able to observe elephant, a serval cat extremely close to, for several minutes – a beautiful sight - together with our first
(light grey) mongoose, a genet (camera icon), and the ubiquitous scrub hare.

After the evening meal of delicious chicken we were escorted backstage to see the camp kitchens (just behind where our huts were located) to be introduced to the camp’s five resident honey badger population, the men approaching extremely gingerly, to Kerry’s evident amusement. At that moment the camp hyena arrived, to be chased off by the honey badger accompanied by (their) furious howls of rage. “They really do give that poor hyena a terrible time”!

An Unexpected Night Drive
Back at the dinner table, and after a few more drinks, we heard the sound of irate elephant trumpeting in the dark in front of us, followed by a lion roaring (one of the most chilling night sounds in the bush). Brian reckoned that the lion was probably located on the far side of a dry river bed about quarter of a mile in front of the camp, and suggested that we take a look. So we all piled into the vehicle and roared off into the bush – minus cameras, binoculars etc. Two elephant were indeed encountered halfway to the river bank, and proved to be as irate as they had sounded earlier, but we just ignored their angry trumpeting and carried on.

Close to the river bank the lion could be seen crouching on the far side, and we encouraged Brian to drive forward as close as possible, despite his misgivings that we could become stuck in the loose sand along the river bank. We then promptly became stuck in the loose sand, and despite all efforts ended up embedded up to the axles. Nothing for it but to walk back to camp (which now looked about 5 km distant). We had just one small torch between us, and of course had left without Isaac (and his rifle). Fortunately the elephant had moved on by then, and we made it back without further incident. The group leader then confessed that his impromptu walk in the bush had been accomplished wearing only the carpet slippers shown at the top of this diary – not the ideal footwear if a quick dash through the bush had been required! From then on the trip became known as ‘the carpet slipper safari’, to the writer’s acute embarrassment.

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camp fire tales

On an earlier trip a party of American ladies had solemnly taken in the instructions as to what to do if a lion ‘moment’ occurred – don’t run, walk slowly away, without turning your back. Soon after, on an early evening walk on the bank of a dry river bed, we came upon an elephant in a bad mood, and dropped down into the river bed itself to detour around it. Then, on coming around a bend, we came across a magnificent male lion sunning himself on the opposite bank. The writer was transfixed by this magnificent sight, just a few metres away.

However the American ladies decided that enough was enough, and proved that they had carefully assimilated the advice given to them. The writer was then torn between continuing to watch the lion, or watch these ladies attempting to scramble up a 45 degree banking – backwards! In fact it wasn’t really a triumph of planning, since everybody was out of place. Strictly the scout should have led up the banking (back towards where the elephant spotted earlier might have been), but the ladies got ahead of him.

The guide should then have brought up the rear, which he in practice he almost did, before realising that he needed to climb back down to forcibly collect the writer who was still admiring the lion (which at this point woke up, and quietly slipped away into the bush).


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