This document is the printable version of AfricaAway's Zambia Safari Diary.
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Zambia Safari Diary - Day One
London to Lusaka, Transfer to Kapani Lodge

Following an overnight flight from London Heathrow to Lusaka, we landed to the usual friendly welcome from the Zambian Immigration Service (USA please note).

We then took an internal Airwaves flight from Lusaka to Mfuwe via a new Beech 1900 (20 seater) aircraft. Met by our Norman Carr Safaris guide, Brian, we renewed our acquaintance with the Zambian ‘triple handshake’, and immediately repaired to the Moondog Cafe for the now-traditional ‘Mosi Moment’ on arrival in the bush (‘Mosi’ is the local beer). Drive to Kapani Lodge where we will spend our first two nights.

The drive takes us on tarmac roads through the town of Mfuwe, which has grown enormously since our previous year’s visit. Then on to Kapani Lodge itself on unmade bush roads. Our first game sighting, en route, is a small herd of elephant enjoying themselves in a lagoon by the side of the road. Kapani is situated just outside the National Park, and consists of a number of huts set in front of a dried up lagoon and we enjoy a roast ham lunch on a large deck overlooking the lagoon, watched by numerous baboons and vervet monkeys. Several bushbuck are seen grazing in front of us. The afternoon is taken up with a welcome siesta, followed up by the traditional tea and cake, and then the evening game drive with Brian.

After spotting a number of giraffe, impala and puku on the way into the Park itself, together with elephant and hippo, viewed from the bridge over the Luangwa on entry into the Park, a lion cub was almost immediately spotted crossing the road ahead. On following up, and guided by anxious puku and impala alarm calls, we then located the cub again, this time in the company of its mother, drinking from a small stream. Brian said that it looked as though the lioness had killed recently, owing to traces of blood around her jaws, and indeed a vulture was noted keeping a watching brief nearby.

Moving on further into the Park, more elephant were encountered, including three young, together with warthog and zebra. A further giraffe was studied close to, and its accompanying oxpeckers noted. Brian explained how each species – giraffe, buffalo, hippo etc - attracts its own slightly different variety of oxpecker, whose primary function (so far as the animal is concerned) is to remove ticks and so on from its hide.

Our first sundowners were enjoyed by the side of the river, watching some fishermen camped on the opposite bank, in the Game Management Area outside the Park, accompanied by the inevitable gathering of raucous hippo. A number of guinea fowl scurried around importantly down by the river’s edge.

During the night drive that followed we spotted a scrub hare, elephant shrew, hyena and genet. Then on the drive back into (and quite near to) camp we saw a hyena skulking along by the actual side of the road – not someone you would want to encounter on an evening stroll outside camp (which is of course why such activities are strictly off limits). Early to bed after a delicious Indian-inspired meal at a large communal table, shared with the other guests in camp. Slept like the proverbial.

Campfire Tale - Perception
On hearing that one of our guests was to visit Zambia on safari, a friend of his warned that he would need to be careful. Seeking further illumination, the guest enquired in what way exactly. “Well, because of snakes and things”, came the answer. The guest opined that there were slightly more dangerous things than that to worry about. “Such as?” enquired his friend. The guest thought about buffalo, hippo, elephant and so on, but finally settled on lions.

“What, do they allow them in there?” exclaimed his friend.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Two
Kapani Lodge

Woken up, politely but firmly, at 5.00 a.m, for breakfast around the campfire. Introduced to the camp cat (‘Baby Yowl’) who was reported as being half African Wild Cat, but who has not been claimed as a ‘sighting’ since all the evidence was that this was a very soft domestic pussy indeed.

The morning game drive yielded giraffe, hippo and elephant, together with our first sighting of the dramatically coloured carmine bee eater. Next a waterbuck, with its characteristic thick grey coat, and circular ‘target’ on its rump, followed by a tree squirrel, monitor lizard and zebra. However the highlight was a rare daytime sighting of a large civet, which clearly revealed why this animal should be classified in the same family as the mongoose and genet (the viverridae), rather than as the cat (felidae) that it so often resembles when encountered briefly at night. The mid morning tea break gave us the opportunity to examine a buffalo skull in detail, and the resumed drive yielded further elephant (very close), hippo etc. A rare passing vehicle told of a lion sighting up ahead, but we were unable to locate it. Further big cats continue to elude us!

A further delicious lunch of beef stew was followed by siesta and tea, and the evening game drive finally landed a magnificent pride of lions, in addition to a first sighting of buffalo, together with a genet. At sunset we were able to catch a glimpse across the river of the intriguing Luangwa River Lodge which we were booked into for our final night in the Valley. A number of Mosis and tales of bugs and snakes then accompanied my favourite Beef Wellington, before the usual early night.

Campfire Tale - Kangeroos
On his travels through Zambia, very close to where we ourselves were walking, the renowned Victorian explorer, David Livingstone, first came across the Red Mahogany tree (Khayanyasica), at that time unknown to him. It is reputed that, on asking his guide the name of this tree the latter duly replied with a name in his local language, and it was by this name that Livingstone duly recorded it in his journal. What he didn’t realise is that this word simply meant ‘I’ve no idea, mate’!

In a similar fashion, the early explorers of Australia were astounded to see a most bizarre animal, which kept its young in a pouch in front of its belly, hopping around, and enquired as to its name. Their aboriginal source didn’t know, and replied as such in his own language – ‘kangaroo’. Imagine if Livingstone had come across numerous previously undiscovered fauna and flora and had enquired of the same uninformed guide as to their local name. This would have given The Royal Society, back in London, something to think about. It’s almost Pythonesque.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Three
Kapani Lodge to Luwi Bush Camp

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 particular 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 theirway 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.

Sightings 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, whose tracks we later observed on the ground, a pair of Liechtenstein Hartebeest, 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 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 were to be met with success.

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 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.

As evening approached elephant, hippo 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, 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, 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”!

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.

Campfire Tales - A Lesson Learned
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).

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Five
Nsolo to Kakuli Bush Camp

This was to be quite a hard slog, since the distance from Nsolo to Kakuli was greater than from Luwi to Nsolo, and so we set off at the crack of dawn in order to avoid having to walk too far in the late morning heat. As we set off we could hear lion roaring in the direction that we were heading. Having discussed that we were still to sight a leopard on this trip, it was somewhat disconcerting to hear the periodic cough from our tea bearer at the rear of the file, said cough sounding exactly like the roar that a leopard makes (think of a coarse ripsaw tearing into a piece of softwood).

After half an hour or so an impala was seen racing along parallel to us. It ran for a good two hundred yards at top speed, leaping into the air (pronking) at intervals, obviously very full of the joys of morning. It finally came to a halt, totally winded, only to have to turn and race back the way it came as best it could, pursued by a pack of six wild dogs! Shaddy reckoned that these were the same ones that we had seen the previous day (with the addition of one other). The impala appeared to have got clear, although with wild dog reported as having an 85% success rate on a hunt (unlike feline predators, they can just keep on running for hours) the eventual outcome was far from certain. The wild dog just have such an air of intelligent anticipation, and readily live up to their description as the ‘painted dog’. A truly marvellous sighting.

Plenty more game was to be seen on the walk, together with a magnificent eland ahead of us, and fortunately upwind. Normally eland are very shy creatures, and it is rare that they will allow you within about four hundred yards. However, with the aid of intervening bushes, and with the benefit of the wind, we were able to get within about thirty yards of this magnificent beast, before it detected our presence and took off.

Usually the guide will spot items of interest, game etc, long before we can, but on this occasion one of the guests – later nicknamed ‘Tracker Clark’ – was able to spot a straw-coloured praying mantis about an inch long, amongst the straw that littered our path. Closer to Kakuli giraffe were seen, together with our first brief glimpse of (four) kudu. Fascinating, if somewhat gruesome, was an impala carcass left in a tree by a leopard. Near to the entrance of the camp itself was a four-year old elephant skull.

Welcomed into Kakuli at the end of a tough walk by Rachel McRobb and her partner Alec (the resident guide), together with scout Gideon. Several Malawi shandies were downed while we looked out over the plain in front of the camp at the two ‘resident’ ellies, Big Mike and Aristotle (don’t ask). Kakuli is a tented camp, situated on the bank of the Luangwa itself, and hence for the first time we were able to take in the varied activities that occur along a riverine environment.

After such a long walk we were very happy to settle for an afternoon and evening game drive with Alec, and what a drive it turned out to be! Firstly we saw three lion drinking on a stretch of sand by the side of the river. Their big bellies and the presence of a vulture nearby suggested that they had killed recently, but the bush was too thick to make it possible to locate the kill. Three suspicious kakuli (solitary old buffalo bulls) followed together with a bushbuck, a saddle bill stork a hammer kop and a banded mongoose. Then a fresh leopard kill (impala) was seen underneath a tree, although no trace could be seen of the actual leopard, and we moved on. Puku, more ellies and a huge herd of buffalo (over 600) followed. We then returned to the site of the earlier leopard kill, and Gideon stepped out of the vehicle and carefully explored the immediate bush to try to spot the leopard. Suddenly it dropped down from a small bush behind us and rapidly disappeared. Still, our first actual leopard sighting, by when it was time for sundowners.

At this point it was discovered that, although the gin had been packed, and bottles of tonic in the chill box, the glasses had not. Obviously this made it difficult to pour out a gin & tonic (the sundowner of choice), but with a bit of lateral thinking we came up with the ‘bush gin & tonic’, created by drinking a part of the tonic water, followed by then filling up the bottle with gin (you don’t have to add the tonic to the gin – it can be the other way around!). A brief shake, and a squeeze of lemon, and the perfect accompaniment to another stunning sunset.

As we resumed the drive, quickly observing a white tailed mongoose, a superb lion was seen resting up just off our route, and was watched for several minutes. Next came two lions lying down a few yards apart, and we parked up in between them after photographing the nearer one. As we were photographing the far one, which was lying out on its side, in the beam of the spotlight, the one behind us let out a series of huge roars, causing a number of very inadequate torches to be shone fearfully to our rear – whereupon the other one began to answer the first one’s roars. Quite an exciting experience!

Moving off we then spotted a civet (somewhat of an anticlimax) together with six more lions, who were obviously just beginning to think about going off on a hunt. On the way back into camp there were good sightings of giraffe, a genet, a further white tailed mongoose, a hyena and several civet. Then a beautiful lioness was seen walking down the road ahead, towards us, and we stopped to see what would happen.
Regally she took absolutely no notice of us, merely deviating to pass by the side of the vehicle, close enough to touch, before letting out a loud roar and then moving off into the bush. A final sight of the three ‘beach bums’, still drinking from the river, and two honey badger on a banking near to the camp, followed by a pair of (male plus female) lions quite close to camp – only to be told that shortly before we arrived back, a pride of six lions had just walked straight through the camp, causing Rachel to hide behind the bar freezer.

After yet another great meal we were escorted back to our tents (the elephants sometimes walk through just in front of them) and had no problem at all dropping off to sleep. What a day!

Campfire Tales - 9/11
On one previous trip we were staying at Robin Pope’s Nkwali camp, prior to setting off on a walking mobile safari in just about the most remote region of the valley. The night before we set out we were taken to one side and told that New York’s World Trade Centre had apparently just been destroyed by a suicide aircraft attack, but this was all that was known. The next morning we set off into the wilderness, aware that there could well have been 50,000 or more people killed, and that, for all we knew, London could have been the following day’s target.

For a parent, far from one’s family, this was a very unsettling experience. Indeed, while most of the world went through the intense emotion of the incident and its aftermath live on TV, we were totally isolated from this, and could only experience it at second hand a week or so later – and hence never really suffered the trauma that most of the rest of the world felt.

Although we did have a satellite radio with us on the walk, it could only be persuaded to function intermittently. On one occasion we picked up a Polish news station (broadcasting in English), but all that it had to say in terms of ‘hard’ news, was that apparently no Poles had been killed in the incident. We did pick up one other English-language station, after much fiddling, only to hear that they were now going to have ten minutes silence for the dead, by which time we had gone off signal again.

It seems bizarre to relate now, but the immediacy of seeing a kudu being killed by lions seemed to be what was real, rather than what was happening in America. Indeed an indication of how remote the happenings in the Western world can appear in the heart of the African bush, is given by the fact that many of the Zambians that we have met since have never even seen images of the disaster, nor do they really understand what was involved.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Six
Kakuli to Tafika Lodge

Today we leave Norman Carr Safaris and transfer by road to Tafika Lodge, home of John and Carol Coppinger (Remote Africa Safaris) – back to (semi) civilisation, since Tafika is their permanent base camp. Since Tafika lies outside the Park, the transfer is by road up to the river bank opposite the camp, followed by a river crossing. Soon after leaving the camp Alec detected a new bush sound, which he was unable to identify even after switching off the engine. Eventually its provenance was established, and went down in the records as the ‘lesser nasal congestion’ of one of the guests.

Along the way lion tracks were seen, and followed up to a superb viewing of two magnificent lions by the side of the river. Other highlights were hippo having a bit of a scrap, lots of buffalo, and a heap of yellow billed storks. A particular treat was the season’s first recorded warthog piglet – a brave sight with its tail held high, just like a radio aerial. A further splendid baobab tree then demanded a photograph.

On reaching Tafika, after crossing over the river we were met by Alison who soon whipped up the obligatory Malawi shandies. Tafika is a larger camp, and, after having the remote bush camps to ourselves, it same as something of a shock to share the camp with other guests – some yapping into satellite phones or listening to iPods. Interesting to see that the main form of staff transport within this larger camp took the form of mountain bikes. After a Tex-Mex lunch (no lack of variety in the food served on safari) we chose to send emails back home (a very lengthy procedure) rather than visit the local school, although the latter has proved to be a fascinating experience on previous visits. However a look around the extensive camp garden was also of interest. At this point we were joined by an American lady, Judith, who we all got on so well with that she remained our travelling companion for the next four days, until our itineraries diverged again.

The afternoon game drive took us back into the Park via a village gate into the Nsefu sector (guided now by Ernst), with several small ellie herds, a giraffe caught in the difficult act of drinking, a light grey mongoose, a tree squirrel (being eyed up by a tawny eagle) and carmine bee eaters being the principal offerings. Until, that is, we came across two lion that other guests had observed earlier engaged in what lions do in the mating season (every 15 minutes for two to three days, with no thought for any other activity such as eating etc). However the honeymoon couple were obviously too tired to perform for us on this occasion (we gave them five minutes over the fifteen), so we moved on, making a note to return later.

On pulling into a ‘suitable’ spot for sundowners a very pleasant surprise greeted us, in the shape of a champagne buffet laid out in the middle of nowhere (with not a soul in sight – they were hiding down the river bank awaiting our arrival). How civilised Zambia is turning out to be! After sundowners the champagne had obviously had its effect (somehow) and our mating pair rewarded us with a brief coupling, before crashing back into oblivion once more. No foreplay, but she did get a nice cuddle afterwards (“more than I usually get”, remarked one of the guests, acidly). Further first time sightings were clocked up in the shape of a marsh mongoose and a bushytailed mongoose.

Roast beef for dinner, and a large unknown bug discovered in the hut, later identified (via the internet) as an armoured cricket. The wildlife experience was completed by a mouse running around the hut, but once more sleep came readily at the healthy hour of 9.30 p.m. This is not to say that said sleep wasn’t disturbed by numerous hippo grazing around the hut.

Campfire Tales - A Poacher
An interesting moment on a walking mobile safari was the apprehension of a poacher. An indication that poachers were about (in an area in which there should have been no other human beings for miles around) had been the sound of faint gun shots the day before, together with the remains of a zebra, which was missing the whole of one leg and haunch (), and the guide explained that poachers would often slaughter an animal in this way, taking sufficient meat with them for the next day or two.

Close to the remains of the zebra, the guide suddenly spotted a man standing up half a mile or so away (although he was wearing bright clothes he proved very difficult to spot by eyes more keenly attuned to the colours of the bush, and not at all to the shape of a human being). It turned out that he was just a young boy who had been abandoned by his companions who were in the area (meat) poaching.

After a day (and night) alone in the bush he was more than ready to be caught, despite the prison sentence that he then faced. The guide radioed through to an anti-poaching force, who must also have been in the area, and half an hour later, as we watched, the hapless kid was pounced upon from four sides simultaneously, without he or us having noticed a thing.

He was then held in our tented camp overnight, tied to a tree, before a vehicle could be brought up to take him away. This was in fact the most nervous moment of the whole trip – the thought of his armed companions returning to rescue him being far scarier than any possible incursion by lion or leopard. Interesting one that.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Seven
Tafika to Chikoko Bush Camp

One of the specialities of Tafika is the availability of early morning flights by micro light aircraft – a particular enthusiasm of John Coppinger. Although the majority of guests at Tafika do take this option, only the intrepid ‘Tracker Clark’ out of our own group could be persuaded to take to the air on this occasion, although with spectacular results. A real highlight, not at all at odds with the bush experience (the aircraft more resembling some huge prehistoric bird, rather than a high-tech artefact).

Once on our way, again just by ourselves (plus Judith), we drove by road through several native villages to reach our river crossing point back into the main area of the Park. Two ellies encountered en route took particular exception to our presence, and mock charged us. For the first time in our experience the scout actually chambered a round in his rifle, but fortunately there was no need to take the matter further (although the story doesn’t end here). The river crossing was made by kayak, close to the point at which David Livingstone made his own crossing in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is unlikely that the landscape has altered markedly in the interim. Just after crossing, we saw the irate ellies on the bank that we’d just left, although we had imagined them left well behind (and later on, now on foot, we saw them again on the same side of the river as ourselves, although by now they appeared to have forgotten their quarrel with us).

The final part of our journey was thus on foot into Chikoko, passing more giraffe along the way, and observing how a strangler fig tree had taken over another tree. Our obligatory tea stop along the way was enlivened by seeing how the tea bearer was able to make a fire using a pointed stick, rotated swiftly in a hole in a piece of wood situated amongst kindling (although none of the safari group proved able to replicate his feat).

Chikoko proved to be the bushiest bush camp yet – no hostess, but still a solar-powered fridge situated in a capacious bar, so it at least had the important home comforts, including hammocks. The actual sleeping quarters were an open platform raised on stilts, with the bathroom facilities underneath. No hot water except first thing in the morning, supplied in a jug – very Edwardian.

After a delicious lunch of spare ribs we relaxed until early afternoon, until it was time for the game walk (no opportunity for a game drive here, since there was no vehicle access at all, everything having to be brought in by hand – including the huge fridge). It was interesting to walk in a different habitat to that encountered previously, although game sightings were on the slim side (but who were we to complain after the previous day?), with only a hyena of particular note, although the guide did note a ‘smell of death in the air’ close to camp. However a wide sweep around the area failed to locate any cause.

One of the group (who shall remain nameless) decided not to risk the open and somewhat crude staircase down to the bathroom during the night, and simply took advantage of the open nature of the top platform. He (it could have been a she!) then kept awake wondering if some predator (needing only a moderate climbing ability) might, as a result, be attracted to the site, a fear shortly compounded by a crashing noise just by his hut. Not wanting to risk using his torch, he made excellent use of a Russian army surplus night sight that he had with him, to discover that it was merely a hippo, and sleep soon ensued.

Campfire Tales - A Buffalo Moment
On one occasion we asked our guide what had been his scariest moment, and he told of one that had taken place on safari elsewhere. In the South Luangwa, the scout might typically carry a .458 Winchester capable of stopping anything. Customarily it will carry 3 or 4 shells in its internal magazine. The first will be soft nosed, for the dual purpose of a warning shot for game such as elephant or buffalo, or as a dropping shot for soft-skinned animals such as lion. The remainder are then hard nosed shells capable of dropping an elephant.

On the occasion referred to, the scout was armed only with an AK47, ideal for carving up human beings, but of little use against big game. The on-foot group (comprising scout, guide and one guest) were very much being faced with a buffalo ‘moment’, as the latter was charging straight at them. The guide admitted to being slightly nervous to start with, but at moments like these it is the scout who is in charge. Then as the enraged buffalo got nearer and nearer (at top speed they can reach 40 mph), the guide became even more nervous.

Finally the scout said – to the guest – “please tell me when you have your photograph, sir, so that I can shoot”. The guest dropped his camera and curled into a ball, as the scout then fired off a salvo of shots into the ground directly in front of the buffalo, kicking up lots of dirt into its face, whereupon it wheeled away. Phew!

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Eight
Chikoko to Crocodile Bush Camp

The walk to Crocodile bush camp was enlivened by seeing a miniature ‘dust devil’ in the near distance, together with another elephant skull, not to mention impala scrapping, and a tribe of baboons. An early morning walk such as this is the opportunity to ‘read the daily newspaper’, in other words to catch up on the overnight news – by observing the tracks and droppings left in your path, and assessing their age. Many of these indications are quite subtle – for example the faint drag marks left by the quills of a porcupine, but it is always a thrill to come across fresh lion or leopard footprints.

Crocodile is quite a differently designed camp to Chikoko (although virtually as ‘bushy’, being constructed on one level, of brush, with the usual bathroom open to the stars). An unusual feature was the presence of numerous bats hanging from the roof, waiting for the evening so that they could be on their way.

Lunch was a revelation. Usually one of the pleasures of being abroad is that of sampling a different type of (local) cuisine. Not so in Zambia. The local cuisine consists virtually entirely of nsima - mealie meal livened up with a relish, which fails to appeal much to the Western palate (although we have also tried ‘mopane worms' the caterpillar of the Emperor Moth, described by one food expert as ‘having the taste of seasoned cardboard, with a definite hint of timber’ ).

Accordingly the food provided is whatever the chef or camp hostess chooses, and may range from Thai food, through Indian curries, to barbeques, spare ribs, chops and stews – always extremely tasty, cooked in the simplest of bush oven (i.e. a hole in the ground) and served with delicious home grown vegetables and home baked bread of a kind never to be found in your local supermarket. On this occasion lunch was simply beef burgers and chips, which we fell upon like wolves! (Incidentally we travelled out once with a client who is not just a vegetarian, but a vegan, and thought that he would be a real problem to cater for (there can’t be many herds of tofu still roaming the plains of Zambia), but the food provided for him – by ace camp hostess Sally - was so good that he actually had to fight to get his share!).

The evening game walk comprised little more than a short walk to a nearby lagoon, where we just sat and watched the animals and birds until the sun went down, there being plenty to see – puku, impala, warthog, both slender and black tipped mongoose, and a ‘green five’ sighting of a rhino thistle. Off to bed at 8.30 p.m., after pork chops and crème caramel for dinner. My hut was the furthest from the boma, and on my way I heard a rustle in the bush to the side of my path. This was definitely a ‘moment’ and I clearly recall just freezing, and the realization that I was going to have to deal with this one by myself. A noise like this could be anything from an elephant to an elephant shrew, although the accompanying puku warning whistle suggested something more sinister. Then a quick flash of the torch revealed it to actually be a leopard, stealthily making its way off into the bush. I certainly locked my door that night (or would have done, were such things possible in bush camps). Actually slept very soundly.

Campfire Tales - Night Drive Nightmare
Another guide, asked about his hairiest moment, recounted a night game drive in a remote region of the Park, when the (open topped) vehicle suddenly lost all power. It eventually turned out that a battery lead
had simply come loose, but they weren’t actually able to lift the bonnet and explore the problem, since, at that moment, a large pride of lions chose to settle down in front, behind and alongside the vehicle, close enough to touch.

Without power for the radio, a long and uncomfortable night loomed ahead, until an adroit guest, with an expensive camera, managed to jury-rig the camera’s battery into the radio, by the aid of torch light, and help could be summonsed.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Nine
Crocodile Bush Camp to Kaingo Lodge

The morning’s plan was to walk back to Tafika, crossing the river there out of the Park, and then finishing the journey off by vehicle to just opposite Kaingo, crossing back into the Park at that point. During the walk we saw a superb male kudu, together with the usual ellies and so on. A somewhat eerie experience involved passing by an old, now derelict camp, by Big Lagoon, a very popular safari camp in the early days, but now looking very ‘concretey’ and dated. As we stood looking at it, a huge number of bats erupted out of one of the windows, in a scene reminiscent of a low-budget horror movie.

Lots of game on this part of the trip – warthog, puku, baboons, crocodile and hippo – together with a puku carcass lying on the ground, identified as a leopard kill, despite its location, owing to the rib cage still being intact (lions would have chewed it to bits). The river crossing back to Tafika was a rather cautious affair, owing to the lurking presence of a solitary hippo a short distance away (contrast with the crossing to Kaingo later on in the day!).

On the drive to Kaingo we had a further leopard sighting – probably our best yet – as one crashed down out of a tree by the side of the road, and sloped off to the squawking of several impala. A real treat was a bend in the river used as an elephant crossing, where we counted well over 40, young and old, at this point. We watched these for a long time, before continuing on our journey, accompanied by further sightings of hippo and crocodile, huge numbers of buffalo, a male elephant trumpeting loudly at us, and (for the twitchers among you) a goliath heron and giant kingfisher.

The river crossing back into the Park at Kaingo was a much more exciting affair. A large pod of hippos was congregated just opposite to our crossing point, and became quite obstreperous while the third kayak crossing was being made (fortunately only containing our baggage). Welcomed into camp by Emma and Ian, and later by Jules, and Derek Shenton himself. Very much back to civilisation again, in delightful surroundings, with a large viewing deck protruding out over the river, a very comfortable boma, and solid comfortable huts.

Kaingo has a number of interesting features, including a ‘honeymoon suite’ (with raised open air bath) and both hippo and elephant hides. We spent a considerable time in the hippo hide, obtaining some excellent photos, and were also driven to the elephant hide, fifteen or twenty feet above the ground.

The night drive took us through the ebony grove, past a giant eagle owl, and a pair of giraffe, to Kaingo’s own (Mwamba) bush camp. Here we climbed up on to the top of an old termite mound, and consumed numerous gin and tonics, accompanied by delicious roasted groundnuts. It was generally agreed that it was one of the best Saturday evenings that we had ever spent. The succeeding game drive yielded a first sighting of porcupine, a mouse, a white tailed mongoose, more ellies and a total of nine separate genet (we were promised that if we saw ten genet then we could trade these in for one sighting of the still very elusive leopard, but it was not to be, on this occasion).

At dinner the talk turned, as it does, to the mating habits of lions. The guide observed that if there is a pride led, as it sometimes is, by two male lions (perhaps brothers) then a female on heat will sometimes mate with both. One of the guests muttered ‘what a slut’, to general amusement. It was then observed that if two females are on heat at the same time, then the male may mate with both. Having recently observed just how debilitating this process is for the male, the same guest then murmured ‘what a hero’, only to be roundly set upon by the ladies present, and accused of double standards. After digging himself further into the hole that he’d created for himself (as one does on these occasions) he retired with a poor grace. After arranging a ‘Full English Breakfast’ for the following morning, it was then time for an early night once again.

Campfire Tales - Wedded Bliss
Somewhat surprisingly (although a wedding in the bush is a truly marvellous event) quite a number of couples do choose a safari for their honeymoon (as we have just seen, Kaingo even has its own honeymoon suite). One story that we heard was of a honeymoon couple out on a guided morning walk, when an elephant ‘moment’ occurred, and the guide told the group to leg it to the nearest tree. In so doing the wife tripped and fell, whereupon the husband hurdled her prostrate body and continued on to safety.

This was actually absolutely the correct thing to do, leaving the guide with only one person to deal with, rather than two. However it is reported that the wife refused to speak to her spouse for the remaining 14 days of the trip, and we even heard from another source that they are now divorced.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Ten
Kaingo to Tena Tena

We were still very conscious that, although we had experienced a few half-decent glimpses, we were still short of the expected abundance of leopard sightings. Previous visits had provided no shortage of these, and indeed other guests in the same camps as ourselves had reported many sightings on their own game drives. However ‘Kaingo’ means ‘leopard’, and this proved to be a good omen.

No sooner had we finished our (very excellent ‘Full English’) breakfast than we spotted a leopard across the river, walking slowly along the opposite bank, and were able to view its stately progress for several minutes. It was a truly beautiful sight, as it strolled along by the edge of the river, its tail lifted high (with a wonderful circular curve at the top) to tell the panicking guinea fowl that it wasn’t hunting.

After leaving Kaingo we drove through 2-3 km of the ebony grove, observing an attempted puku mating, giraffe, a red hornbill, and numerous baboons by a lagoon. Further sights included a long line of buffalo, viewed along the horizon, lots of zebra, giraffe and a kudu. However the ‘main event’ was a further leopard just sprawled out under a tree at the top of the river bank, in a very relaxed frame of mind.

Tena Tena provided its customary warm greeting from Daudi. However we all experienced the problem that always emerges after a long stay in a small bush camp, with only the people who you know around you, in that the prospect of having to meet and talk with half a dozen new faces just overwhelms you (this is why it is essential to ’wind down’ through a final base camp like this, rather than heading straight from the remote bush to the airport).

Accordingly, after a somewhat taciturn lunch, we simply spent the afternoon lazily looking out over the (mainly dried-out) lagoon behind our tents (a comfortable sitting area is provided). In this way, rather than driving around to encounter the game, you just let it come to you – at its own pace. Over the course of the afternoon, puku, impala, baboons, warthog, bushbuck and, finally, four stately giraffe, made their steady way through the area.

The late afternoon/evening game drive with Ross then provided the ideal climax to our safari. The first sighting was of crocodile lined up like waiting taxis on the far bank of the river, with baby hippo walking carefully between them. Then a group of ellies, with one asleep lying up against a tree, and one with a half-severed trunk – the victim of a snare several years previously. On drinking, this creature seemed able to draw the bottom portion up to meet the top, eliminating the gap. To top it off we were then mock-charged again – always quite an interesting experience!

During early evening a herd of impala dashed across the road ahead of us, hardly slowing as they encountered the broken, dried out ground to the side of the road, although, sadly, one was observed to have a broken front leg. Although it could keep up remarkably well at this pace, it days must have been seriously numbered, possibly by the grizzled old male lion that we saw lying in the grass nearby.

Then at sundowners we heard a cacophony of sound that turned out to be baboons which were ganging up to chase off a leopard. We were able to follow up on the incident, and soon saw the leopard determinedly making its way back, along a dried stream bed, to the impala kill that it had just made. We were able to drive right up to the edge of this stream bed, and watch the entire process of eating from start to finish.
Leopards will always start at the soft rear of the antelope, steadily munching their way inwards, with quite surgical precision (in contrast to the more destructive piling in that a lion adopts).

By now it was quite dark, and we were watching solely by the illumination of our vehicle’s spotlight. Suddenly a hyena rocketed in, and the leopard leapt to safety on top of the bank right by the side of our vehicle (leopards, unlike lions, are solitary hunters and cannot risk injury in defending their prey from scavengers such as the hyena – which was almost the same size as the leopard). So fast did it happen that there was no sensation of the hyena running in, or of the leopard leaping away – just the instantaneous appearance of the hyena and the abrupt change of location on the part of the leopard. The hyena then snatched the foetus from the impala carcass and ran off with it, and the leopard was able to return to its kill. However the incident had obviously upset it, and it soon went off itself, with no attempt made to drag the remains into a tree, as it would normally do.

This proved to be the end of a wonderful day’s game viewing, during which our passion for leopard sightings had been amply fulfilled. Roast lamb for dinner!

Campfire Tales - The Leopard's Mistake
On an earlier visit to Tena Tena a further amazing leopard sighting was made on an early morning game drive. This leopard had obviously attempted to cross the (very low) Luangwa river, but had failed to make it all the way across, being ‘treed’ by a number of crocodile on the stump of a dead tree about two-thirds the way across.

This magnificent beast was then trapped for the whole day, in the baking heat, on top of this stump unable to escape, with about a dozen evil looking crocodile waiting patiently for her to try, on all sides of the tree.

The penalty for making a mistake in the bush is that you die, and she clearly knew that she had made a mistake. Our final view of her, at the end of our evening game drive was a highly charged and emotional moment, with not a few tears shed. The news was then brought back to us the following morning that she had gone – and fresh leopard tracks had been seen on the near bank! So it looks as though she made it.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Eleven
Tena Tena to Luangwa River Lodge

Tena Tena is a tented camp, rather like Kakuli, and although there is running hot and cold water provided in the bathrooms attached to each hut, the bush tradition of supplying a fresh bowl of hot water on a stand outside the tent, first thing in the morning, is still adhered to, and it seems only polite to make use of this for a wet shave out in the open.

Our final day then took us to the very newly created Luangwa River Lodge (previously known as Tamarind), and which was exciting considerable interest in the South Luangwa Valley owing to its striking departure from the conventional design of safari lodge. However there was more excitement to come along the way when we encountered a belligerent looking male elephant immediately ahead of our vehicle. Normally the elephant would move off into the bush after a while, unwilling to continue the confrontation. However on this occasion it merely backed off away from the road, remaining facing us from just within the bush.
Thankfully our guide took us a wide sweep into the opposite bush in order to avoid any further confrontation. Perhaps best described as ‘Modern African Bush Chic’, Luangwa River Lodge is stunning. Although only local materials have been used, as elsewhere, the structure incorporates elements of North African (Moorish) design, with a water garden feature and modern infinity pool. The latter was eagerly seized upon, overlooking as it does the Luangwa River itself, with (unusually) a plain area on the opposite bank, full of game.

To lie in a pool similar to what we might be accustomed to in a Spanish villa, watching giraffe across the way is a strange experience indeed. The attention to detail that Tara and Barry Van der Maas have brought to the lodge is quite exceptional. Each ‘hut’ is actually a luxury suite, with its own shower, sunken bath and so on, and with its own private decking extending out towards the river. The exquisite personal touches reflect Tara’s past experience in interior design, and her influence can also be found in the food – which is just superb. No better host could be found than Barry, and Luangwa River Lodge provides the perfect location for the last night or two on safari, as the transition is made between the profoundly natural environment provided by living in the bush, and the ‘real’ world back home.

After an afternoon spent lazing in the pool, we took what turned out to be our final game drive, back in the Park itself, with the usual suspects – giraffe, hyena, bush tailed mongoose, genet, civet and lots of buffalo - being sighted. The evening meal – a culinary delight in itself – was enlivened by a small herd of elephant choosing to march their way through the grounds just in front of where we were dining, and our hosts finally chose to drive us around to our huts the back way, rather than risk our walking back.

Campfire Tales - Churchill and Cheese
It isn’t often that the conversation over dinner turns to matters of deep intellectual content. However on one occasion a guest had his button pushed, and spoke eloquently for over an hour and a half on his favourite subject – cheese. In order to try to head off part two of this fascinating saga, the stratagem was adopted of asking each guest to nominate people (current or historical characters, but excluding Nick Hornby) who he would like to invite for dinner. “Oh Christ” exclaimed the cheese freak, and was allowed this as his first choice. Other candidates included (in alphabetical order) the inevitable Winston Churchill, JFK, Nelson Mandela, Joseph Stalin and Margaret Thatcher. Slightly less obvious choices (in no particular order) included Bill Shankly (this from a lifelong Liverpool FC supporter), Billy Connolly (before he stopped being funny), Lenny Henry (who still is), Pamela Anderson (although for obvious reasons), Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Stanley Kubrick, Paul McCartney, Genghis Khan, Patrick Moore (to explain the stars at night), Tutankhamen, Michelangelo, Salvador Dali, The Dalai Lama, Quentin Tarantino (in order to explain what the gold light in the suitcase was at the end of ‘Pulp Fiction’), and David Livingstone (so that he could be asked whether Zambia had changed much since he journeyed here).

Faced with an imbalance of men over women, Kathy Burke, Nigella Lawson, Reba McEntire and the young Elizabeth Taylor were then added to the list. Possibly the most creative answer was ‘the unknown soldier’, so that he could be asked who he was, and how he died. Back to cheeses of the world.

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Twelve
Luangwa River Lodge to Chaminuka Lodge (Lusaka)

Winding down now, we eschewed a final 5.30 a.m. game drive, in favour of a really good lie-in, followed by a huge breakfast, and a final stroke of the camp pussies. Then Barry took us on our way to Mfuwe airport for our early afternoon flight back to Lusaka (after a final Mosi moment at the Moondog). The perfect end to a perfect trip. However it was not all over yet, as, after an uneventful flight back to Lusaka, we were met by our transport to our overnight accommodation prior to our early morning flight back to Heathrow.

Now, you could stay at the Lusaka Hilton, or whatever, but by far the more desirable option is to take the half hour drive out of town to the beautiful small private game reserve of Chaminuka. Here the Sardanis family provide immaculate hospitality in amazing surroundings. A luxury game lodge in its own right, Chaminuka is also the home of Zambia’s largest private art collection, with innovative sculptures jostling with striking modern art canvasses, all created by local Zambian artists We didn’t believe that we could have improved on the food served in South Luangwa, but at Chaminuka we did! The first hot bath, too, after nearly two weeks of taking showers.

Chaminuka should not be thought of simply as an overnight staging post. Although lacking the adrenalin rush of the true bush, its private game reserve well repays an exploration, and a visit to the local cheese factory (the guest described in Camp Fire Tales No 11, above, thought that he’d died and gone to heaven) unexpectedly proved to be as memorable and interesting as any of our other rich and varied experiences.

Campfire Tales - More Lion!
Safaris aren’t always totally serious affairs. One guide told of a group of Japanese tourists whose sole desire was to see lions – nothing else was of interest or would do. Eventually, although only after several days’search (as happens on such occasions) a fine pride of lions was discovered in full view of the road. However it was all over in a minute – after numerous photographs had been taken - and the guests cried “move on!”. “What would you like to see next?”, the guide enquired. “More lion!”, came the reply.

A different group of Japanese were equally desperate to see leopard, but with no success. However, on their final (night) game drive, a genet was spotted up in a tree, and the guide hadn’t the heart to discourage them from their conviction that this was a baby leopard.

Sometimes the guides themselves will have some gentle fun with their guests, as when one solemnly explained that the way to distinguish male from female zebra, was that the males had black stripes, while the females had white stripes, only for a confused lady to point to a nearby zebra and ask which sex was that one then?

Zambia Safari Diary - Day Thirteen
Chaminuka - Lusaka to London - Heathrow

Soon after dawn we were driven back into Lusaka to catch our early morning flight, only to find that the trip had one more surprise to spring on us. Being a private, enclosed, game reserve, Chaminuka can choose what it stocks, and we added blue wildebeest, sable, roan, and tsessebe to our ‘sightings’ list, in addition to further elephant, eland and zebra.

A largely uneventful flight back to Heathrow, enlivened by turbulence due to an electrical storm, appropriately enough just as the film ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ was screening. They hadn’t bothered to empty the toilets on the turnaround at Lusaka, and by the time we landed at Heathrow the final one had packed up – but this was of little hardship to old Africa hands such as ourselves.

The general feeling among the guests was that the trip couldn’t have been bettered (it could, of course – come back next year!). Game sightings were both extensive and of exceptional quality, as the accompanying photographs amply demonstrate.

Mammalian species seen (in order of appearance) were elephant, yellow baboon, vervet monkey, bushbuck, giraffe, impala, puku, hippo, lion, warthog, (a variety of the Burchell’s) zebra, scrub hare, elephant shrew, spotted hyena, genet, common waterbuck, tree squirrel, monitor lizard, civet, buffalo, crocodile, leopard tortoise, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, grysbok, reedbuck, serval, light grey mongoose, leopard, honey badger, wild dog, eland, kudu, banded mongoose, whitetailed mongoose, mouse, marsh mongoose, bushytailed mongoose, slender mongoose, black tipped mongoose, porcupine, blue wildebeest, sable, roan and tsessebe, with only Cookson’s Wildebeest and Aardvark escaping our view out of those species that we might have expected to see (with wild dog and honey badger providing us with real bonuses).

Although we probably saw many of the area’s different bird species, only vultures, the various oxpeckers, guinea fowl, carmine bee eaters, ground horn bill, saddle bill stork, hammerkop, yellow billed stork, tawny eagle, goliath heron, giant kingfisher, giant eagle owl, fish eagle and red hornbill reached our record books.

Of the ‘big five’ we saw buffalo, elephant, leopard and lion, only the rhinoceros not being present; of the ‘little five’ we saw the buffalo weaver bird, the elephant shrew, the leopard tortoise and the ant lion, again missing out on the rhinoceros beetle; while of the ‘green five’ we saw the buffalo thorn, elephant grass, the lions ear flower (leontides) and the rhino thistle (but not the leopard orchid).