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marg

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Well...here goes the first trip report. We left our home on Monday morning at five and arrived at the Mfuwe Lodge early evening Wednesday. Our first sighting was a frog sitting on top of our room's name marker and under the light. It was the first of many little brown frogs that we will see and most were in our bathrooms. it was dark when we arrived and we could see nothing of our surroundings. Dinner and bed. Lots of sounds during the night...baboon alarm calls, hyenas and lions. It is great to be back in Africa! Breakfast and we are on our way at 7:30 in the morning. We had a private guide and ZAWA scout for ten days. Our sightings were right away: a lion on a hippo kill (not the only one we will see) and then a leopard in a gully following impala. I felt sorry for her as there were about eight vehicles on both sides of the gully. We left and had a game drive on our way to Chindeni that took us over three hours. We are HERE! It is great to unpack and finally get settled. Five nights! Our tent is very nice and we overlook a lagoon. Photos are of our tent.post-17651-0-70191000-1444165032_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-32680100-1444165143_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-21554000-1444165271_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-63939600-1444165407_thumb.jpg

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Here are a few photos of the camp and the lagoon it overlooks. We see many waterbucks as we leave to go on a game drive each day. The first day we walked in the morning. Lots of little stuff to see and it is great to be on foot after all of the sitting we have done. Later we found two lions that had been feeding on an elephant. The elephant was down below the bank and we could not see it. Our guide thinks it must have died of illness.. But, the vultures had arrived and they were everywhere. The lion's bellies were full and they were doing what they do best in the shade.post-17651-0-38860600-1444168614_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-63242400-1444168718_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-03601600-1444168812_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-43181700-1444168958_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-23324400-1444169021_thumb.jpg

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An excellent start to this report @@marg - sounds like Luangwa's turning it on for you with those lions feeding or fed, leopard sighting (pity about the vehicle nos tho), vultures etc all in a short time frame.

 

Love that light in the photos which are reviving memories of a special park.

 

Interested to see and read about Chinendi - are you able to describe whereabouts in the park it's situated?

 

Looking forward to enjoying more.

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the next morning and what a morning it is... We hear elephants trumpeting and hyenas calling. GO! We find the elephants looking on. And eight hyenas on a kill. Seven wild dogs had taken down a female kudu but the hyenas took over. Each time a hyena would walk away from the kill the dogs would nip at its back end. So, the hyenas were eating the dogs were circling and watching. We watched this dance all morning.post-17651-0-44896700-1444172792_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-33348200-1444172861_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-34778800-1444172985_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-10409700-1444173052_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-71162800-1444173117_thumb.jpg

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@@Caracal...it's in the southern part of the park. We were really impressed with the two Bushcamp Company camps that we stayed in. Only four tents per camp. Great staff. And, I hate to say this because I think that people who talk only about the food are not really into game viewing. But, the food was fabulous! We will return.

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more of the dance....post-17651-0-35177900-1444173521_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-40352200-1444173608_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-93655300-1444173713_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-61187600-1444173788_thumb.jpgpost-17651-0-70452500-1444173905_thumb.jpg

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still dancing.....

 

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great capture of an thrilling interaction!

 

i remember those frogs - they were always in the bathrooms (almost all the camps we were at!), enjoying the cushy bath towels that hung on the rails or on the sink tap, and we had to shoo them off but they would be back once we'd finished washing up.

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Ahh Chindeni!

One of my absolute favourite camps ... actually scratch that... terrible camp, don't go there. No one go there... To make things easier, I am prepared to go in your place!

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the dance comes to an end...the hyenas have their fill, the dogs eat again and the vultures arrive.

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Love the "dance", terrific sighting. Awesome start to your report, looking forward to more.:)

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Wild dogs and hyenas 'dancing'. What a sighting! After an already excellent start: lion; leopard; eles trumpeting and welcome frog guests n the bathroom.

Your photos are fantastic. Hyena vs 4 (did I count correctly?) dogs, mass of vultures on the kill to pick out a few.

Great start to your first trip report. Looking forward to more!

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And yet another report I'm loving, the TV in our house is gathering dust these days, it's just so much more enjoyable read all the adventures on here about the real world.

If you don't mind parting with the information could you say how much extra it cost to arrange a private guide and scout? (I assume that's two people) That's the way I'd prefer to do things and not be rushed by what others want but to sit and wait, it's a holiday after all.

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@@Big Andy...we got a special price on the private with the help of our TA. We had arranged to have him for four days but we were lucky and it was the entire time that we were with the Bushcamp Company. We were spoiled!

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The dance of dogs and hyaenas...fantastic! A amazing sighting well captured on camera...would be hard to top!

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It is hot here...mid 90's or about 35.C. There is a hammock on the porch and not easy to get into but once I'm in it's great. There is always something to look at across the way... birds, baboons and elephants. But, it is difficult to write and to delete when you keep looking up. The afternoon drive was quiet...two leopards: a female on the ground and another in a tree. It has been a fabulous day and we are just beginning our trip!

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That's a classic leopard shot just there :)

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next day...first sighting. DOGS! The pack is fourteen but today there were thirteen out hunting. First target was a puku but it got away. Two elephants were chased out of the bushes. We followed the dogs. In one area we found three male lions resting in the shade and the dogs were headed this way. Worry! But, I should not have as the dogs stood up to the one lion who got up to confront the dogs. What a display...the dogs were very aggressive and impressive. Lots of barking. The lions walked away. We continued to follow the dogs. Four of them split off and took down an impala. We came across what was left a bit later. Another great morning!

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late afternoon a dwarf mongoose

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following morning...a leopard in a sausage tree. There were lots of flowers on the ground and it was NOT happy with us there. It was alert and not sleeping. We left. The hippo was taken down by three lions by attacking the legs. A nearby hyena den provided lurkers and stalkers. On this trip, everywhere, we saw many hyenas alone out scouting and sniffing. And, tons of hippos.

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