Panthera paradise

[Atravelynn]

While trying to get a better look at the leopard cub we stumbled upon some cheetahs. What a trip!

 

Your sable in the trees reminded me of the wildlife artist Bev Doolittle.

 

What was the more popular photo subject? The leopards for you or you for the Treetops School Camp?

[Alexander33]

Great report. Really enjoyed all your photos, too. I think the most enigmatic image to me is that elephant silhouette on the banks of the river at sunset.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[Atravelynn]

My goodness those fierce hippo encounters were a thrill. You had good views of all the action. I enjoyed your interpretation of the events and the dialog supplied. The stealthily drinking leopard is a gem. Bee eater with bee, very good. I normally don't

even notice what people have on, but that is a lovely green outfit! Nice job with the roan. Funny how the "Wash and Go" still life looks so out of place.

 

Ele with the pink sky is divine.

 

----------

That closeup of the wound actually made it look less worse to me. The recuperative powers of these beasts is quite amazing. (To think I sometimes use the heating pad after a long session at the piano. What a wimp.)

Lions at the shore - like a regular old family outing. Your boat game viewing was very productive. How much time did you spend on the boat?

 

Paradise, and not just for Panthera. Enticing report making Kafue a very attractive destination!

 

2 nts Musekese Camp

4 nts Musakese mobile camp

Back to Musakese Camp 3 nights

If I have summarized the above correctly, let me ask: Why did you put the mobile in the middle with a couple of nights in the camp on either side?

Edited November 18, 2015 by Atravelynn

[michael-ibk]

 

 

I hope your 2017 trip is as enjoyable as ours was - is Musekese a possibility for you?

 

Yes, absolutely, and your report has made it a very appealing choice. But so far we haven´t decided on anything except that we certainly will do Kafue in 2017.

[TonyQ]

@@AfricIan

I have just got to the end of page 1 - and what a page 1!

Sable before you get there, beautiful leopard shots, cheetah and great views of elephants.

Time on the water, walking and vehicle - it sounds great.

[AfricIan]

Thank you for reading & commenting @@Alexander33. Once again it was "right place, right time" - the elephant came out of the trees and was walking across the dambo whilst the sun was quite high in the sky but dropping fast and as luck would have it, was right in front of the river as the sky developed it's most intense colours. Needless to say, we enjoyed our sundowners that evening.

[AfricIan]

Thanks for all your comments @Atravelynn I’ve not come across Bev Doolittle but after a quick search I can see where you’re coming from. Initially I was a bit frustrated with not being able to get a clear photograph but then, woodland is where they live so it’s much more in the correct context than if they’d been milling around on an open plain.

What was the more popular photo subject? – I’ve certainly a large number of leopard images on my camera but given the number of kids on that school trip and the number of images on their cameras & phones of me shaking hands or Vicky with the younger ones in the Landy means that they probably take the winners trophy!

The Hippo fight was very much another “right place, right time” occasion but does show how invaluable a guide that knows the area well is. Phil has spent many years up on those plains so when he spotted them he knew immediately that there was no direct route through to them & the only chance we stood of getting close was to head off parallel to them for quite some distance before cutting back.

I like your “still life” analogy for the wash&go, it was actually the “shelf” it lived on, right by the shower! I have to admit to having no artistic input here though, Vicky took all the “round camp” views on her little P&S!

The afternoon “boat trips” usually set off ~3:30 – 4pm and return just after sundowners at sunset so were back ~6:30pm. If you take an afternoon game drive then sundowners are a bit later & you come back in the dark with the spotlight. For one of our walks we took the boat across the river (5min) and walked the “north bank” then had a more leisurely boat ride back for ~1hr and on our last morning we were on the water at ~6am, picking Tyrone up ~10 so we had a good 4hrs then. Also, both leaving for & returning from the mobile means about 30min in the boat down to the confluence of the Kafue & Lufupa rivers as it’s a long old way round by road. Adding up, 3 afternoon “boat trips” & 1 morning + all the shorter jaunts means we spent a lot of time on the water – it was though, as you say, very productive

The reason for the split was pure logistics, we were constrained by the date we could leave the UK & only had 9 “nights in Africa” total on this trip. After the 1st night at Pioneer in Lusaka then we were down to 8 to play with, eventually opting for 2-4-2. We could have done it as 1-1-4-3 but Musekese couldn't offer us 1-3-4-1. If I was doing it again then I’d have tried harder to stretch to 10 “nights in Africa” but, as the old saying goes, “Always leave them wanting more”!

[TonyQ]

An excellent report with great pictures.

I really like the elephant with pink sky, the lions on the river bank, the hippo ferocity - and the roller

Thank you for posting!

[AfricIan]

Thank you for reading @@TonyQ, much appreciated.

 

Also @@michael-ibk, @@Marks, @@Peter Connan, @@Atravelynn, I've just heard back from Phil to say that the lioness appears to have made a full recovery so it looks like @@egilio was right - "Just a flesh wound"

[Atravelynn]

Good news on the lioness.

[Peter Connan]

Thanks for that uplifting news at the end of your wonderful and riveting trip report Ian!

[KasperW]

@@AfricIan

 

Thanks for the TR.

 

Unfortunately Musekese Camp is sold out for my days.

[AfricIan]

Thats a shame @@KasperW I'm sure you would have enjoyed a stay there.