Zambia 2024 - A family adventure in South Luangwa National Park.

[mopsy]

Thank you @Hadsyes it was a real joy to pass on the magic of Africa to the boys. That they are still talking about it to anyone who will listen shows how much they enjoyed it.

 

And thanks to you too @xelasfor following along as well

Edited July 22 by mopsy

[mopsy]

Afternoon drive day 5

 

Afternoon tea over with we hadn't even reached the main road to the park when these elephants came to wish us a happy drive.

 

 

 

When you reach the end of the Flatdogs driveway you turn left for the few hundred metres drive to Mfuwe bridge and the entrance to the park. This afternoon Kennedy turns right, sparking cries from the boys about going the wrong way. I was initially confused for a few seconds but then thought I may have an idea what he was up to. After driving down the road for a few minutes we turned right onto a road that had a signpost showing it to be the way to Wildlife Camp and Kafunta Lodge amongst others. Now I was fairly certain we would be entering the park by the pontoon I had read about during researching SLNP.

 

After driving for a while we notice a car stopped on the middle of the road. We soon realise why.

 

 

This bull was blocking the road, and he didn't seem to be in a good mood. This is why.

 

 

Both bulls are in musth and are very agitated by being in close proximity to each other. The bull on the road is patrolling up and down the road whilst the other would approach the road but then back up when the other came to confront him. This picture kind of shows what it looked like.

 

 

The bull on the road was most aggressive. As a show of strength he pushed one large tree over and also destroyed a large bush with his trunk.  He went to leave the scene a couple of times, but this prompted the other bull to make a move to come up the embankment. Not wanting to lose the higher ground advantage (I guess) the bull on the road came rushing back driving the other into a backwards retreat and the stand off was on again. 

 

A couple of times we thought we may have been a chance of going past, but when it became obvious we couldn't Kennedy quickly turned the vehicle around so we could make a quick getaway if needed. They were quite close to us, and we were the closest to them as the original vehicle who was in front of us had long given up waiting and turned around and left.

 

It was a really intense scene. It felt like it could get very serious very quickly. Kennedy did say at one point that if they did come together it would most probably turn into a fight to the death. At one point they did come into contact with each other, but the lower ground bull backed off maybe sensing he was at a disadvantage.

 

I am not describing well how tense it really was. Perhaps the best way to do so is by saying we were there for half an hour at least, with 3 cameras and 3 phones in the car, and I have already posted all the photos that were taken. You couldn't take your eyes off what was transpiring.

 

Mitch did take this video early, and if you listen to his commentary you will hear that he was not keen to hang around. He recognised early we were maybe too close for comfort.

 

 

So eventually we gave up going past and went back the way we came. I could have stayed longer, it was fascinating to watch, but Kennedy made the call to move on so all good. Back from where we came to the traditional park entrance it would have to be.

 

Footnote: As we left the scene there would have been 30-40 cars waiting to get past. One of them was our self driving Aussie friends we met the previous day. We wished them luck as we passed. We would see them in the park the next day and ask what ended up happening. They said after another half hour or so some park rangers eventually turned up and without any kind of warning started shooting bullets into the sky to scare the elephants off. It had the desired effect but I couldn't help but wonder if that was the best course of action? Seemed strange to me. But, hey, what would I know??

 

 

Edited July 22 by mopsy

[mopsy]

Afternoon drive day 5 cont.

 

Well I'm not sure what time we eventually got inside the park but I guess it must have been pretty close to 4:30pm. We drive around for a while and see some much friendlier elephants.

 

 

 

A couple of giraffe caught our eye.

 

 

 

 

We did seem then to drive around for quite some time without seeing anything, not even other vehicles. But then as we went over a small rise in the road and came back down the other side as if by magic there were dogs suddenly right before our eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon they all started showing signs of being keen to get on the move.

 

 

 

 

 

And then in the blink of an eye they were off. They had set their eyes on some puku which were nearby. The puku took off with the dogs in hot pursuit with us trailing a distant 3rd. They reached a large open clearing where we had to stop as the road network didn't take us near where they were headed. The chase continued with three dogs chasing hard while the rest seemed to only be half hearted and weren't too interested in continuing. The puku eventually ran into some dense trees while still being pursued by the keen dogs, whereas the others had now officially given up and laid down in the clearing waiting to see what happened.

Eventually one dog, then another then the last emerged from the trees clearly unsuccessful with their endeavors. They all now laid down to rest but were quite some distance from us, so after a few minutes we decided to let them be and have our sundowners.

 

The only exciting thing that happened on the night drive was finding a chameleon in a tree. Never ceases to amaze me how the guides spot them. Kennedy took it out of the tree and Mitch and myself took turns having it sit on our hand. We have pictures of it somewhere but I can't locate them right now. Jasper and Harry weren't keen on holding it so after we put it back in the tree we headed back to camp.

 

Fun drive, very enjoyable. Hard to believe we only have 2 days left now.

 

 

 

[AndrewB]

It's a safety issue away from the river and towards habitation.

People live really close to the park/river along that part, and it is important to keep Elephants and other dangerous beasties away for the benefit of the villagers and also the wildlife, reducing human/wildlife conflict.

After our visit (many moons ago) we supported the South Luangwa Project (think that is/was the name) and there was a report of someone on a bicycle being killed by an Elephant as they cycled along that road.

[Towlersonsafari]

enjoying the report greatly @mopsyand what sightings! one of the things we enjoyed about Flatdogs were the many elephant sightings in camp

[mopsy]

7 hours ago, AndrewB said:

It's a safety issue away from the river and towards habitation.

People live really close to the park/river along that part, and it is important to keep Elephants and other dangerous beasties away for the benefit of the villagers and also the wildlife, reducing human/wildlife conflict.

After our visit (many moons ago) we supported the South Luangwa Project (think that is/was the name) and there was a report of someone on a bicycle being killed by an Elephant as they cycled along that road.

 

Thanks @AndrewB that makes sense. I was more surprised that the shots were fired off without any warning, especially to tourists. But when I think about how many cars must have been waiting to get past by the time the rangers arrived it most probably wasn't practical to do so.

 

[mopsy]

5 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

enjoying the report greatly @mopsyand what sightings! one of the things we enjoyed about Flatdogs were the many elephant sightings in camp

 

Thanks @Towlersonsafariyes we have seen quite a lot in our first 5 days - more than I could have hoped for.

The elephants were late to visit us but we would have a great encounter with them around the Nest on our last day. I was really hoping one would drink out of the pool but this didn't eventuate. No need when the river is so close I suppose.

[Zubbie15]

On 7/19/2024 at 6:19 PM, mopsy said:

It's a comment made without a hint of seriousness.

My 9 year old asks every new guide we get to see a pangolin... He usually just gets a chuckle and a little smile. 

 

Great variety of animals, you've continued to have an excellent trip! 

[mopsy]

13 minutes ago, Zubbie15 said:

My 9 year old asks every new guide we get to see a pangolin... He usually just gets a chuckle and a little smile. 

 

Great variety of animals, you've continued to have an excellent trip! 

 

Haha I told my boys to say that as well. And they received pretty much the exact same response. 

 

Would you believe me if I told you my wife and I saw a pangolin in the first hour of our very first game drive back in 2005? Unfortunately it's not an encounter I look back on with any joy at all. 

[mopsy]

Morning drive day 6.

 

This morning would prove to be a very quiet drive. We covered a fair bit of territory but struggled to find anything exciting. But of course we did see some animals going about their daily lives.

 

 

This shallow pool offered plenty of opportunities for those willing to put in the effort. The fishing was good with catfish the main course on the menu.

 

 

 

 

 

Later we came across a hyena doing nothing to warrant us hanging around long.

 

 

We got word that the pride of 16 lions had been found near the entrance to the park. We backtracked and located them down the bank just off the main road. We drove straight past this spot first thing this morning. Were we still half asleep and completely missed them? 

They weren't doing much, looked like they were getting settled in for the day. We hung around for 10 minutes or so then moved on.

 

 

 

After a while we found this hippo in perhaps the Luangwa Valley's smallest pool.  He tolerated us for a while, but eventually tired of our presence, got up and started honking and carrying on. We took the not so subtle hint and left him in peace.

 

 

 

We now headed towards the river. On the way giraffe made an appearance.

 

 

 

When we reached the river we realised Kennedy had brought us to the spot where the pontoon takes you across to the other side. Finally made it here after yesterday's elephant road block! Once the car is driven on there are 3 men who manually pulled us across. Despite the weight of the vehicle they made it look pretty easy.

We took a couple of photos of the car before us making their trip over.

 

 

 

Once we made it across we continued on. It was a nice area, very picturesque, but not much game to speak of. Of course there were impala, puku etc but the boys are safari veterans now it seems, they give those animals a casual glance on the way past but that's about it.

Eventually we made it back to camp ready for our breakfast/lunch.

As I said it was a very quiet drive, but you need to have them from time to time so you really appreciate the good drives when they come along.

This afternoon would prove to be one of those drives.

 

[Toxic]

On 7/23/2024 at 1:04 AM, mopsy said:

Would you believe me if I told you my wife and I saw a pangolin in the first hour of our very first game drive back in 2005? Unfortunately it's not an encounter I look back on with any joy at all. 

Beginner's luck but how come you don't look back fondly (if you don't mind sharing)? 😱

[mopsy]

2 hours ago, Toxic said:

Beginner's luck but how come you don't look back fondly (if you don't mind sharing)? 😱

 

No I don't mind sharing @Toxic - though it's rather shameful to do so.

 

As I said it's our first ever game drive. We are in Moremi, I won't name the camp as they weren't the only one involved plus it was nearly 20 years ago now.

As we drive along we notice 3 or 4 vehicles stopped at the one spot so we go over to investigate. The vehicles have been abandoned, and about 15 metres off the road there are around 20-25 people standing in a circle with a pangolin in the middle. It is curled up in a protective ball not moving at all. Our guide tells us to get out and come take a closer look which we do. Standing there it didn't feel right, but being green newbies I guess we just assumed this was some kind of common practice.. We had never even heard of a pangolin before this day so didn't even have any semblance of an idea what we were looking at.

 

I of course took a couple of pictures which I have dug up. Look at the top right corner of the photo, that's how close we were to it.

 

 

We were there for about 5 minutes from memory. At one point one of the guides told everyone to be quiet and not move hoping it might unfurl and show itself. I'm glad it didn't.

Not one bit proud or happy to have been involved in the sighting. And I know now I would never get out of a vehicle to be involved in something similar ever again. You live and you learn I guess.

 

 

[mopsy]

Afternoon drive day 6.

 

Kennedy is driving with purpose after we enter the gates. When the needle sits on 40kph you know he has heard of something being around. I did ask him about this earlier in the trip and he confirmed that quite a few guides will converse during the middle part of the day as to what they had seen and heard. Plans for the afternoon were formulated from the info, which could mean going it alone or teaming up with another guide to comb a certain area.

As we drive along we go straight past where the pride of 16 lions was earlier in the day. A glance shows they are still there and are sleeping the afternoon away. We may come back to check on them later.

 

Not too much longer after we reach a large open clearing. There are 2 cars in the distance parked near a small tree. Anticipation rising, we all have a guess as to what we think it might be. Harry guessed correctly.

Apologies for incoming dog overload.

 

 

Caught them napping but it wouldn't be long until there was movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a very nice 45 minutes with them, but then we had to move on as other vehicles had heard the news and had made their way into the area. No problem, happy to share. We will come back later to see if they may go hunting again.

 

Driving along we saw the following.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decide to have early sundowners so we can be ready and refreshed if the dogs decide to get mobile. We can see where they are from where we are positioned but we have other things to look at too.

 

 

 

 

Mosi for me, Fanta for the boys accompanied by chicken wings was quickly devoured. We pack up and return to the dogs. Things look promising, there is movement so hopefully they are just starting to get warmed up.

 

 

 

 

 

It soon became obvious however that this was a false start and there would be more rest first before any hunting or other endeavors would be undertaken.

 

 

 

We hung around for a little while longer but they didn't look likely to do much. It was starting to get dark so we decided to go back and check on the lions.

 

When we got to the spot they had been resting up for the day they were gone. Kennedy quickly turned around and took the first left hand turn and 5-10 minutes later we found them again. They were already in hunting mode, fanning out looking to surround some puku. We changed the spotlight over to the red filter, turned off the engine and waited in the pitch darkness. There were several other vehicles around as well, every minute or so someone would briefly turn on their spotlight to check on the lions location then turn it off again.

At one point I was whispering something to Mitch in front of me when Jasper tapped me on the shoulder from behind and pointed to our left. An adult female had walked up right beside our vehicle from behind and then stopped right beside Mitch. We all held our breath as she stood there for a couple of minutes. She went to move on, paused, then looked up and seemed to be eye balling Mitch. After a few seconds, and probably disappointed that he wouldn't be big enough to feed the entire pride, she moved on.

Mitch looked around at me with one of those looks on his face where he wasn't sure whether he should have been elated or petrified at the experience!

As it was dark with no spotlights on we took no photos at all. But Jasper took a quick one of the female with his phone as she went to move on.

 

 

It wasn't long after that we heard an alarm call from a puku, indicating the lions had been spotted and the ambush was over. The lions started moving on so we drove ahead and re-positioned ourselves for the next attempt. 

We would be present for 2 more but both were also unsuccessful. Getting late now we had to give up witnessing a kill and make our way back to the lodge.

A bit disappointed at the lions lack of success, but it had been a great experience none the less.

Our last day on safari tomorrow, we were hoping to finish on a real high.

 

 

 

 

[Toxic]

On 7/24/2024 at 11:11 PM, mopsy said:

We had never even heard of a pangolin before this day so didn't even have any semblance of an idea what we were looking at.

 

Not one bit proud or happy to have been involved in the sighting. And I know now I would never get out of a vehicle to be involved in something similar ever again. You live and you learn I guess.

 

Same! If I hadn't found ST after my first safari, I think I would still be oblivious to the existence of pangolins. One day I will see one in real life... !

 

I think your feelings are totally fair, it doesn't sound like the best practice we have all come to expect with sightings, but this does happen more than we all probably realise (even with things like number of vehicles at sightings, or speeding regulations). And you were total newcomers, I think we'd all do the same not knowing any better!

 

Some great dog shots and a very exciting lion sighting in your last post @mopsy, enjoyed reading along (especially the 'she was disappointed he wouldn't feed the entire pride') 😂

 

[mopsy]

Day 7 morning drive

 

Our last day today, we had high hopes of finishing with a bang as we left the camp for the gate. But as often can happen when on safari we just had one of those days where we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and really didn't see anything of note. 

We started off where we finished last night, hoping the lions had made a kill and would be close by, but after a long search we found no sign of them nor any evidence that they had been successful hunting. We did come across a hyena in some thick bush and tried to follow it but we were given the slip.

 

We ended up going to a different area and did happen to find a buffalo coming out of the bush. He seemed intent on going somewhere, so we followed him and soon after he led us to a large herd. This was pretty cool as we hadn't really seen any as yet, but just as we got to them the tail end of the herd was heading in a direction we couldn't follow.

 

 

 

 

 

A small family of elephants came next. For some reason only Mitch took photos of these on his phone. 

 

 

 

 

 

A few of the common scenes we saw constantly in South Luangwa presented themselves. Being the last day I made sure we took a few photos.

 

 

 

 

 

Before we left on this drive I made a promise to myself that I would also take photos of the scenery, not just the animals. SLNP is such a stunning place with many different eco-systems, and I guess I was worried that we wouldn't have in our photos anything that reflected the beauty of it all. So I started taking photos of everything and then some as we drove along. Excuse the quality, all are taken from a moving vehicle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a very rough road to the top of a hill for our morning tea. There were buffalo and zebra in sight but again no photos. I think in hindsight everyone was getting a little tired after so many long days. Harry slept in the vehicle for at least an hour on this drive, and maybe I had become a little mentally tired looking after the boys and making sure everything they needed was done. 

 

View from our lookout.

 

 

 

 

Not sure if we saw much on the way back to camp. No photos taken by anyone indicates probably not much.

Soon we would be having lunch at the Nest which would be the place of our best sighting for the day.

 

 

Edited July 31 by mopsy

[mopsy]

Day 7 Lunch at Crocodile Nest

 

Just as we finished lunch we heard the sound of branches being ripped from trees somewhere near the main entrance to the Nest. On inspection we found an elephant feeding right in front of the door. Too dangerous to open and watch we found the best vantage point to be standing on the toilet in one of the bathrooms. 

 

 

 

 

After a while it started making it's way around towards the pool area so we switched location to await it's arrival. Soon enough it arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this was happening another elephant approached. They fed for a while then kept going on their way. All up this lasted for about an hour and a half, a wonderful way to spend our siesta break.

 

 

 

 

[mopsy]

Afternoon drive day 7.

 

The pride of 16 lions had been found so we went to take a look. They had eventually brought down a buffalo the night before and were still on the scene. Unfortunately they had been very inconsiderate and made the kill in a spot pretty hard to get to. We only hung around for about 5 minutes as most were sleeping. I took a proof photo through the trees.

 

 

As previously mentioned our sightings on this last day out in the bush were not overly exciting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last sighting of the trip would prove to be a croc on the bank of the Luangwa. Ho posed nicely for us for a few seconds then as they do made a dash into the water.

 

 

 

On this drive I also continued taking scenery shots. Again the majority are taken from the moving vehicle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing to report from the night drive. We were back in camp around 7:30pm for our final dinner. A bit of pre-packing was done afterwards then everyone piled into bed. A little sleep in the next morning would do everyone some good.

 

We were picked up the next morning and taken to the camp restaurant for a light breakfast. All the guests had already left on their morning drive so we had the place to ourselves. Very quiet places are safari camps when there is nobody around.

At one point the boys were being given a lesson on using the slingshot used to keep the thieving monkeys at bay. I took the opportunity to wander over to the river and stare wistfully into the park, wishing we had just one more day, one more drive. What a great time we have had, been very lucky with our sightings and interactions between the wildlife. Though I couldn't help but be jealous of those out there experiencing another day in the bush.

Eventually we said our goodbyes to all staff and made our way to Mfuwe airport for the long trek home.

 

So long South Luangwa, thanks for giving my boys a wonderful introduction to life on safari.

We will be back.

 

 

Edited July 30 by mopsy

[Zubbie15]

Thanks overall for sharing @mopsy, definitely a family trip to remember!

 

Thanks also for the clarification about the pangolin sighting.  It's interesting what we don't know at first, isn't it? Not the same, but on our first full day game drive in India we had a substitute driver, who we tipped at the end of the day.  The next morning our guide told us we hadn't tipped enough, especially with all of the rules the driver had broken for us. We responded that we didn't ask him to break any rules, hadn't him to, and didn't even know what the rules were,we had innocently thought we were doing things the normal way in India. It soured our relationship with the guide for the rest of our time with him! 

[mopsy]

Thank you for following along @Zubbie15

 

Sorry to hear of your guide issues in India. I hope it didn't detract too much from your experience there.

 

 

[Toxic]

Thank you for this TR @mopsyand what a lovely visitor to your camp to wish you all safe travels!  I haven't been to Zambia yet so really appreciated the landscape photos also - looks beautiful. 

[mopsy]

Thanks @Toxicfor coming along for the ride!

 

SLNP is a wonderful safari destination, you wouldn't regret making it your introduction to Zambia.

 

I wouldn't hesitate going back.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks for a great report, really enjoyed following around. You had super sightings. Your kids are so lucky to experience the wonders of Africa. 

[mopsy]

Thank you @michael-ibkappreciate you following along. Yes we had some great sightings but I think the best part of the safari is the kids want to do it all again.

[Geoff]

@mopsyThat's an incredible first time safari for your boys. Some excellent sightings. The vid of the roaring lions is excellent.

I think your guide Kennedy did a fabulous job.

 

I'm intrigued by your choice of route to/from South Luangwa.

As you live in Brisbane is there any particular reason you flew BRi-SYD-JNB rather than BRI-DUBAi-LUSAKA? 

 

[mopsy]

@Geoffthanks for commenting, yes it was a wonderful first up experience for the boys.

 

I probably didn't give Kennedy anywhere near enough praise for his guiding, both for his ability to continuously find us great sightings as well as the terrific relationship he built with my kids. From day 2 they were fighting with each other to sit up front with him on the morning drive, so we had to create a roster so they could share the experience.

 

With flights we used Qantas FF points for the BNE-JNB legs, so just had to pay for JNB-LUN return.

I did look at going via Dubai, but was mindful of burning the boys out before getting to Zambia. Which from memory at the time of booking was a chance of happening due to unfriendly arrival times.

In the end I was happy with how our schedule worked out. Had plenty of time to get over the first long flight in particular so everyone was fresh and ready to hit the ground running when safari time arrived.