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Published: June 24th 2017
/our tent
Last time we were in Africa, the South Africans were always amazed at our "little tent". This time, happy to report, we are described as the people with the "big tent."Geo: -12.895, 31.9228
The All Day Safari with Dora, Guillame, James.
Our guide was also named James, one of the great Wildlife Camp safari guides and on this day he was absolutely 110% lucky, skillful, funny and fun. Great job, James
Different from Flatdogs because this one lasts from 6am until 4pm with lunch included. Other difference was that we did not have a siesta time but got back on the road after our leisurely lunch.
They came to pick us up at around 5:45 and we were off. It was nice and cool in the morning so I did not put my long sleeved shirt on instead enjoyed being cool because I knew it was not going to last all day!
As we were heading out to the park, Dora the wonderful WC Camp manager started right in joking with James the Guide that he 'would earn so many points for each of the animals we saw. For example, the leopard, lion, etc. We all joined in and added our requests -- buffalo for Guillame, wild dogs would earn 100 for James and so on. Robert and I put in a request for the bush pig.
James of course was joking right back about
what exactly would those points would get him 😊
We got ourselves checked in and as we neared the Mfuwe Lagoon across in front of us flew a Martial Eagle. This is a spectacular looking bird because it has a crested head and is brown on top with a light spotted underside. It landed on a tree nearby and we got some pictures before it flew away.
As we were driving into the park, we saw a vehicle from one of the up-scale lodges. Dora made the comment that these type of lodges could possibly cause some problems within the community. She said the most recent lodge charges $900 a day and the average worker in the village of Mfuwe only makes $140 a month. Seems that income disparity is also an issue here. Of course I could write about the other issues that this also brings attention to but will save that for another time and place.
We then drove over to the edge of the river and saw the buffalo carcass that had been the scene of lions and hyenas for the last couple of days. All that was left was the carcass with some skin but mainly bones and
the skull with the teeth exposed. It looked like the carcass was smiling as it lay in the sand!
As we continued on along the bank, got to see a bird we had not seen in the park: the pelican. This bird did not look quite like the pelicans back home...was more a beige color and unfortunately we did not get to see it fly.
Points for James!
From there we headed away from the river we headed into the grassy area where all of a sudden, "there is a leopard!" It was a young male who did not seem to pay us much attention as he moved off into the grass. Now mind you what a beginning for our all day safari. Seeing a leopard before 7 a.m.! Of course James what to know what the points he was accumulating were going to be worth! Couldn't give him a really good answer.
Guillame had really wanted to see a large herd of buffalo and his wish was the next thing that was granted. It was a very large herd that we stopped and had our morning tea break and watched them as they moved past us. Every once in a while one would
stop and take a look at us and then move on. There were also some very young ones that had not quite learned the walk but were protected as they moved past. We were going to move on but decided to stop and see them get a drink of water in the river.
It was funny to see them because as we drove up they wheeled and turned down by the river and then would calm down and then wheel and turn again. Finally there had been enough of the buffalo and then we headed out
Crossing the Luangwa River:
Now for the exciting part. We are going to cross the river into the Nsefu section of the park. Evidently the place we are crossing is a regular crossing spot for those who cross the river by water. Dora was asking James if he was sure we could make it across and he assured her he was 100% sure! Glad he was and we did make it with no problem. This crossing is called the Tena crossing. Do not know the history of where the name originated
Was told the word Nsefu means eland in the Kundu language. This area was set aside
to protect the eland. We were now on the lookout for the eland and Cookson's Wildebeest. The eland is the largest of the antelope and can weigh more than the buffalo as amazing as this seems. There were great pods of hippos in the river and lots of elephants on the land.
Drove along the edge of the forest and James said he saw some eland tracks and we started into the forest area. Saw a mother kudu nursing her young, elephants in small groups here and there. It was very beautiful to see. There were also giraffe moving about and the ever present impala leaping here and there.
Then the group of eland was spotted. It was a breeding herd with a very very large male eland with them. the large male has a dewlap that looks like a brahma bull with a large tuft of hair on the end. The herd did not stay still for long and soon were out of sight in the denser vegetation.
We also saw some wildebeest along the river. We also watched a large herd of elephants cross down into the water where they were enjoying getting drinks and splashing themselves. The hippo pods
would every once erupt into great noise and uproar before settling back down. One young elephant came up the embankment and tried to make us think he really meant business with us. Did this wonderful side stepping as he roared past. Very amusing. Did keep an eye on the group of elephants that were in the bush behind us but fortunately they were content to stay where they were!
We then decided it was getting close to the lunch time and we should find a place to have lunch. We headed into this huge natural ebony tree forest. It was beautiful and very pastoral looking except for the sound of some men doing some welding. Asked why they were doing it there, they work for a very exclusive lodge and did not want the sound to bother them.
Evidently this lodge owner operates under the assumption that the part of the park is for the exclusive use of his clients and does not like others being in the area. We continued on our merry way and were glad we did not run into him or any of his clients!
What is that on the ground?
Why it appears to be lions taking a break.
It was warming up and they seemed to be content to just lie there and let us enjoy looking at the. It was a group of 14 lions with several young ones. The young ones were quite cute as they were using the tree trunk as their pillow.
Got our fill and moved on to find the lunch spot. Dora said we were going to the most beautiful place and she thought of this place as her special place but in reality it was an area used by a lot of people. They sometimes called this the "network" tree because this was one place in the Nsefu sector that you could get phone coverage and so you would see people out there using their phones.
The Dora Tree Lunch Spot
Imagine if you will, coming to a large tree with a plain stretching out in front of it down to the river. On the plain were elephant, zebra, puku, impala, and giraffe all grazing and moving about. We pulled up, got out and began to set things up for lunch. When we arrived at the tree there were three vultures sitting in it. We checked to make sure there was no leopard up
there! Strangest thing...on the ground underneath the tree was the leg of a waterbuck but nothing else!
There were also baboons and monkeys near the tree but they ran off when we arrived. We were getting things set up and enjoying the view when suddenly alarm calls from the puku and then all the animals started running up the embankment! Looked down toward the river and there was a large male lion walking along. Did not seem to be interested in hunting at the moment and went and laid down. We continued to look at the spot where he was and finally came to the conclusion there were two females down there with him! Wondered if possibly they had the rest of the waterbuck down there because they did not seem interested in the other animals.
Lunch was a delicious assortment of cold chicken, sausage, lunch meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, red bell pepper, and some nice rolls and dijon mustard for our dining enjoyment. Mosi for anyone that was interested. Also boiled eggs, and apples as well and some tea biscuits. All enjoyed our lunch as we watched the animals all around us.
Dora told us to be very careful and leave
/early morning with sides up
in this picture the sides are up on the tent and so we have great ventilation through the screened sideds no trace of food on the ground. It was very evident this was a good idea because we had our backs to the food and not a single monkey or baboon approached the table. They are still very wild and do not associate humans with possible food. Was so very enjoyable.
Then it was time to pack up and continue on our adventure. Came back to the lions again and they were still sprawled out resting. Some of the young ones got up and moved about but did not venture far from where they had been resting.
Got ready to cross the river back to the side where we had started but first had to have some up close time with two very large elephants that were in the water and were headed right toward us. Kept coming closer and closer to our vehicle but stopped and just looked at us.
The afternoon was fairly quiet as we drove along. It was hot and thankfully we had a vehicle with a roof so the sun did not beat down on us but the air around us was hot. Got some great views and shots of a giant kingfisher with a fish(barbel) and a
African Fish Eagle with a fish in its mouth. Both were intent on eating their catch and did not seemed too interested in us.
Around 3:50 James said, "you are not going to believe what I see." We all said "wild dogs?" since this was what James from England had wanted to see. No, but another large pride of lions this time 18 in number! There were four cubs, one that was very intent on nursing. They too were stretched out and seemed to be very hot.
On this all day game drive for the most part we were by ourselves and had no other vehicles at any of the sightings we had. Most of the evening game drives start at 4:00 pm so we knew there were getting ready to be a lot of vehicles in the park.
Right as we were getting ready to leave the park, stopped by the Mfuwe lagoon and got to see the Bell's Hinged Terrapin again. Facts learned later about this terrapin, the shell is hinged and it closes on its hinge when necessary. Another thing is the tortoise will pull its head in straight back whereas the terrapin will pull its head sideways.
As we
left the park, James joined another Wildlife Camp vehicle for an evening drive. The rest of us headed on back, dusty and thirsty but what a great day. Record number of lions for one day for all in the vehicle.
Guillame came over to the swimming pool and we all enjoyed some fine red wine as they cooled off in the pool. We had a light supper of tuna, salad and apple and visited with Scott and Theresa from San Jose about shared travel experiences.
What a great day! Lots of wonderful animals and don't know if any of us will ever see 35 lions again in a single day.
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