Pinching Myself

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Next it’s off to South Luangwa National Park by way of a long travel day – long in time more than distance. The state of the roads, the countless haulage trucks to overtake, some speed limited at 80 on a 120 road, the military/police checkpoints at nearly every ‘council’ area, some of whom try to extract a cold drink to speed things along as well as ‘elevate themselves’ quipped Eva & the millions of speed bumps – many in rows of 3 to slow traffic coming into town, all add to extend travel time. (Ed note: Need a sports bra when travelling here.) We passed thru the Zambian capital Lukasa where we stopped at a local shopping centre to pick up food supplies as well as a camera battery charger for me.

In Jo’burg, I thought the battery wasn’t holding charge properly (it was a new battery) so with limited time & transport, I went on the hunt for a replacement battery whilst conserving my DSLR usage to have enough battery for the 4 game drives in South Luangwa National Park as well as hatching plan A, B & C. As my brain slowly recovered from jet lag & associated lack of sleep, it twigged that maybe it was the charger that was the issue. Enlisting the 2 local guides – Gee & Ishmael – I saw the African saying There are no problems, only solutions in action. Gee knew someone in Livingstone who might be able to fix it so took it to him whilst I was out cycling in the local villages. Unfortunately that wasn’t successful, however he was able to confirm the issue was the charger. Confidently, Gee said, In Lukasa we’ll be able to get a replacement charger & I have a friend who will be able to assist us.

And assist me he did. Walking into the shopping centre that Gee’s mate Wisdom had been advised was the best bet, I saw that the phone/computer place had a Canon 7D on display – the model I was using. Despite not wanting to count my chickens before they hatch, hope had me giddy. Hope’s an amazing thing. Racing off to get Ishmael to do the negotiations, I was shaking with anticipation. By hook or by crook, I was getting that charger. Walking out of the shop with said charger, I was smiling from ear to ear. Thank you to Gee & Ishmael for enlisting Wisdom to search. I forgot to get a photo of the 3 of them. Doh.

No turning back as we have to make tracks. 13 hours after setting off, we pulled into our overnight lodging, 3 hours later than expected. Only to turn around and cook up stirfry for the group. I was shattered. My first night in a bed and I slept till 5:30am – my best to date as my confused body keeps waking up at 4am. After a fabulous hot high-pressure shower to clear away the dust from the previous day, it was another travel day to reach our camp opposite South Luangwa National Park.

After pitching our tents on the upper banks of the Luangwa River, it was off to grab sundowners – G&T at pool bar. The travel crew stood around marvelling at our surroundings, watching the hippos & crocodiles in the river & the changing colours created by the setting sun. Such a stunning location. Heading to sleep that night, the hippos had come up onto the lower banks snorting & grunting as they munched on the grass less than 10m away. We had night patrol to watch over camp whilst we slept. Though not much can be done about the blue ball monkeys playing around.

The following morning it was up before the sun to head out on a game drive in the park. We must be smiling at the nature as Ishmael says as we saw zebra, elephant, giraffe, hippos, warthogs, various kinds of antelope – water buck, kudu & impala –, baboon, monkey, leopard carcase up a tree with leopard hiding in a nearby bush unseen, lionesses & cubs & more in the morning session. All throughout, there were lots of young staying near mum.

The mid potion of the day was spent around the pool watching the day go by. I noticed thorny tree branches on the thatched roofs around camp – these are to keep the monkeys off. Watching the river, I had a chuckle watching the hippo forge on the sandbank walking right by the crocodile who didn’t move though had jaw open in preparation. Don’t think croc would survive too well being stood on by a hippo.

Midday was also spent at the other human watering hole – the internet signal – which was available between 12-2pm daily at the reception. Funny sight, us all sitting round on our devices. I was trying to get my Mozambique evisa despite being told prior to departure that it was no issue for me to get at the border. I was stressing because it had taken the guides 4 hours to get 2 travellers through the Mozambique border last time. Whilst waiting for the internet pages to load, I got chatting with 2 travellers who were on the road for 6 months having purchased a car. They were staying at this camp for 2 weeks…Kruger for a month… I was internally drooling, thinking can you adopt me?

That afternoon, it was off on another game drive where we were exceedingly fortunate to see a large pack of African wild dogs as well as 2 female leopards, cleaning themselves like a domestic cat does, then sauntering away into the night. We also saw impalas with their twitching tails & prancing, appearing always on edge – nicknamed big cat fast food. And about the place, there’s guinea fowl which I enjoy watching. I can imagine Aussie Man doing a good voice over skit on them. Of the many things we learned, one is that a number of male animals fight to the death to claim alpha status of the group. With lions, if the challenger defeats the pride’s leader, all the young, the step kids, are kaput, dead, ending the blood line. Brutal. Imagine that happening in human’s world with all the step families….

Other tidbits are:

· A giraffe heart weighs approx. 2kg – enables them to pump the blood up their long neck.

· An African fish eagle has a 1.9m wingspan

· A zebra’s stripes are like human’s fingerprints – all different. When young are born, the mother separates from the group so the newborn can learn to recognise Mum’sstripes.

· Up till 1yr, baby elephants can pass under Mum’s belly.

· Female lions doing the hunting whilst male lions protect the pride

On the following morning’s game drive, our 4WD got bogged crossing a muddy creek. To ensure we were bogged, the guide revved the engine hoping that would get us out rather than further entrenching us. The unfortunate souls sitting on the edge of the vehicle were splattered with mud. Another game vehicle came along & thankfully towed us out. We turned the wait into morning tea on the river valley where we watched an elephant saunter through 50 metres away as well as cranes & other birds at the water’s edge. Throughout the drives, we saw lots of bird life – crested cranes, bee-eaters, colourful kingfishers, vultures, & others I can’t name as well as various nests. Going back to check on yesterday’s lions, we came across a male lion who could not give 2 hoots about us less than 5m away with camera shutters clicking away. Cleaning himself, having a nap, a bit of a yawn, with vehicles moving around getting into better viewing position. When you’re king, I guess not much bothers you. Unlike the twitchy impalas.

Returning to camp, we did a quick detour into the local town to check out local curios. Some fabulous craftsmanship was on display which was very tempting to purchase however there’s still 8 weeks to go in this trip as well as little luggage space. Along the way, we passed a teenage boy riding his bike with a chook hanging off each handlebar. I’m guessing that’s dinner tonight. It doesn’t come much fresher than that.

That afternoon, whilst sitting on a camp chair next to my tent having a drink, I felt a nip on my ‘index’ toe. Looking down, there was a swarm of large ants marching around & across my foot. On investigation, there was a migration taking place from under Thomas’ tent across to hole beside a tree root 2ish metres away. My foot happened to be in the path so one disgruntled ant took a chomp to let me know. The migration was complete within minutes. Bizarre.



I opted out of the last game drive to sit on the riverbank and watch the life happening in front of camp rather than chasing around a park finding them. Sitting on my camp chair with drink in hand, it was fabulous to absorb the ending of another day, the afternoon’s sun glistening on the water; watching the hippo flick its tail splashing water on its back, twitch its ears, blow mist from its nostrils, yawn a very wide mouth – approx. 145deg bringing to mind the game Hungry Hippos; the crocodile glide past, popping its up head briefly exposing itself; along with the antics of the monkeys, baboons & various birds. And the Luangwa River flowing forever eastward towards its terminus in the Indian ocean. This was the view from my tent. A million pictures wouldn’t begin to capture the atmosphere, the tranquillity, the serenity, the magic of this place. I don’t know how this can be topped because this is bloody magnificent…now if only the mossies would get the memo & piss right off – though I shouldn’t complain as they are quite mild…but still.

Ed note: Pics for previous blog post have been uploaded.

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Comments

[Nicole]

Hungry Hippo’s indeed
Your reference to the game sure made me smile as I sit on my recliner watching the sun go down with my peppermint tea. Ah the serenity, reading a friends experience of South Luangwa National Park on a Monday afternoon on holidays from work. Pinching myself too 😊 thanks for sharing your journey with us arm chair travellers. Can’t wait for the next edition