WILDLIFE BLOG

September is certainly the prime time in South Luangwa; the lagoons are all but dry and all game is concentrated along the river. The riverine forests teem with antelope and elephants searching for forage from the sausage trees, starlings feed noisily from wild mango flowers and among the fruiting ebony trees, and the sense of predators is everywhere. All the floodplains along the river are rich with game, cropping the short grass ever shorter; warthogs, zebras [...]

Setting the correct pace for a photo safari is a tricky business. On the one hand, moving slowly, listening frequently and reading the bush is the surest way to find great sightings. Furthermore, when you find a subject in nice light, it’s perhaps a good idea to stay with it, taking the risk averse option. However, using this principle, you might well spend large amounts of time photographing lots of beautiful antelope, and similar common sightings, [...]

Once August arrives in the Luangwa, the dry season is really in full swing. There is very little water anywhere except in the river, and the ground vegetation is thinning dramatically thanks to very active termites and grazers. These conditions lead to excellent game viewing. All animals must visit the remaining waterholes to find water, grazers are concentrated along the remaining floodplains where grass can be found, and the lack of vegetation cover means that visibility [...]