It was so much fun to welcome back the Gills who had travelled with me in 2017. This time, they came as a family and we blended a week of photography, conservation discussions, great sightings and adventure with family time for them. It was lovely to be part of it.
I had quite an act to follow after the trip we had shared in 2017! However, I knew that a week in Luangwa always delivers wonderful sightings, and I looked forward to showing them the different attractions that a July safari offers compared to one in September. The added enjoyment of this trip was that (at one point!) we had all 4 family members taking photos and embracing everything that the trip offered us.
We arrived late at Nsefu Camp in time for dinner and an early bed. On the way into camp, we found spotted hyaenas, a couple of mongooses and a genet with the spotlight, but we were eager to get started early the following morning.
After light breakfast, we left camp in the dark, using a spotlight to pick out eye reflections that might reveal an active predator. In this early period, I always stop the vehicle regularly to listen for the sounds of predators’ calls or the sound that baboons, antelope or monkeys make in their presence. Straight away, the frenzied whooping calls of spotted hyaenas caught my attention. We discussed quickly what this might mean and I turned down a road that would lead us to the noise. It didn’t take long for us to locate two rival clans who were facing off at the margin of their territories. One group of 3 quickly turned tail and ran along the Crocodile River with the other 4 in pursuit. As is often the case, there was no contact between them, but lots of noise, calling and posturing! They were moving fast and we had to match their speed to keep up with the action. Eventually we located the source or the commotion; a large female hyaena was making off with the spine of a freshly killed buffalo calf! I was moving the vehicle and advising the guests on camera settings, so I only took a couple of shots of the action but this scene of the attacking clan moving along the Crocodile River summarises the encounter for me.
This was quite a way to start our first morning safari! It was only after the action had died down that I was able to explain fully what we had been watching and why there had been such a lot of competition over a buffalo spine! We moved on to new areas and by this time the morning was getting warmer and the light was rich and golden. I was thrilled to find a Lanner falcon resting in a tree (they are normally on the wing and moving fast!), and then we moved out to the river to photograph the juvenile storks that had recently left their breeding colony. One adult was feeding two youngsters with freshly-caught fish.
While watching the storks, alert Puku with raised heads suggested that something was lurking at the Croc River confluence — a deep channel with lots of hiding places. After briefly scouting around, I was very pleased to find a young leopard who I had spent a lot of time with last year around the stork colony when he was a cub! He has grown into a strong and independent youngster who honed his hunting skills in the stork colony trees where he fed on young storks! Knowing that they are a good source of food, he has followed the young birds to the river and was hunting them as they rested in the sun along the banks! It was great to see him and know that he has survived the rainy season….and it’s wonderful to have a very vehicle-friendly male leopard in that area!
We returned in the afternoon and found him in a wonderful spot on the bank of a drainage channel. It’s special to be able to get a view such as this, and the Luangwa’s many gullies offer frequent opportunities. Interestingly, he was resting near to his older sister (Olimba’s previous cub, who is known as Chimwera) but he rose, moved towards her, snarled and theatrically took her resting place! Despite being not much more than 15 months old, he is quickly learning the perks of being a male leopard!
We followed him as the light began to fall, and he gave us a wonderful display of bird hunting! He crept along the edge of a small pan, ambushing the waterbirds, including a huge leap where he narrowly missed catching a heron! He certainly has the “I’m king of the jungle” attitude that young cats often possess. After giving up on birds, he gave us a heart-stopping walk-by — including sniffing at the wheel as he passed — and then melted into the bushes.
Nsefu Camp boasts the best river view in the Luangwa with an endless stream of elephants using the crossing point. We had so far missed this sight — as we had been in the bush so much! — so I was thrilled when a large group of elephants appeared as we were preparing to go out on safari on our second afternoon.
The second afternoon safari was spent in the unlikely company of 2 wild dogs and a large male lion! The dogs were resting in the shade of a large tree and the lion was sleeping in a bush nearby! While the photo opportunities were tricky to begin with, it was all worthwhile just to watch the incredible interaction between the dogs and the lion as it began to get cooler. The dogs rose and one approached the lion growling menacingly! This went on for about 5 minutes, but the lion paid no attention at all. I suggest that the lion — being a lone male at that point — was seeking to scavenge from the dogs when they made a kill. The dogs couldn’t chase the lion away, but were certainly not happy about his presence!
Our final morning at Nsefu Camp — the time flew by — we caught up once more with our young leopard male. He was stalking storks on the banks of the Luangwa River, using the scant cover to conceal himself and, crucially!, keeping his ears flat to avoid detection! What a stunning young cat.
I took fewer photos on this trip than previously but for a very happy reason; the Gills’ two sons were learning to use their cameras and I was helping as much as I could. It was so rewarding to see them taking on board my advice and converting that, along with their own compositional styles, into great photos. I hope to feature some of their images here soon.
We crossed the Luangwa River by row boat and picked up the vehicle from Lion Camp on the other side. After a short hour’s transfer, during which we saw enough game to fulfil a week’s safari in some reserves, we arrived at the stunning Lion Camp. We enjoyed superb lunch and then set out on our first drive. The combination of Nsefu Camp and Lion Camp works beautifully as they offer different habitats and therefore guests leave with varied portfolios of images. I drove out into the unique and beautiful Lion Plain area, where we quickly found a herd of elephants feeding on rhino thistles in the long grass. The open areas allow us to play with compositions and we talked about how to line up two elements in an image to give a pleasing overall effect.
As the light dropped, we moved to fish eagle lagoon to photograph the birds feeding in the water. Luck brought us a fish eagle which displaced all the egrets from their roosting tree and gave us white birds against the dark water.
None of my group was very keen on the night drive part of the day, so we headed back to camp, but on the way, we found a leopard in a tree who was feeding on a baboon kill! It was a very thick tree — making photos almost impossible — but we decided to head back there in the morning and see if the leopard was on the ground or maybe if there was any hyaena-leopard interaction. Returning in the morning turned out to be one of the best decisions of the week. We arrived very early to find a leopard cub on the ground under the tree! Could this be Chipadzuwa’s cub which had been missing for more than 2 weeks? We moved very carefully and were rewarded when the mother and cub both moved out into the open and went to drink in a small channel. As they returned, the two walked together, and the cub jumped up to nuzzle mum’s face. A really special encounter!
We had enjoyed amazing leopard sightings, and small duo of wild dogs, but only one male lion. We all wanted to see the famous Hollywood pride, but they were not to be seen during our trip. So we spent time inland searching for the Mwamba-Kapanda pride one afternoon but with no luck until darkness fell when we eventually found them on a buffalo kill! The whole pride were there; 3 males, 9 females and 5 cubs. One of the males was mating with one of the females and the rest were feeding on the carcass. It was dark and the photos were tricky, but it was a very memorable experience…sometimes I have to remind myself (more often than I have to remind my guests actually!) that there are times when photos will not do justice to a scene and it’s better simply to soak it up and remember!
During our searches for the Mwamba pride, we enjoyed some stunning scenery and a lovely encounter with a kudu bull in the Mopane woodland. Another morning, we moved quickly to a mature forested area, taking advantage of the pink light on an elephant bull, and then spent a hour on foot in the majestic ebony grove near Kaingo Camp. Taking time to soak up the size and tranquillity of the ebony grove is much less fast-paced than most of our safari time and is a welcome balance to the bumps and excitement of pursuing sightings in the best light!
An elephant river crossing was one of the highlights that we all wanted to enjoy during this trip. We decided to stake out a particular crossing from around 07.00 one morning, watching to see what happened and enjoying coffee at the same time. Sitting in one place and waiting is very therapeutic and we were rewarded with a wonderful and complex crossing involving herds from both sides meeting in the middle of the river. One (not very courageous) young bull even challenged a baby hippo….!
As we approached the end of our trip, we wondered what Luangwa would offer us as final gift. As usual, there was a flurry of sightings including fat lions finishing off a waterbuck kill, a large bull hippo that approached us on our final morning and…to top it all off….an afternoon with the Mwamba Pride including all 5 cubs.
Having seen so much already, and with only a larger pack of wild dogs still remaining on the wish-list, we took a drive inland to the grassy lagoons to search for wildebeest, wild dogs and eland. We found beautiful Cookson’s wildebeest, but the wild dogs and eland remained elusive. South Luangwa is so rich in game and sightings and that it’s occasionally good to be reminded that this is a wild area and there are no guarantees.
This had been my first “family photo-safari” and I loved the opportunity to share in making a great trip for them. We talk so much about mammal behaviour on safari, but some of the most rewarding moments had been those shared by the mammals in our vehicle. Thank you to the Gills for coming on safari with me again….and I look forward to talking more about a possible boat-safari on the Zambezi next year.
