Thank you to so many of you who have written to me after reading my weekly wildlife update blogs. It’s clear that this virtual window into the Luangwa Valley is restorative for many people who are in lockdown across the world. Being able to go into the bush is certainly restorative for me, which is why I have chosen this way of life, so I share my experiences for those who want to follow along. There’s no intention to make anyone envious or uncomfortable by doing this; we know that we are lucky to have access to this wild area at this time…but then again, 2 months ago, our houses were under water and floods were a major problem for everyone, destroying crops, isolating communities and ruining livelihoods. When choosing to live somewhere year-round, you have to take the rough with the smooth; we enjoy the stunning weather, the wildlife and the freedom during a time when many are locked-down…..but we also take the unreliable internet, poor access to healthcare, long, damp rainy seasons and isolation as well.
Someone wrote to me saying that watching nations’ COVID journey is like watching Groundhog Day; the same story repeated time and again. Zambia follows, slowly, in the footsteps of many other countries with cases increasing at a slowly increasing rate. Whether a crisis will occur here remains to be seen since we have a young population that will largely shrug off the virus, but the elderly and immuno-compromised will largely not. Here, without meaning to do so directly, the Nation may follow the course of livelihoods above lives, given than people are not in a position to follow a course of lock-down and self-isolation.
This week, many of my trips into the National Park have been family trips (without my camera) or journeys further into the park to investigate newly-opened roads and areas. More travelling generally means fewer photo sightings since the best parts of the days are spent on the move. However, as anyone who has travelled to Luangwa knows, there is always wildlife to be seen, wherever we go.
So, here is the roundup of the week, with images of course:
The elephants are in heaven at the moment; so much forage for them to enjoy filling their stomachs for once. I have spent many happy hours this week sitting in the shade as they feed nearby.
As the dry season takes shape, the light starts to soften. However there is a period for the next month or so when the light in the early morning is sharp, clear and strong, but still wonderfully golden. I sat at the edge of a small lagoon watching and waiting for the hippos to lift their heads from the water and snort to clear their nostrils. After a LOT of wasted shots, I got a few lovely frames including a youngster who tried “spy-hopping”…
The strong light makes for very interesting compositions and the chance to render the background of subjects very dark.
Mid-week, I took a bumpy journey up the 05 road to a beautiful sand river called the Luwi. We hoped to be able to cross and visit some inland lakes which should be thick with waterbirds at this time of year. But after the floods of this season the river was much higher than usual and we could only wade across and plan to return in a week.
The headline sighting of the week – perhaps – came one morning when I spent over an hour following signs and sounds to (finally) locate a female leopard who was moving through her territory. She was perhaps avoiding me (though I didn’t know it at the time) because she is nursing very young cubs. It’s amazing to think that we might have a relaxed leopard with cubs this season; more on this for sure if I manage to catch up with them.
My final outing of the week was spent trying to track down the same leopard above, but to no avail. In her place, we had lovely light on beautiful sights.
Until next week, thank you again for following along and for all your emails and comments. I really appreciate them and it helps us to stay connected across the world. Stay tuned for more content on my blog this coming week.
