Deeper into the Bush!
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
November 12, 2011
We woke up as dawn was breaking outside our windows. Bill set up the camera to try to capture the sunrise. As we were lying in bed we watched elephants, baboons, impalas & a giraffe go by while the air was filled with the song of many birds. Everything here just has its' own natural rhythm.
After showering, we packed up all of our things & headed to the main lodge. Bill was able to use the internet connection to post a couple of blog entries & photos while I had a great conversation with Amy. I asked her how she managed to exercise & she says that she tries to go for walks, but this morning she was dodging buffaloes & elephants. She said that some mornings it is just not safe to go for a walk if there are animals on the path
. As a result, Amy normally does workout videos to stay in shape.
I also asked Amy about her time off, she mentioned that today was her day off, but a couple wanted to change their reservation, so she will have to attend to that today for a bit. She said that she mostly spends her days off at the lodge because there is a not a lot to do nearby unless you have 4 days off in a row, which does not happen very often. She will be off for a month in January & will take a trip then.
Bill & I had some breakfast. I had naked tea & toast with peanut butter & apricot jam. I selected an apple muffin to put in my purse in case I get hungry on the drive to Kapamba. We relaxed on the sofas by the water. While we were sitting there we could see 2 zebras grazing along the river. All around us the sound of the cicadas are warning us that is it going to be a hot one
.
We missed seeing Clare to say goodbye, but were able to bid a pleasant journey to Bill & Barb. We hopped in a Land Rover with Calvin our driver, Edgar & Cristian our guides, who are traveling with the rifles that are required for walking tours.
Our 3 hour drive to the camp was very calm & peaceful except for the nagging nibbles by the tetsi flies & the rumble of the diesel engine. Some animals seem to ignore the sound of our vehicle, while others flee in terror.
We encounter lots of wildlife on our journey to camp. We saw giraffes grazing along with a zebra that was missing part of it's tail. The poor thing has a hard time keeping flies off his back. Calvin told us that there are not herds of zebras in this area because they do not migrate.
We saw 2 adult wartys with 1 wartlet
Where we will wallop like Hippos!
. They stopped for a moment, then hightailed it out of there (wonder if that is where the saying comes from?).
We drove through the desolate area where the elephants knocked down all the tree & we came upon the baobab tree again. We were lucky enough to see a really unique bird near the stream, a grey crowned crane. It is a large bird who's head reminds me of a peacock & it is really neat. We also saw some spur-winged geese that we had previously seen in Zim (Zimbabwe). On the other side of the tree there are some monkeys playing where we saw the giraffes last night.
Further along there was an area with lots of trees to the right and the riverbed to the left. Just up ahead was a small body of water that the elephants use as a mud bath. One herd was dark & glistening in the sun as they were leaving the bath. Another massive breeding head with several others were on their way to do the same
. All around us there were wartys. baboons & impalas. What a site!
In another area we spotted a momma & baby impala who frantically dashed across the road in front of us. At another spot we saw 2 mommas & 3 baby impalas quietly standing off to the side of the road. They were so at ease with us there that one newborn started suckling from his mom. It was incredible!
Also along the way we saw another warty with 3 babies, a lilac-breasted roller, some carmine bee-eaters & white-fronted bee-eaters. Calvin spotted a crested barbet in a tree along side the road. The bird sing a "kurrrrr" type song that reminded me of the way grasshoppers sing. We also saw a flash of bright blue in front of our vehicle. It was a malachite kingfisher. I hope we get to see another one standing still next time. Lots of butterflies flitted by too - some off-white, orange, & black with white spots
.
During our drive the landscape change several times. Some areas were completely bare where elephants had stopped the trees & shrubs, other areas had long dry grass & shrubs in dry clay looking soil, other places were very sandy with palm trees (looked like a dessert oasis), some areas were very green with new leaves on the trees & shrubs, occasionally we would get a waft of perfume from flowers, some riverbeds were mostly dry & then the river that was flowing with lots of green trees surrounding it.
We arrived at Kapamba, one of the company's bush camps. These bush camps are very nice with everything you'd want except for electricity. They have 3 or 4 cabins so only a max of 8 guests we're lucky it looks like we'll be the only two tonight as the only other guests are moving on to another camp tonight. Kapamba means "To Go Around" in Bemba, at 10:30 & were met by Brinsley, John & staff
. The welcome us with a refreshing drink & cool towels. Brinsley gave us a tour of the sitting & dining area which looks onto the now completely dry riverbed of the Kapamba River, a tributary of Luangwa. He said that one of the guides who has lived in this area for his whole life has never seen it completely dry. This camp was build in 2005. Typically when the river is running it is very shallow & very fast, so the crocs, fish & hippos stay away. Guests are able to wade into the water & cool off when it is knee deep or lower.
Brinsley escorted us to our stone & thatch chalet (1 of 4) which is open to the dry riverbed. It has a large bed with netting, a sitting area, & a bathroom with a 2,000 litre plunger bathtub. The lights in the room are solar & the water is from a well & filtered like at Mfuwe (so we are able to drink it), & the water is heated by solar panels as well. I think we are going to be very comfortable here. On the chests in front of the bed are brightly colour kikois (sounds like key-coy) for us. These cotton scarves or sarong that you get damp in the shower & drape on your neck, head or shoulders. It is an excellent way to cool down.
After we quickly settled in, a baboon came to greet us by coming within metres of the door to our room to snag a sausage pod to munch on.
We joined Brinsley for brunch & met Wayne & Beth from NY. They are artists & Wayne runs a safari in Kenya called Chompole. They were supposed to stay one more night, but will be heading to Chindeni after brunch, so we are going to have the place to ourselves for the next 2 nights!
Our brunch was delicious - beet & feta salad, cole slaw, meat lasagne, lettuce salad, rosemary bread & muskmelon. We washed it down with a Rock Shanty. Yum! I don't think we are going to lose any weight at this camp!
After brunch we had a siesta in our room. I covered my head with my kikoi to stay cool & keep the flies off. After my nap I worked on the blog, then we tested out the plunge pool in our room. The water was not as cold as I thought it would be, but it certainly helped to cool us down.
The itinerary for the camps is as follows:
5:15 wake up call
5:45 breakfast - toast, cereal, fruit tea & coffee
6:30 - 9:30 morning game walk
11:00 lunch
4:00 tea & snacks
4:30 - 8:00 evening game drive & sundowner
9:00 dinner
We have survived the hottest part of the day 40 - 45 degrees (the warmest one for us so far). We had our tea & refreshments with egg salad sandwiches, & cheese & tomato sandwiches then, we went on our evening drive with John our spotter & Fannuel our driver & guide.
We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a new animal immediately in the sandy area that is native to the tributary rivers, the grysbok. Sharpe's grysbok is typically found in this type of landscape. It is the smallest of the antelope family & is quite a lot smaller & more compact than an impala. The males have short straight horns. These animals are nocturnal & solitary. This little guy immediately took off & ran for cover.
We stopped to look at a tree that had quiet a large hole that was made by a fungus that causing hot rot disease. It is now home to a snake, lizard or mongoose.
In a grassy area we saw puku & impalas together. It is quite common to see them together. The puku are strictly grazers & the impalas can graze or browse (eat leaves on a tree or shrub). When they are in an area together that has limited grass, the impalas will switch to browsing. These two species work well together because the puku has better hearing & the impala has better vision & sense of smell, so they mutually benefit from their relationship. I think that this a great illustration of teamwork & I am going to recommend to my boss that our office should take a trip to Africa as a team building exercise…
Fannuel explained that wartys will live in a burrow with their young until they are several weeks old. Initially wartlets are very vulnerable, they are unable to see when they are first born & require their mother's milk for 20 minutes out of every hour 'round the clock for the first 2 weeks. Greedy little piggy!
We were able to get a good look at a very majestic looking waterbuck. He slowly walked up into an area with trees, then turned to observe us. The waterbuck can switch from grazing to browsing if necessary which makes it far less likely that they will die from starvation. It is harder for waterbuck to digest materials from shrubs & trees though, so they need to drink a lot more water. Another interesting thing about waterbuck, since they are grazers, is that they eat with their heads down, which makes them very vulnerable to lions. But, the lions do not like the taste of their meat, so do not often kill them.
We saw our first bachelor herd of puku. It was neat to see so many males of different ages & to see how their horns progress as they age.
There were two male giraffes walking in the dried riverbed. One was quite a bit older (darker) than the other. The Thornicroft giraffes that live here are easy to distinguish. They do not have any patches below their knees, have white above their hooves & they are a bit smaller than other types of giraffes. This pair was really fun to observe. The younger male approached the older one with mating type behaviours. He must be practicing his moves. Maybe there is a special girl that he wants to ask out! The two moved on & we followed. We stopped to watch them & were treated to a sparring match. The older giraffe was giving a lesson in fighting to the younger one. It was so neat, they get a good footing, kick up their legs, then swing their necks & knock each other on the legs, chest or neck. One of the objects of a fight is to flip their opponent over. It was an impressive display!
The guys selected a great spot to have our sundowner. We headed toward the river & stopped near two pods of hippos who were splashing about, fighting, yawning, swishing their tails & making lots of noise. Fannuel even tried to record them on his phone. He wants to use the hippos as his ringtone. I think this is a great idea. I am going to see if I can figure out how to do that when I get home.
When the sun when down & before the moon came up Bill was able to Jupiter & some of the moons. We could also see Venus too. The sky was very dark before the moon started to rise & we could see hundreds of stars, even the Milky Way & Scorpius.
Bill was sharing a lot of information with John & Fannuel about Canada. Fannuel knew all of the prairie provinces from schooling & could even remember most of the Great Lakes. I proposed that Bill should start a Canadian tour company & suggested a name that is very Canadiana - Mounties. I also suggested that it would be a good idea to have the tours for singles only: Mountie Tour for Singles. I think it would be very popular!
Oh, I forgot to mention that while in Chobe on one game drive we saw something that is quite common in American, but rare in Africa. It was the American Cougar. What made the siting really special & unique was that the Cougar was trying to disguise herself as a Leopard; very clever this creature was!
Oh, we had another siting on the Vic Falls riverboat cruise, a near extinct female dinosaur known as the TeraCrackDyl. It gave us quite a fright!
Now, back to our day…
After dark John turned on the spotlight & we gave the hippos quite a fright. Most of the hippos from the pod nearby started making a lot of noise & splashing. The hippos in the pod that was further away had already been making their way to shore for their nightly feeding. They panicked & began running back into the water for safety. Bill did not feel guilty for scaring them because of all the extra paddling he had to do in Mana Pools.
As we drove off one of the first things we saw was a male pennant-winged nightjar. It was so beautiful. Apparently only the males can grow the pennants, & it is a good news, bad news scenario. The good news is that it attracts the ladies, the bad news is that it increases their mortality rate. The men must like the ladies around here because we saw two more.
We were lucky to see our first little five creature - the four-toed elephant shrew. It has a long snout like an elephant & it's nose is close to the ground so it has a great sense of smell. They also have excellent night vision. Another small creature we saw was a bush mouse that was in our path & dove down into his hole.
We were really lucky to see a mating pair of leopards in the distance. Immediately the male headed into the bushes for cover. The female lingered a bit, but followed him, so we did not get a real good look. I think it was only the second date because the male leopard was not getting any action yet… Fannuel was thrilled to the pair, as it is the first mating pair that has been spotted.
After a bit we were also treated to seeing a white-tailed mongoose sitting under a bush near the path. She looked very pregnant & her nipples were full. I think she was too exhausted to run away, so she just sat for a while & let us observe her while she observed us.
Back at camp we were greeted by Brinsley & escorted to our room. Outside our room there was a table for two ready for use to have a romantic dinner for two. It was a nice surprise!
Benjamin served us fresh warm rolls, spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce, chicken, roasted potatoes, snap peas & poached pears in wine. It was very lovely & romantic. I guess the spiders with fangs, the frog in our tub, the frog on the canopy & bats did not realize that it was supposed to be dinner for two only.
New birds that we saw today in South Luangwa National Park:
crested barbet
grey crowned crane (crested)
white-browed coucal
red-billed finch
spur-winged goose
malachite kingfisher
Meyer's parrot
blue waxbill
New mammals that we saw today in South Luangwa National Park:
Sharpe's grysbok
bush mouse
four-toed elephant shrew (one of the little five)
waterbuck