Walking Safari - Getting close to the Giraffe
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
November 13, 2011
We were awakened for our new day's adventure that will begin with breakfast & a walking tour. On the drive to our starting point for our walking tour we saw another new animal. At first we thought it was a squirrel, but it was actually a dwarf mongoose. Fannuel showed us some small broken pieces of pottery that he saw on the ground by our parking spot. Long before this area became a national park, there was a village here.
Below are some of the highlights from our walk with Fannuel, Edgar (with rifle), & John were:
We tried to sneak up to the wartys, but were unsuccessful with our first attempt. The warty had his head up & saw us coming before we could get too close
. Another time while we were walking along the dried riverbed one warty was strolling along, swinging his tail (you could almost imagine him humming along to his favourite song) & did not notice us until he caught our scent. He stopped, took one look at us, then ran away with his tail sky high!
We tried to get up close to a waterbuck, but he stopped grazing, looked up right in our direction, then immediately headed for the bushes for cover.
During our walk we were able to see a lot of things that you do not see driving by in the vehicles. We could see the tracks of a bush mouse & a caterpillar. We also saw one of the vigna flower species, a small pretty flower. Fannuel was able to show us a male lion print that had been made after the rain. He explained how you can tell what type of cat it is & whether it is male of female by the size & shape, & whether there are claw marks present or not
.
We examined the dung of a civet, an omnivore. It is actually more interesting than it sounds. You are able to see the variety of food that this animal eats: berry seeds, millipedes (which are poisonous to other animals), centipedes, scorpions, grass, nuts, bones & elephant shrews (we could see the remains of the fur).
Something that we saw for the first time today is Guinea fowl flying. It is quite unusual for them to fly, they prefer to run or walk around.
We had a break, enjoyed the view & had some water, tea & cookies. While resting we were able to see the same young male giraffes from last night. The elder one, around 14 years old, moved out of site, while the younger of the two, around 8 - 10 years old, stayed in the open & was swinging his neck & skipping along. He is really fun to watch
.
After our break we headed to the spot where it looked like the older male headed. We were lucky enough to spot him & he did not move. We eventually got within 10 - 12 meters from him before he ran off. That was amazing! Later we could see that he had joined the younger male on the other side of the riverbed.
We saw a shrub that has small brown flowers, then has white leaves around the flowers. The shrub adapts by producing these white leaves, otherwise insects would not be attracted to the small brown flowers. I think that is very clever!
We arrived back at camp before it was too hot. Right now the air is still & there are zero clouds. It is going to be really hot again today. We decided to lounge in the common area before brunch is served.
Brunch was fantastic: salad, eggplant, roasted potatoes, fish & fruit salad
. Our compliments to Chef Davy again!
After brunch we lounged in the common area, worked on the blog & napped. Then, we headed back to our room & took a dip in the cool plunger pool, we wallowed around like hippos!. It was so relaxing & refreshing which is good since it has been in the low to mid 40's every day so far in Zambia. We enjoyed hearing many birds, crickets & cicadas. We saw a waterbuck & a couple birds while we were chillin' in the tub.
Our afternoon tea snack was a lovely sponge cake filled with a caramel cream. Very nice!! I can feel my waistline expanding...
We headed out on our night drive with Fannuel & John. Along the way we could see a small water hole on the edge of the dry riverbed. The impalas were coming down to the hole to drink, two by two. They must be so desperate for water because they are getting repeatedly stung by the bees that are hovering around the hole too
.
We stopped at the dry riverbed to watch several herds of elephants digging for water (around 30 or 40), drinking & splashing themselves to cool down. I am sure that the other animals will appreciate their efforts of uncovering the water once they have departed.
Here are some fun facts about waterbucks: they secrete a fluid that helps to keep off the bugs (I could sure use some of this, the bugs here love me), wick away the water do they dry quickly & helps keep them buoyant when they swim. Also, they have a unique shaped hoof that allows them to wade into water without getting stuck.
Do you know why the bachelor buffalos aka dagga boys have some brown discolouration on their horns? Fannuel advised us that it is from rubbing their horns on foreign matter to make them look even more fierce!
I was able to snap a good photo of a vervet monkey & his bright blue balls
. I don't think any of you husbands out there have it as bad as these guys!
We learned from Fannuel that the slender mongoose uses the black tip on the end of his tail for hunting. He keeps his tail up & sways it back & forth. This attracts the attention of snakes which provides the perfect distraction for him to attack & kill the snake. Very clever!
As we are heading toward our sundowner site, the sky is casting beautiful shades - gold, peach & blush. The way the colour is reflecting on the leaves of the trees, it looks like a fall day in Canada. That is if you ignore the blistering temperatures & the wildlife that is certainly not native to Canada!
We enjoyed another sundowner with the hippos, then made our way slowly back to camp. John was trying to spot a honey badger for us, but no such luck
. DARN!
As we drew closer to camp we could see lights in the distance in a sandy area. Fannuel said that it is people camping & he may know the guide. He asked us if we minded going over to see. We obliged & a few minutes later discovered that we had been tricked. Brinsley & Benjamin greeted us. It is a surprise BBQ dinner on the sand. Anthony, Beth & their guide are already here!
We enjoyed some drinks, then were served a fantastic meal of chicken, baked potatoes, snap peas, salad, steak skewers, something that looks like mashed potatoes with salsa, but is made out of corn (I will have to look the name up) & fruit salad.
It was a wonderful evening & a fantastic surprise!
On the way back to camp we had another surprise. We saw a mating pair of porcupine. They are huge! We learned a few things about porcupine mating (if you are younger than 18, move to the next paragraph). Porcupines are mates for life & are one of the few species, other than humans, that will mate without the intention of reproduction. How do porcupines have sex? Very carefully of course! No seriously, the female has the ability to lift her tail & the male has a very long penis.
We were able to see our first civet too. It is similar to a genet, but smaller & only has spots & a pattern like a tabby cat. It's face has a shape that is more like a fox & markings like a racoon. They are part of the same family, which is not the mongoose family (another thing I will have to look up).
New birds that we saw today in South Luangwa National Park:
grey-headed kingfisher
New mammals that we saw today in South Luangwa National Park:
dwarf mongoose
porcupine
civet