South Luangwa - Zambia

Up just after 5am to another hot sunny day we could hear Fish Eagles, Hippo and Hyena calling. The valley was stunning bathed in the early morning light so after making some tea and filling up the flasks we headed off to the park.

At the gate we paid $15 entry fee for Rupert but managed to get away with paying the additional $10 for ourselves, just needing to show our permit from last night.

Soon after entering  we came across Baboon, Impala, Elephant, Zebra, Puku, Kudu and Warthog but not in any great numbers and I guess that is the thing about South Luangwa, if you want to see big herds of antelope and lots of predators go to the Masai Mara, if you want to see lots of Elephant go to Chobe, if you want to see hundreds of Hippo go to Katavi but in South Luangwa while you get a good mix of animals they are usually not in big numbers.

So it was that two hours later we decided to stop at Mushroom Lagoon and have a coffee break with just a couple of Ele's for company. This brought back happy memories of when we first visited South Luangwa in the 90s, then we did it in style flying in and staying at five upmarket tented camps, being driven by a local guide each day.

Then South Luangwa seemed remote, now having driven ourselves we realise it is not as remote as we thought. Three of the camps we stayed at were run by Norman Carr safaris and at one, Nsolo, we had the good fortune to be guided by a young Zambian called Ambrose and escorted by a renowned game scout called Rice Time who by then was well into his 70s!

As a young man Rice had worked with the legendary Norman Carr famed for pioneering walking safaris in Africa. He had guarded the likes of King Leopold of Belgium and had numerous mentions in Carr's book Kakuli so we were chuffed that we had him as our personal guard. He could still walk miles everyday but his eyesight was not so good anymore, little wander given his age, however it was still very off putting to see him squinting through a pair of thick horn rimmed glasses in order to see the game!

For three days we walked in the bush, Ambrose telling us about the plants, birds, game etc while Rice, who spoke virtually no English, kept watch with his rifle in case danger presented itself. Never mind that his eyesight was so poor what worried me more was how good his reflex's were as the gun remained slung over his shoulder at all times, we shuddered to think what would be the consequences if anything suddenly charged us!

There was just one other couple walking with us, young Americans on their honeymoon and their first time to Africa. The piece de résistance came on our second afternoon as we walked to rendezvous with the vehicle which would take us back to camp. By now it was getting dark so we were relieved to find Annabel the young English camp hostess there to meet us.

As we set off she told us she had passed some Lions on a kill earlier so we decided to drive over to see them and sure enough we found a biggish pride of around eight females and cubs plus a big male chewing on a Zebra. By now it was pitch dark so Ambrose surprised us by asking would we like to drive out to see them at first light and walk the last half mile so we saw them on foot! We were amazed that he meant to walk up to a pride of Lions in broad daylight but clearly he and Rice thought this was no great feat so being up for it we readily said yes, however strangely the young Americans did not seem to share our enthusiasm!

Sure enough dawn saw Annabel dropping us off a few hundred yards from where we saw the Lions. As you can imagine we were in state of excitement and a not a little trepidation, the Americans looked ashen and even Ambrose seemed a little nervous as if having doubts about whether or not this was a good idea, however Rice Time showed no emotion whatsoever, his rifle remaining slung over his shoulder as if this was just another walk in the park

However, there was still one more surprise awaiting us, when we reached the spot where the Zebra and Lions had been there was no sign of either! If it wasn't for the dark patch of blood on the grass you would never have known a kill had taken place! Even  Ambrose and Rice seemed mystified muttering to each other while trying to figure out what had happened.

It was Diane the young American who suddenly noticed a Lioness momentarily appear out of some thick bushes about 50 yards away. To our surprise instead of just walking away Ambrose said "come on" and started to walk over to the bushes, his only instruction being if the Lions charged us we must not run but hold our ground, easier said than done was my only thought!

We got to about 30 yards of the bushes when Rice picked up a stick about four foot long but still his rifle remained on his shoulder. I asked Ambrose shouldn't he have his gun ready in case the Lions charged us but Ambrose casually said that Rice  only gets his gun ready if it's Elephant or Buffalo.

That is how we found ourselves walking right up to eight or more Lion's totally reliant for protection on a seventy odd year old man with dodgy eyesight and even dodgier specs carrying nothing more than a stick!

When we reached the bushes we couldn't see a thing but we could hear lots of growling and peering in we could just make out around seven or so Lions munching away on what was left of the Zebra carcass. I was trying to video the action but the bush was so dense it was hard to make out anything clearly.  

I really wanted some footage of the male Lion but it was so dark in the bushes you could only make out shapes. The Lions however knew very well we were there as their growls and snarls became louder and we could see movement going on, each time they growled Rice just shook his stick and swore at them in his tribal language, what he was saying we had no idea but even though the atmosphere was tense I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation. However, Diane clearly thought differently as suddenly she gripped my arm and was literally shaking with fright! 

Suddenly there was one almighty roar and everyone jumped back except me the dummy with the video camera to his eye who hadn't realised what had happened. The male whose job it is to protect the pride had stormed out of the bushes but thankfully on the other side of the copse and had run off into the bush!

The Lionesses were still there but at this point even Ambrose and Rice felt it was time to leave them to their breakfast, it had been a very exciting experience but one on reflection which we have often thought could have gone badly wrong and we could have been killed but happily not that day!

Sadly since starting this trip we have learned that Rice is now long dead, of old age it seems so the old boy remained undefeated, however Ambrose we heard was alive and well and managing another Norman Camp called Kakuli so we decided to drive there to try and see him.      

All the camps are well hidden in the bush but eventually we found Kakuli and were pleased to see it had changed little since we had been there in the 90s however, November being the end of the season in the valley all we found were a couple of guys dismantling the camp before the rains arrived, so sadly we never got to meet Ambrose again.

By now we had covered a lot of ground and been out for nine hours so we headed back to camp very hot and tired, ready for a shower and to chill out with some drinks watching the stunning view over the river. 

At 5am we were woken by Monkeys moving around outside our tent looking for scraps but finding nothing they eventually headed off and we went back to sleep. However, by 7am the sun was beating down and it was too hot to stay any longer in the tent, each day seemed to be hotter than the last but still the rains refused to come and by now they were well overdue.

The upside was the general expectation that the rains would be here had clearly deterred most people from visiting the park so we continued to have Wildlife Camp all to ourselves, fantastic and so unusual that we decided to stay on for a while longer, enjoying the pool, the views and the solitude all for $15 a day!

Then around 3pm we heard thunder rumbling behind us, it was now extremely hot, like being in a sauna and now until the Sun went down no matter how much we drank we could not quench our thirst!  Something had to give and at 5am the next day it finally did, initially woken by the pitter patter of the odd rain drop I quickly got up and was just in time to put the flaps down on the tent windows before the heavens opened.

It was quite a downpour but happily, for us at least, it didn't last long, still it would be very welcomed by the wildlife especially a poor Hippo who had been virtually trapped in what remained of the river below us and by now was very thin due to the poor grazing all around. If the rains didn't arrive soon then he would almost certainly die of starvation.

The upside of the downpour was it was cooler and we had a real lie in till 8am! This morning we also had an unexpected visitor when a little Spaniel dog came mooching around, it was surreal to see a dog you normally associate with genteel city streets wandering about without a care in the world in the African bush!

We found out he was Sam, the owners dog, but of his owners  there was no sign. If he had been our dog then there was no way we would have let him wander around on his own, what with all the Baboons and Leopards around he was a sitting duck but clearly little Sam felt quite at home in the bush.

What he really wanted was some company as he stayed with us all morning, it was certainly a first watching Ele's, Hippo's and Antelope in the river bed whilst a little black and white Spaniel slept at our feet! 

We love all dogs so it was very nice having him around, even if he thought it a game of chase the stick when I shot small pebbles at the Baboons with my catapult to keep them away! However, as the afternoon wore on we thought it best to take him back to the safety of the lodge so we walked over there while he followed behind sniffing at everything on the way just  as if we were on a Sunday morning walk around the fields of Sussex!

By now the afternoon light was so good we decided to have a late game drive in the park. As we drove around we came more by accident than intent on Norman Carr's Grave site. Forever associated with the park and conservation in Zambia in particular, it must have been a singular honour for the Zambian Government to allow him to be buried in the park he gave so much of his life to.

The spot is beautifully tucked away within a grove of tall trees and as we drove up a good herd of Impala and a few Ele's were around but no one else, we just thought what a fitting last resting spot this was and what a great life Norman must have had, it also felt fitting that when we go back to the UK we leave Rupert at Norman's old holiday home on Lake Malawi!

It was certainly very atmospheric in the glade as hardly a sound could be heard except for thunder rumbling in the distance but it was time to move on. As we left a young Ele with a new calf charged us, she probably only wanted to protect her baby or maybe it was to move us on from Norman's grave! 

As the storm clouds gathered overhead we stopped again at Mushroom Lagoon, the light with the late sun and the dark sky was lovely and what was even more fantastic was we felt we had the whole park to ourselves, these are the times we love Africa best.

Back at camp we enjoyed a stunning Sunset followed by a dry storm with a spectacular lightning show and just a very slight rain shower but there was no mistaking the signs, 'the rains  were a cumin' and soon! 

Up again at 5.20am the morning was much fresher today, very pleasant, we made tea with the cheeky monkeys hovering around camp, being the only people there we were the centre of their attention! Leaving camp at 6.15am we were in the park by 6.30am, by now the lady ranger on the gate knows us so well she doesn't even bother to check our permit.

An hour later we stopped for coffee at a Marabou Stork colony, known as the 'Undertakers of the Bush' because wherever there is a kill they will nearly always turn up to clear away the mess.

Later we found another tented camp being dismantled by some local guys, they told us it was called Mchenji, a new one to us but once again confirmation that virtually all the camps in the park had closed for the year, reopening in April or so once the rains have finished.

We decided to go North in search of Lion Camp, we had stumbled upon this last year when it was being built and we were curious to see how it now looked. On the way we found a pride of four Lioness with four cubs and one handsome sub-adult male close to the track. This was interesting because at his age we would have expected the young Prince to have been chased out of the pride by the mature Alpha male/s even though he was probably his/their son! 

It was interesting because we had heard that the Lion population, especially the mature males, is dwindling fast in South Luangwa due in the main to the hunting areas which lie just outside the park. Rumour goes that the lions are being 'lured out' of the park and into the hunting areas by unscrupulous hunting camp owners whose clients pay big bucks for the trophy of a big male lion. 

How do they lure them? By playing a taped recording of another male Lion calling, which represents an interloper or by killing an antelope or Buffalo and waiting for them to come and feast on the carcass. Make no bones about it, this is no longer a sport but a cruel and callous business driven by greed, greed by the camp owners for money and greed by the hunters who want to show off to their friends and of course to make up for the fact they are dickless!

Lion Camp is a bit of a mystery, the story was it was floundering being neither small and intimate like the up market tented camps nor big and well appointed like Mfuwe Lodge (the only permanent lodge within the park).

A very rich American woman had then come to South Luangwa on her first African safari and falling in love with the valley she had bought Lion Camp not reportedly as a business but for her own private enjoyment. 

Before going back to the States she had hired a South African crew to completely refurbish it, money being no problem she wanted the best of everything including two huge carved Zanzibar entrance doors of solid wood, a lounge complete with a stream, fountain and a huge pool table but the most incredible thing of all was she insisted the tents had air conditioning!

We wouldn't have believed it except we were shown one last year by one of the South Africans, each tent was enclosed in a Perspex container into which cool air was pumped. To us it looked completely ridiculous but then again this is what Africa is coming to as camps vie to be the most luxurious.

We were therefore curious to see how it had all ended up but when we arrived the place looked deserted, the huge Zanzibar doors which no kidding are about 30 foot tall and which were closed when we came last year, now stood wide open and looked like they would never close again unless pushed by an Elephant!

As we switched Rup's engine off a young couple suddenly appeared to greet us, we recognised the guy as someone we had bumped into briefly last year when he was driving a game viewer for another camp. He introduced himself as Patrick and told us he and his wife were acting as caretakers while the place was closed during the rainy season, some five to six months.

As they showed us around they seemed to genuinely appreciate having some company, it would be very isolated on your own out here for so long but we really envied them. We asked how they would manage for food and they showed us huge freezers and store rooms which were well stocked. They had generators for power, a radio transmitter and even DVD players but once the rains hit if they needed anything in an emergency they would have to go down the river by boat to Mfuwe as by then the roads would be impassable.

As we were leaving we mentioned the Lion pride we had seen on the way up and they told us the cubs had spent a whole day last week sheltering under their stoop (porch) while the adults went off hunting! However, they also said the resident pride of 20 -30 Lions hadn't been seen for about four months which given the hunting stories was a worry.

As we drove off leaving them to enjoy their solitude we couldn't help thinking it reminded us of Jack Nicholson in 'The Shining' we just hoped for their sakes the place wasn't haunted!

Back at Wildlife Camp by late afternoon we stopped by reception to tell them we would be leaving in two days time, chatting to the receptionist about the late rains she told us when they hit last year the Lappa (thatched roof) which used to be on our site had collapsed breaking the leg of a camper asleep in his tent below - ouch!  

By now it was very very hot and humid again so we grabbed a beer & a Savannah and headed over to the pool to cool off. Set overlooking the river with no one there it was idyllic. However, all too soon we started to hear thunder in the distance, the wind got up and it started to cloud over so we walked back to our camp to have our showers and start dinner before it got any worse.

Later as we sat by our fire enjoying our Cape Malay curry and G&Ts we started to hear Lions calling in the distance behind us which meant they were outside of the park, normally we love to hear Lions calling but this time we just hoped they stayed quiet and stayed safe!

Next day we slept in till 8.30am, doing bacon rolls for brunch we had to keep a close watch on some menacing big male Baboons who were hovering close by obviously attracted by the smell. Once again there was thunder in the distance but today the sky behind us looked very stormy and soon it started to rain first slightly then we had an absolute deluge.

By 2pm it was still gloomy and pouring with rain so all we could do was shelter under our awning with bars of chocolate and a cup of tea whilst watching a spectacular thunder and lightning storm come rolling down the valley. The storm raged for a couple of hours then as the rain eased we could hear the birds singing like crazy and the Hippo's grunting both now well happy the rains had arrived!

The storm had cooled the temperature right down and the wood for the fire was soaked so Sundowners tonight had to be sherry whilst wearing our sweatshirts. By 8pm it was raining again so by 11pm we were in bed but at least we were very cosy in our tent - that is how quickly the weather can turn once the rains hit.

Next morning although it was a clear blue sky for the first time in over a week the Sun was not beating down on the tent. The ground was very wet and slippy a sure indication of how the roads would  turn before too long. I spent the morning topping up all the oils on Rupert and greasing the joints and prop shaft, while Sue cleaned the  lanterns which had become full of dead insects, a lone Ele crossed the river down the valley but other than that it was very quiet, it almost felt like the whole valley was holding it's breath for the deluge which was soon to come.

Thankfully our last night stayed warm and dry, lighting the fire we made up a jug of Buck's Fizz and drank it enjoying a magnificent Sunset and the peacefulness of the camp. Quite a few Hippo had come out on the river bed below us to also enjoy the change in the weather and we couldn't believe we had had the whole camp to ourselves for over a week, so unforgettable!

However, South Luangwa sits on Black Cotton soil, which quickly becomes a quagmire once it rains hard so without four wheel drive you go nowhere and even with 4WD travelling becomes a lottery of slipping and sliding or getting bogged down to your axles - as fantastic as it had been it was time to get the hell out!