South Luangwa

South Luangwa was fun....probably one of the best safaris I ve had so far. This is the most famous national park in Zambia, spread over 10,000 square kms. Being the rainy season here, we were welcomed by lush green jungles, tall grasses and loads of birds. An intersting bird is the "Knob-headed hornbill" as is shown in the picture here. This is called the Emerald season in luangwa lingo !

We took our charter from Chingola and landed at Mfuwe international airport at about 11:30. James(our guide) took us to the Mfuwe lodge which was a 40 minute drive through a road amidst swamps, marshes and rivers swarming with crocodiles.

Even before we reached the lodge, we had our first game sightings - a small herd of giraffes and a couple of hippos. Our lodge was next to a big natural pool filled with Nile lilies and ofcourse loads of hippos and crocs. Our Chalets were made just above the pool and it was quite a thing to be woken by the sound of grunting and farting hippos every morning.

We hit the afternoon safari at 4:30 pm and entered the real wild africa. Game sightings were many - with loads of Impalas, Zebras, Wart hogs and Elephants. The bonus were the beautiful birds - some of which we saw at close distances. After 3 hours of wild meandering, we chanced our first success - a solitary lion - right in the middle of the road.

WE finished the first day on a high note...travelling with the lion at less than 10m distance for more than 30 minutes.

Next morning, we left early for the morning safari at 6:30. This time we were luckier. Within half an hour, we saw a hyena relaxing in the grasses. We were also lucky to witness an elephant fight(the trumpets are deafening) and a Big herd of wild buffaloes. We had hit on a treeless patch in the middle of the jungle full of elephants, giraffes, zebras, deer and buffaloes.

Girraffes are very elegant creatures with a supermodel gait. They bend their long legs clumsily to drink water or to sit down, and its quite a sight.

We came back to the lodge for a heavy brunch, a relaxing massage and a 2 hr. nap - perfect for a vacation.

Afternoon safari was all about the leopard chase. On three occassions, we were close to a leopard sighting but lost him in the tall grasses. Just as we were returning to the lodge, we hit the jackpot again. There were 3 marvellous wild dogs in the middle of the road.

Wild dogs are frequent in the rainy season and these were part of a pack of 23 dogs. However, they can cover 100 kms in a day and it is next to impossible to see them in a national park which is 10,000 sq. km big. They are swift, elegant, expressionless and very vicious. We trailed them for half an hour before retiring to our lodge.