South Luangwa + Victoria Falls and Chobe

[roseclaw]

This was my first trip to the African continent. Everything I experienced was for the first time.

 

I spent years researching and planning this trip. Part of that was because I lost my job and had to postpone for over a year, but I went finally in October 2019. I knew I wanted to go to South Luangwa National Park, and I knew I wanted to go to Victoria Falls. I also knew the best time to visit one was the worst time to visit the other. I chose October, the driest of the dry months for the best wildlife viewing and a dry Victoria Falls. I did make it to the Zimbabwe side, though.

 

The only thing I was not prepared for was how I would react to a tsetse bite. I was mostly nervous, because Benedryl is illegal in Zambia, so I couldn't bring it. However, I had zero reaction to the bite. Nada. It stung, but that was it: no allergic reaction, no pain after about ten minutes from the bite. The mosquito bites on the other hand... whoever told me there would be a negligible amount of mosquitoes during the dry season was so very, very wrong. So wrong. They swarmed me the moment I stepped off the plane. Good thing I had my malaria pills, especially because I ran out of bug spray by the end of the trip.

 

My research also told me that the Zambians were the friendliest of people, and it's true. However, I took that to mean they'd help with directions or similar things, and they will. But! I was not prepared for the entire country being filled with extroverts. Everyone wanted to know my entire personal history, wanted me to know their entire personal history, and literally anything else they wanted to discuss up to and including teaching me a few words and phrases in local languages. As an introvert, this was exhausting.

 

I flew JFK to Johannesburg to Lusaka to Mfwue. South African Airways through to Lusaka, then Proflight from Lusaka to Mfwue. I left the morning of October 4 and arrived the evening of October 5, just in time for dinner at the lodge. I stayed at Thornicroft Lodge, right outside the gate to the park and along the banks of the Luangwa River. In fact, I didn't sleep the first night there, not because I was too tired to sleep, although that was part of it, but because there was a hippo outside of my chalet munching loudly on sausage fruit. They are not quiet chewers. They are, however, quiet walkers for such a massive beast.

 

There were very few people at the lodge with the exception of two nights. In fact, my last two days, I was the only one at the lodge, so I had my own private safari. I saw nearly everything I wanted to see except for the Pel's Fishing-Owl. We tried so hard to find it and just couldn't. In five days, I saw eight different leopards, a lion pride with a kill, a leopard with a kill, wild dog puppies with a kill, and so many birds I'm still trying to sort through. I also saw a jackal, but apparently no one else did. Strange that my cry of "coyote!" only elicited confusion. Weird. Our guide was tracking buffalo at the time, so he was looking in the sand, not the drainage pipe where the dog was hiding. We zipped past in the vehicle, so I couldn't grab a photo.

 

I spent five days in the park, then I flew to Livingstone on Proflight, which consisted of two horrible flights. I nearly puked all over the flight attendant, a lovely woman named Happy. Partly due to the side effects of the malaria pills and partly due to motion sickness. I usually treat the motion sickness with an ear patch, but they weren't strong enough to overcome both the malaria pills and the bumpy flight.

 

I stayed at Fawlty Towers, and that was a good choice. They are a quiet backpacker's hotel with their own tour agency right in the center of Livingstone. For the majority of my time there, I was one of the youngest by a few decades. I was able to book day trips including Chobe, and they had a daily shuttle to the Falls.

 

I was then able to fly from Livingstone to Johannesburg to JFK on South African. I decided to participate in their Step-Up service, so I was able to bid my way to business class for that 16 hour flight back. First time I've ever flown anything but economy.

 

Going through the 3,500 photos (taken on my Nikon Coolpix) I took has taken me a while, and deciding which photos are the best is even more difficult. Stay tuned for a day-by-day  review!

 

Itinerary:

Oct 4: Left New York

Oct 5: Arrive at South Luangwa

Oct 6 - 10: Morning and evening game drives

Oct 11: Left South Luangwa, arrived Livingstone, nearly lost lunch between the two

Oct 11: Lady Livingstone cruise on the Zambezi

Oct 12: Rhino walk and high tea at the Royal Livingstone

Oct 13: Chobe

Oct 14: Victoria Falls, Zim-Zam

Oct 15: Relax

Oct 16: Left Livingstone, 7 hour layover in Johannesburg

Oct 17: Arrived New York

 

Preview:

Sundowners with a giraffe herd

 

Greedy male not sharing with the cubs

 

Elephants in the Chobe River

 

frog loaf - my bathroom buddy

 

If only I were rich enough to do this every time.

[wilddog]

Wow.  'A first time in Africa' TR and it sounds as though you had some fantastic sightings.

Good to hear the tse-tse did not cause a huge reaction. Interestingly, I saw only one mosquito in Zim (same time as you were in South Luangwa.)

Love the 'coyote' call and poor Happy she must have been a bit worried.

 

Thanks @roseclaw and looking forward to reading more.

 

 

Edited October 31, 2019 by wilddog

[gatoratlarge]

Awesome!  I loved South Luangwa!  Look forward to the day by day and some of the 3500 pictures!

 

[Towlersonsafari]

Hurrah!  a trip report to a fabulous place and already a frog picture!

[mtanenbaum]

Thanks for sharing! I am looking forward to reading more of your trip report. Sounds like you traveled on your own. If you are ever looking for a female safari travel partner, let me know! I am still looking for a companion for a trip to South Africa in November 2020. I took my first (supposed to be bucket list trip) to Africa in 2012 and couldn't wait to go back. So far 3 trips there and planning my fourth and fifth for 2020 and 2021! 

 

Margo

[roseclaw]

5 hours ago, wilddog said:

Wow.  'A first time in Africa' TR and it sounds as though you had some fantastic sightings.

Good to hear the tse-tse did not cause a huge reaction. Interestingly, I saw only one mosquito in Zim (same time as you were in South Luangwa.)

Love the 'coyote' call and poor Happy she must have been a bit worried.

 

Thanks @roseclaw and looking forward to reading more.

 

 

 I had a fantastic time. The internet kept telling me South Luangwa was the best of best, and for once, the internet was telling the truth!

 

I immediately realized I was on the wrong continent after I pointed out the coyote.  Oops. I had had maybe four hours of sleep in the past 48... oh well.

 

Happy was very concerned and did breathing exercises with me. They didn't really help with the nausea, but she tried.

[roseclaw]

1 hour ago, mtanenbaum said:

Thanks for sharing! I am looking forward to reading more of your trip report. Sounds like you traveled on your own. If you are ever looking for a female safari travel partner, let me know! I am still looking for a companion for a trip to South Africa in November 2020. I took my first (supposed to be bucket list trip) to Africa in 2012 and couldn't wait to go back. So far 3 trips there and planning my fourth and fifth for 2020 and 2021! 

 

Margo

 I did travel on my own. The people who wanted to join me couldn't get the time off or didn't have the funds. I'd love a travel buddy. However, November 2020, I'm going to be birding Taiwan, and October 2021 I'm going to be roadtripping Tasmania with a stopover in Cairns! I'm going to be staying as far away from malaria zones as I can until the medical community fixes the nasty side effects of the pills. Although I had been planning an overland from Cape Town to Windhoek...

[offshorebirder]

9 hours ago, roseclaw said:

Benedryl is illegal in Zambia

 

Wow - I had no idea @roseclaw.   Thanks to you, in a couple of weeks I will not bring any like I was planning to.  

 

And as a fellow introvert, I will brace myself for a friendly/inquisitive onslaught.

Edited October 31, 2019 by offshorebirder

[roseclaw]

@offshorebirder yeah, one of my steps in my research is always to find out what's legal in the US compared to what's illegal at my destination. And vice versa. No one checked my medical bag, but I didn't want to risk it. I used Campho-Phenique, which worked really well. It's a local trans-dermal anesthetic. I picked it up in the grocery store in the US before I left.

 

I think a lot of the chatting I got was because I am a young woman traveling alone. I never felt unsafe, except for once, which will be part of my report. But everyone is so talkative!

Edited October 31, 2019 by roseclaw

[ZaminOz]

13 hours ago, roseclaw said:

until the medical community fixes the nasty side effects of the pills

which anti-malarial were you using?

 

[Caracal]

21 hours ago, roseclaw said:

 

My research also told me that the Zambians were the friendliest of people, and it's true. However, I took that to mean they'd help with directions or similar things, and they will. But! I was not prepared for the entire country being filled with extroverts. Everyone wanted to know my entire personal history, wanted me to know their entire personal history, and literally anything else they wanted to discuss up to and including teaching me a few words and phrases in local languages. As an introvert, this was exhausting.

 

 

You may have found it exhausting but I bet in the long term you will always remember the friendly and happy personalities  of the Zambians. A rare commodity nowadays.

I'll definitely be staying tuned for more of what's sounding like a memorable first safari. Bring it on.

[Kitsafari]

Love that Frog Loaf -it's so cute. I remember all those tiny frogs making friends with the bath towels, our clothes, our bathroom sink. cute little things they were. 

 

Looking forward to reading all about your South Luangwa adventures, one of my two "bestest favouritest" places in Africa

[roseclaw]

4 hours ago, ZaminOz said:

which anti-malarial were you using?

 

@ZaminOz I was on Atovaquone-proguanil. But I've taken doxy before with nasty side-effects as well.

[roseclaw]

South Luangwa Day 1

 

The wake-up call came early. I hadn't slept, because I was so excited to watch the hippo munch on sausage fruit in the wee hours of the morning. It was only ten feet from my bed, and I'd never seen a hippo that close nor had I seen one in the wild. It was a large grey ghost, and it munched so loudly yet walked so gracefully through the dead leaves.

 

I also spent all night trying not to scratch mosquito bites. To those multiple people who told me not to worry about the mosquitoes during the dry season: you are all lying liars who lie. While I am considered a mosquito delicacy around the world, I was especially allergic to these bloodsuckers. The bites welted up to three inches in diameter. I treated them with Campho-Phenique, which actually seemed to work. The relief lasted a few hours, then I'd reapply. Thankfully, I had malaria pills. Not so thankfully, I experience those weird brain fogs associated with the pills, but I'd rather those than malaria.

 

The wake-up call was the night guard knocking on my door, whispering "good morning." It took my foggy brain a moment to catch up and even longer for me to call back "good morning."

 

After a quick breakfast of a pb&j, I was off with two other guests and our guide. The guests were taking a long weekend from Lusaka, and one was a British expat.

The sun was barely above the horizon, and none of my studious research had prepared me for how sweet the bush smelled first thing in the morning: cracked earth and happy plant terpenes.

 

It was a five minute drive to the gate, and I paid my entry for five days all at once. I was given a certificate, but no one checked later in the week.

 

We crossed the bridge into the park amid a cloud of palm swifts and white-rumped swifts. And we were off into the wilds!

 

Our first sighting was a herd of impala. And while this might be an unpopular opinion, I really like them. They're all clean lines, and their face makeup matches their butt makeup. I also really like how when the vehicle passed them, they'd rear their head back on their delicate necks  as if to say "oh, hell, no" before darting away. They're also way smarter than the puku we kept encountering. As will be evident from the trip report, I like my animals neat and smart or fat and stupid. (I'm looking at you, guinea fowl.)

 

The impala were hanging out with a few warthogs, a pair of amorous  bush squirrels, and several species of birds including a massive flock of quela.

 

 

We rounded a bend to find a small herd of Crawshay's zebra following a baboon troop. This is where our guide started to track buffalo. It was a bit disconcerting to have the guide drive and hang over the side of the vehicle at the same time, but by the end of the day I became used to it.

 

 

I noticed a jackal on the side of the road up ahead. I pointed and said, "Coyote." I received an odd look from my fellow passengers, but that was about it. As we approached, the dog ducked into a drainage pipe that ran under the road. I couldn't take a photo, and I later when I told the guide about it, he was incredulous because he hadn't seen a jackal in the park for twenty years. This caused me to doubt myself, especially because of the side effects of the malaria pills. But I still maintain that I saw it.

 

We were near the large baobab when we finally caught up with the herd of buffalo. Most seemed relatively young and were dripping with red-billed oxpeckers. A tawny eagle sat on top of the baobab, and it watched the buffalo go into a hollow that used to be a watering hole. The buffalo seemed to be confused as to why there was no water there, standing around swaying their heads back and forth.

 

 

Then it was time for tea. We went to a watering hole with water still in it. This was my first glimpse of both elephants and giraffes. More excitedly, the edges of the water were teeming with birds. All the birds from waders to bee eaters to wagtails.

 

After tea, we headed back along the river, passing colonies of bee eaters, a massive flock of pelicans, a herd of nearly twenty giraffe, and more zebras. As we passed Mfuwe Lodge, we saw an ancient croc swimming towards a large terrapin. The turtle ducked into the water and presumably the mud before the croc could reach it. No lunch for the croc.

 

We headed back to the lodge for our own lunch.

 

After lunch, it was nap time. I was still seriously jetlagged, and it was blazing hot. Although, the wind helped to keep the temperature down.

 

I awoke from my nap to munching right outside my window. A bushbuck was munching on the fallen leaves and flowers from the sausage tree. Every herbivore seemed to love the sausage tree. I sat on the stoop of my chalet and watched him munch. A small gecko joined me.

 

 

As the bushbuck moved on, I turned to watch the birds on the bank. It seemed that there was no afternoon lull in bird activity. They were in the berry bushes, bathing in the sprinkler pools, stalking along the sandbanks of the river, active as ever.

 

 

Then we were off for our evening game drive. We encountered a large herd of elephants and that same herd of giraffe. Also wood-hoopoes, a martial eagle, and a very handsome kudu in great light. (Not to mention tsetse.)

 

 

We took our sundowners with the giraffe herd. I received a lot of sidelong glances because I was only drinking juice, not a G&T or anything alcoholic. The staff became accustomed to my preferences by the end of the week.

 

Our first nocturnal sighting was a very unhappy elephant shrew, followed by a squinty genet. I loved the genets. They're so slinking and have oodles of personality. We also briefly saw a slender mongoose and a white tailed mongoose. A black-tailed hare posed perfectly for us.

 

 

It was not until we were almost back at the gate did we finally see our first cats of the day. Nine lions had come for a drink at a watering hole: four adult females and five cubs of various ages. The youngest cub didn't even belong to any of the adults: he decided he wanted to stay with the other cubs and that was that. He had a very strong personality and took some impressive risks. The guide called him brave. I called him precocious. He was maybe four months old.

Edited November 5, 2019 by roseclaw

[roseclaw]

I probably should not have started this at the same time as NaNoWriMo. Sorry!

 

My second day in South Luangwa was a Dog Day and not just because it was oppressively hot. There were three of us on the drive: me, the British expat, and our guide. We had started our drive early so the expat and her friend could drive back to Lusaka in the afternoon. I don't know if they actually managed to do it or not. It's a long drive.

 

 

We were among the first tourists out and about in the park, and there were predators everywhere, mostly avian: harrier hawks, marabu storks, hooded vultures with their fascinatingly blue eyes.

 

We had just crossed the bridge into the park, when we passed a truck. The driver told our guide there were wild dogs with a kill and pointed us in the right direction. Our guide found the dogs, including the puppies. The alpha female was sleeping, while the alpha male gnawed on a puku leg, and the puppies played with the puku's head.

 

 

We watched for a while and then gave them space. We still hadn't seen another vehicle.

 

It turned out that all the other vehicles were crowded around one of the "punk brothers" so named because their manes were unruly and stood on end. Just one male lion, hanging out in the scrub, surrounded by five vehicles.

 

We waited for the others to back off, then we went in. The lion showed zero interest in us.

 

 

As we backed away, a large baboon troop made their way across the plain towards the lion hiding in the scrub. We considered hanging around to watch the baboon's reaction, but another vehicle passed and told us about some wild dog puppies. The older puppies who had broken off to form their own pack, not the young ones we had seen before. So off we went to find the dogs.

 

It was already nap time for them. They had dug holes in the loose sand under a bush and had curled up in them with occasional switching and trying to usurp the others from their holes.

 

 

Then it was time for tea. We found a spot on the plain and watched a zebra foal.

 

There was a large congregation of vehicles on the other side of the plain, so we went over to investigate. Several lions were sleeping under a bush. We had been told about the lions earlier, but opted to find the dogs, because the lions would still be sleeping later in the day whereas the dogs were more likely to move.

 

And we were right.

 

 

There was also a slightly dumbstruck puku who kept watch about fifty meters away. Just standing still watching the cats. No idea where the rest of his herd was.

 

 

Then back for lunch and a nap. In that time, the lodge filled up to capacity with people. The two guests from Lusaka left, and nearly twenty tourists from Luxembourg showed up.

 

That evening drive required two vehicles.

 

 

We watched a herd of zebra eating sausage fruit and then we went to an area where elephants were known to make wells and gather at dusk. It was surrounded by gray go-away-birds telling us to go away. It's such a bizarrely electronic sound and jarring to hear out in the bush.

 

 

There were no elephants when we arrived, but there were the three wild dogs we had seen mid morning. They were lying in the wells, where it was undoubtedly cooler.

 

Then the elephants showed up, and they were not happy about the dogs. There was posturing and charging and the dogs trotted off, not too concerned. They went a full twenty meters away before plopping down in the sand again.

 

 

More elephants showed up from multiple family groups. The children played together and the adults greeted each other.

 

We watched until dusk, then we were off for our sundowners.

 

I had an interested discussion about conservation with our guide and the other tourists. The guide warned us that most game meat was poached, so that put me off trying it. this was also when I had my epiphany  about my difficulty with people understanding me. It was my American accent. Too New York for them. I noticed the locals had a better time understanding the German-accented English, so at times I affected a slight German accent - more cadence than anything, and it was easier for the locals to understand me.

 

 

After dark, we saw my first hyena. I kept thinking about how they're build like a condensed giraffe (or giraffe are elongated hyenas) despite who different they are: convergent evolution? The front legs longer than the hind legs must have some evolutionary advantage out in the bush.

 

Then finally found my first leopard. She was a young female on the small side, and she was doing an absolutely terrible job of hiding. The only thing concealed was her head. The rest of her body hung out the back of the clump of grass. The baboons spotted her immediately.

 

One of the vehicles startled up a hare, and she took off after it. However, she was not successful in catching it. I'm sure the bunny was happy about that, the leopard, not so much. It was fascinating to watch her tail balance her as she sprinted.

 

 

We couldn't relocate her after she went well off the road, but we did find a mongoose, a crocodile a good distance from the river, and a genet.

 

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by roseclaw

[Atravelynn]

You picked an excellent destination for your first trip.  Impala is a good place to start.  "Our first nocturnal siting was a very unhappy elephant shrew." What an animal to start with.  Very hard to see.  You must be lucky.  Your night time photography of the lion cubs turned out well.  Love the tiles of photos.  It shows the variety in a glance.

 

I can relate to your "coyote" sighting.

 

Looking forward to the rest!

[Hads]

Great stuff @roseclaw - your second day was a cracker alright. Plenty of excellent sightings.

[Treepol]

Really enjoying your report @roseclaw I did laugh when I read your extrovert/introvert comment as I can relate to that! Thanks for taking the time to put up so many photos, South Luangwa really provided excellent sightings, including great wild dog viewing.

 

 

[roseclaw]

12 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

You picked an excellent destination for your first trip.  Impala is a good place to start.  "Our first nocturnal siting was a very unhappy elephant shrew." What an animal to start with.  Very hard to see.  You must be lucky.  Your night time photography of the lion cubs turned out well.  Love the tiles of photos.  It shows the variety in a glance.

 

 

It took a lot of research to decided where on the continent to start, but I'm happy with it! It was almost Namibia, which I will get to some day.

 

I hadn't realized the majority of the animals I saw were rare. They were so common in South Luangwa. Also, I hadn't realized elephant shrews were so large! I thought elephant referred to their noses, not their size as well. 

 

My camera has a night photo setting, so that made night photography that much easier.

[roseclaw]

 

Day three did not start off exciting. In fact, the beginning part of the day was rather subdued. We located the three wild dog pack but they were so far in the distance. the rest of the morning was filled with the common animals of the bush. They provided us with great views, and we saw the guinea fowl fly into a tree to escape the vehicle. They're so stupid, I love them.

 

 

There was very little other activity.

 

 

The guide suggested the morning go into the Guinness Book of World Records for most boring morning.

 

 

There were plenty of birds for me to see and hear, though. It drove me crazy how some birds sounded identical to ones in my own backyard despite the ocean between them. Honeyguides sounded like scarlet tanagers, and red-billed hornbills not only sounded like blue jays intimating a red-shouldered hawk, but they flew with the same gait as blue jays. The white-browed sparrow weavers sounded like blaster fire from Star Wars. Pew pew!

 

 

I had a bit of excitement when I bush snake woke me up from my post lunch nap. It was hunting geckos and frogs in the thatch roof.

 

 

The evening game drive, however, was infinitely more exciting. A three-leopard night.

 

 

First we came across three lionesses, all in undignified repose.

 

 

Then, as the sun began to set, we came across an old lady leopard in a tree with a kill. I could smell it before I saw it. She panted in the heat, and the light on her face was gorgeous. We watched her for a while: too long, actually, I had to cover my nose and mouth to keep out the smell of dead impala.

 

 

We then continued on our way, and half a mile down the road, we came across another leopard, a young male. He was sitting in a short tree. He had massive paws and such a fluffy tail. Then as the sun went down further, he jumped down from the tree, stretched, licked his butt, then flopped down in front of the vehicle. Like, nearly under the wheels.

 

 

The vehicle had to be put in reverse so we could continue on our way.

 

We had sundowners and watched the wild dogs along the river bank.

 

Then off into the night. We went back the way we came to check on the young male. He was slowly stalking off into the night, unperturbed by the vehicles.

 

We then checked on the old female in the tree, and she was chowing down on the dead impala.

 

 

We gave her space and went in search of other creatures.

 

We found a courser and a genet. The Luxembourg tourists were not as interested as I was. They were more interested in the lions, the three punk brothers were lying about the plain.

 

On our way back to the lodge, we ran into another leopard, just walking across the road. He walked off into the bush without incident.

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Your own private bush snake, hunting no less.  Great leopard shots. 

A boring day in the bush is better than many exciting days at work!  And you only had a "boring" outing, not a whole day.

Edited November 7, 2019 by Atravelynn

[ForWildlife]

I will read this more properly when I have good internet again, but a jackal in South Luangwa? That's very rare, only 1 or 2 are seen each year. Did you manage to take a photo? Was it a daytime sighting or a nighttime one?

[roseclaw]

Day Four in South Luangwa

 

 

The Luxembourg tourists were heading out that day, so it was just me on the game drive. Which meant we could focus on the real reason I was in South Luangwa - birds! All the birds. Especially the fishing owl. However, in the morning we drove away from the river and deeper into the park.

 

 

We came across the three lionesses from the night before. They were stalking warthogs. They had sniffed out the location where the warthogs come for their breakfast, and after checking to see if any were already there, hid under a bush to ambush. 

 

 

As we left the area, we saw a pair of warthogs on their way to the lionesses. This included four piglets, which we saw a day later, so the lionesses had not caught those warthogs. Maybe they caught others.

 

We also checked on the old female leopard from the night before, and she was one tree over, and the carcass was mostly bones. A bateleur had come in to investigate the carcass, but it seemed hesitant to approach. Too close to the leopard for comfort.

 

We swung by a carmine bee eater colony, which was really a multispecies bee eater colony. I saw you, white-fronted bee eaters, you're fooling no one.

 

 

We went deeper into the park, and found a very young giraffe with its mother. Part of the umbilical cord was still attached to the baby.

 

My guide admitted he came this way, because he wanted to check out the new lodge being built. He expressed concerns with a lodge being build so far into the park. He took several pictures to share with his conservation partners to make sure everything was as it should be. As he photographed the lodge, I photographed the finches. I'm still tickled by the names of many of the birds. Seriously, cordon bleu? Hilarious!

 

We continued on our way, and were promptly screamed at by a young tawny eagle, who then joined a parent.

 

 

My guide also found a porcupine quill. I wish I could have brought it home: it was a large quill. And between when I arrived and that morning, the baobabs had put out leaves.

 

We located more birds, including another great name: scimitarbill! Gotta love the ornithologists.

 

 

That evening we went to look for the fishing owl in earnest. We paroled the river, looking at all the trees along the bank, finding mostly carmines and a lion. The lion was not in a tree.

 

 

We did find a bush baby pair, which was a first for me, but they also were not owls.

 

We also found a massive flapnecked chameleon, but no owls.

 

Then we found the first civet I've ever seen. Still not an owl.

 

And another genet. I still love them.

 

These were all incredible, but owl.

 

On our way back to the lodge, we came across a dazed impala. She was staggering around with a large strip of skin hanging off. It was nearly half her back. Poor thing must have been in a lot of pain, but she was alive until the infection set in. My guide said it was a leopard. I asked if the leopard would return to find her or if the hyenas would. He said the hyenas.

 

No owl. We saw three other birds of prey - plus vultures, but we still had one more day.

 

[Atravelynn]

10 hours ago, ForWildlife said:

I will read this more properly when I have good internet again, but a jackal in South Luangwa? That's very rare, only 1 or 2 are seen each year. Did you manage to take a photo? Was it a daytime sighting or a nighttime one?

Perhaps it really WAS a coyote.

 

The chameleon is another unusual sighting. You were there at the perfect time for the Carmine Bee Eaters. And you saw my fav bird, the African Hoopoe.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Atravelynn

[Kitsafari]

@roseclaw I don't drink alcohol and I'll happily take lemonade or whatever fruit juice they may have during sundowners, and I really don't care what people think, although  I'm pretty sure other travellers are so enjoying their G&Ts, they would have no time to think about me missing it.  these days we tend to skip evening sundowners as we prefer to spend the time looking at wildlife or birdlife instead!

 

Love your birds! you had a good list of them. we didn't see the Pel's when we were there, but I hope it showed eventually for you....

 

 

12 hours ago, ForWildlife said:

I will read this more properly when I have good internet again, but a jackal in South Luangwa? That's very rare, only 1 or 2 are seen each year. Did you manage to take a photo? Was it a daytime sighting or a nighttime one?

 

 

I'm not that shocked that Roseclaw could have seen a jackal. we had a bit of discussion on jackals in South Luangwa back in 2014. Read Egilio's comments in post no 64 (he used to be based in Zambia for his research studies so he knows that place inside out) in my TR here : 

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Kitsafari