Zambia – May 2012 - an unforgettable experience

[Maki]

Some more elephants ...

 

 

We had sundowners on the Zambezi and then left for the evening game drive, the vehicle was waiting for us further down the river. We were hoping to spot a leopard, but unfortunately we were very unlucky with our sightings and I don’t recall seeing much on the drive apart from a genet. The other guests had more luck, they did see leopards. Hopefully we had more luck the next day.

[Maki]

Day 7 – Waterbuck channel

 

In the afternoon we did a canoe trip. We still dared to, even after the not so good experience earlier at Sindabezi. This time though, we had paddlers, which made it much easier! By boat you go to a channel where you will canoe. There were 3 canoes, in the first canoe were the guide and a guest, and in the other two canoes were guests and the paddlers. Thank god for paddlers, they make the canoeing so much more enjoyable, you can focus on the surrounding and not the paddling and dodging hippos.

 

The channel was very beautiful and green, that is one of the advantages of travelling in May.

 

During our trip crocodiles and hippos made us wait before we could proceed, the excitement, and at the end we saw elephants cross as well. Very nice.

 

 

Plenty of birds to see as well, kingfishers, fish eagles, white fronted bee eaters. One time I looked back and saw a hippo on one side of the channel, and an elephant on the other, impala in the background – I loved it. I didn’t think you would see so much on a short canoe trip.

[Maki]

Day 8 – Osprey or …

 

The activities for the day, in the morning a bush walk, in the afternoon a boat cruise followed by a night drive. As it was our last day we wanted to be on the Zambezi one more time, and we were hoping to spot leopards during the night drive.

 

In the morning the weather was very nice for walking, but it would warm up quite quickly. I enjoyed hearing all the information from the guide about the plants, trees, spoor, etc. It was very interesting and different than game drives, which are more focused on the larger animals.

 

After the walk we were supposed to go back to camp, but were surprised with a bush lunch. What a treat!

 

 

On our drive back the guide saw a juvenile martial eagle the other vehicle an osprey… it turned out that guests and guides were talking about the same bird and a whole discussion started as to who was right. I never thought birds could be that interesting… look at feathers this, at the colour there…

 

 

Last water based activity in the afternoon, on the motorized pontoon, and then a drive after the sundowners.

 

 

During the river cruises, guides would always mention that Mana Pools was on the other side and that it was magical. I made a note to myself, research Mana Pools for next trip.

 

I like the purple colour of the sky so much, it is much better than the picture, but it gives you an idea.

 

One more chance to spot a leopard during the night drive, and although the guides did their best, it just wasn’t in the stars for us…

[Maki]

Chiawa camp:

Our tent (number 8, leopard) was lovely, spacious and you had everything you could possible need. The tent was at the end and had a great view. Chiawa is an excellent camp, the setting is gorgeous, the guiding excellent and plenty of activities to choose from. Lovely place and there were many repeat guests. I think the area is very nice and I would go back only not in May, but rather in September.

 

 

[africapurohit]

@@Maki I remember now!

 

My claim to fame is that I was the first ever guest to stay at Tent 8 in Chiawa Camp (opened in May 2006). They only finished getting it ready on the morning of the day I arrived with my wife. We knew about the situation before we left London, and luckily we didn't end up homeless.

 

I may do a trip report, even though it was more than 7 years ago! I have photos of where the hide was.

Edited November 14, 2013 by africapurohit

[Maki]

@@africapurohit - wow - first guest ever in tent 8! You would not have ended up homeless, there was a hide..

don't mention trip report, GW will hold you to it! Although, I would love to see what your experience was like at Chiawa, and am now curious if the hide was where tent number 9 / honeymoon tent is...

[TonyQ]

@@Maki

Great stuff - it seems you had a really good variety of activities on this trip - very enjoyable to read

[Maki]

Day 9 – Flight Royal airstrip – Lusaka – Mfuwe (Proflight)

 

Today we had to get up very early, it was still dark when we left camp, to catch our flight to Lusaka and then to Mfuwe. The planes were bigger, which made it more comfortable as well. This was the second time we had a stopover in Lusaka, but all the flights were on time.

 

A guide from Puku Ridge, our next accommodation, was waiting for us and other guests for the transfer. It took longer than I expected for some reason (over 2 hours), or maybe I was just eager to get there, the two flat tires didn’t help either – but luckily the second flat tire was at Puku Ridge, so we were not affected, just the guests who were on their way to Chichele Lodge. Both Puku Ridge and Chichele Lodge are owned by Sanctuary retreats.

 

Puku Ridge camp is built on a hillside and has a stunning view of the floodplain:

 

 

We were welcomed by the manager, guides and the rest of the staff. We were told that we would share the vehicle/guide with the other guests that had just arrived, and needed to decide amongst ourselves what activities we would do. Hmmm, this was quite a disappointment compared to our stay at Chiawa camp earlier, not the vehicle sharing, but what if we wanted to do different things than the other guests?

We would stay 3 nights, and I was interested in walking as well as drives, so decided to see how things went. Although there is private dining at Puku Ridge, the table was set for 4 guests + manager, probably with the aim to get to know each other as we would spend time together.

 

After lunch we were escorted to our tent, it was huge and had a modern interior, and to my surprise a gym box – in case you can’t miss a day of exercising – but the view … amazing! Location, location, location.

So after the siesta our first drive, we could not wait. I am not too keen on these travel days, and was happy to be in the bush again.

We just got in the vehicle and the guide mentioned there was an impala kill earlier in the morning a couple of metres away, by a leopard and it must still be in the area somewhere. The leopard had dragged the impala kill in a tree, but wasn’t there, we drove a little bit further (mind you, this is very close to camp) to a rocky area with a bit too much branches and leaves. The guide had spotted the leopard, but we couldn’t see it. And then we finally spotted it as well, our first leopard sighting!

 

 

 

The other guests were on their first safari, and when the guide asked what we would like to see, they answered lions for us more leopards and wild dogs please! It had been weeks since they had last seen the wild dogs, my hopes of seeing them went down the drain, but leopards were almost a daily sighting.

 

The sighting of the leopard made our day, but we saw more during our drive, like warthogs, impala, elephants, hippos, crowned cranes (we were not into birding at all during this trip) and a chameleon.

 

 

The chameleon was the favourite animal of the spotter, and we asked him to show us one. He found one in no time.

 

[Maki]

Day 10 – South Luangwa NP – Puku Ridge – Thornicroft and Crawshay’s

 

I was talking to the guide during breakfast and mentioned that we didn’t mind sticking to drives today, but that we would really like to go for a walk as well, and if they could make arrangements the next morning (the other couple didn’t bring walking shoes, but loafers and ballerinas instead, so they could not go on walks, obviously).

 

After breakfast we left for the first drive of the day. It was lovely, and we we’re thrilled with all the game we saw as we were warned May was not the very best time to visit South Luangwa. The good thing about travelling in May is, that there not as many visitors, and the animals look healthy. The scenery is nice and green, but that might be seen as a disadvantage as well as it is harder to spot animals – like the leopard earlier.

 

Some sightings this morning:

Hippos, happy campers, as there was plenty of water, and food.

 

 

Crawshay's zebra, endemic to the area.

 

 

Ground hornbill

 

In the afternoon the guide informed us that there was a lion sighting with a kill, but it would be a long drive to the Mfuwe Lodge area. I was not to keen, but the other guests had never seen a lion, so off we went. We could not find it initially, until... that horrible smell. The kill was a hippo, and by the smell of it had been dead for some time. The lions were munching away, in the thick bushes.

 

I could hear the guest in the back say ‘’we’re very close, it is a bit scary’’. Soon other vehicles approached so it was time to go. In the Puku Ridge area we hardly saw any vehicles, this area was much busier. On our way out of the bushes we saw a hyena approaching. Probably attracted by the smell. The hyena decided to wait in the shade for the lions to leave.

On our way to the sundowner spot we saw giraffe and elephants. It was nice to see giraffes as there aren’t any in Lower Zambezi NP.

Thornicroft giraffe, also endemic to the area

The sundowner spot:

[Maki]

Day 11 – South Luangwa NP – Puku Ridge – Mimbulu and Kaingo

 

The next morning it was time for a walk, we had to pick up guests from Chichele lodge, and drive a bit further south. It was very informative and nice to see giraffes so close.

 

 

Upon our return the other guide mentioned they had seen wild dogs on the morning drive. Couldn’t believe it, I missed out on the dogs… Ooh noooo. Our guide offered to drive up to the area, he knew I really wanted to see wild dogs, I practically ran to the vehicle (that was my exercise, no need for gym box). He also checked with the guests who had just arrived if they wanted to join us. She couldn’t make up her mind, it seemed to take forever for her to decide (to me anyway). I got a little impatient, and asked her to decide please as the dogs could decide to move on.

Once we were in the vehicle, the guide stepped on the gas and off we went … searching for the wild dogs. If there was something I was really eager to see, it was wild dogs. We drove in the area they were seen earlier for at least 30 minutes, but no sign of them. I really tried to hide my disappointment, I think the guide felt sorry for me so he said ‘’let’s try one more time’’, but no sign of the dogs.

New guests, two couples, had arrived earlier but both decided to stay in camp so we had the vehicle to ourselves in the afternoon.

 

We were driving slowly, enjoying the scenery, when all of a sudden the guide stopped. I could not see what he had spotted, looking around, to my left, right, but could not see what he had spotted. Look up in the tree, he said… A leopard! We stayed there for quite some time, until the leopard decided to leave.

We saw another vehicle approach – our guide stopped to have a chat with the guide – and I noticed the words mimbulu and kaingo were mentioned often… Mimbulu turned out to be wild dogs – They had seen wild dogs!!!! Could this be our lucky break?

Kaingo was leopard by the way, the other guide was hoping to find one for his guests.

 

This time it was not difficult to find the dogs, a couple of other vehicles were there already. The dogs were in the tall grass, but we could still see them. Best sighting so far… Loved it!

The dogs moved to the road, were we could see them better but so did other vehicles, so we decided to leave.

 

During sundowners I decided no matter how tired I was, I would never miss a game drive, or walk - ever.

 

We had one more nice sighting of the dogs … we had a quick look and left as it was dark already.

[Maki]

Puku Ridge:

 

I have mixed feelings about Puku Ridge. What I loved about Puku Ridge is the area, the location of camp, it less busy than the central area, and the view is stunning. The food was the best we had, and that says something as the food was great at all the camps. The guide offering us to go look for the dogs was very considerate. The tent is huge, and great view from the deck and outside shower.

 

The not so good, and this is my personal view, was wireless access was available and mobile reception. I understand that you might want to be in touch with loved ones, but what I didn't like is one guests was constantly on the phone ''doing business'', it spoiled our being in the bush feeling. I also didn’t like that you had to decide with other guests what activities you would do. We didn’t know that beforehand, and I feel you should be able to do all the activities that are mentioned when booking accommodation.

 

[marg]

I think that we slept in the same bed....this is how it looked in August 2007!

[TonyQ]

Great that you saw the dogs (we didn't on our visit)

And leopard straight away!

[Atravelynn]

How rewarding you found the dogs. Does the leopard in the tree have a cloudy eye?

[Maki]

@@marg - I think so too, it looks very familiar!

 

@@TonyQ - Shame you didn't get to see the dogs, but you had so many other great sightings!

Other guests staying at same camps, but arriving on different dates didn't see them, so we just got lucky.

 

@@Atravelynn - it does have a cloudy eye! I have seen it in other trip reports of South Luangwa as well - leopards with a wonky eye - although this leopard looks a lot like the one in @@Tdgraves report

[Maki]

Day 12 – 17 South Luangwa - Nsefu sector - Tafika

 

Tafika is the camp we would stay for the remainder of our trip, the last 5 nights. We had such an amazing time at Tafika, that I have difficulties trying to write about the experience as I am worried that I won’t do it justice. When thinking about our safari in Zambia, I think of Tafika… The reed-and-thatch chalet which gave me the bush feeling, the lovely camp and main area with view of the Luangwa River, the great staff, the great food – also some produce from their garden. I could go on and on.

 

I liked the variety of activities, like ‘’mountain bike safari’’ and a microlight flight and we did both. We went for a walk in the area of Chikoko Tree camp, which would open after we had left, but we could experience it for a bit and see how camp was set-up. Chikoko Tree Camp is a bush camp focusing on walking in an area where vehicles are not allowed. It has the same owner as Tafika. The grass was still too high to see any game, but the scenery was lovely and it was interesting to see how camp was being built, same routine every year. Just getting the reed to camp involves walking, canoeing to cross the river and then walking to the camp. We were accompanied by a ZAWA ranger, guide and tea bearer for the walk. The tea bearer showed us how to make a fire, and his laugh I will never forget.

 

Tafika is an owner-run camp, which made it a more personal experience. I liked the down-to-earth feeling, no fuss at Tafika. The dining is together with other guests, one of the guides or other staff member joins as well. The owners would join for lunch or dinner.

 

The game viewing was excellent and so was the guiding, they really made an effort to share their knowledge with you. We saw lots of game in the Nsefu sector (Tafika is just outside this sector), where we went for the drives, and saw many firsts like serval and porcupine.

 

Tafika:

 

 

 

 

View:

 

 

[Maki]

Nsefu sector:

 

During our stay there were 2 vehicles from Tafika in this area, and once we saw a vehicle from RPS. Bliss.

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2013 by Maki

[Maki]

The guides don’t use the radio to inform each other about sightings, luckily we ran into the other vehicle from Tafika who had just seen wild dogs.

Our guide was normally based in Mwaleshi camp in North Luangwa, and it was years since he saw wild dogs for the last time.

The area the dogs were in was far from ideal for us, trees, branches, bushes… We couldn’t find the dogs, we were just about to give up when the guide saw dogs. A couple of dogs, not the whole pack. It wasn’t the best sighting, and it was difficult to take pictures, but here some to give an idea:

 

 

 

 

[stokeygirl]

Aaah, Tafika. Also my favourite camp in South Luangwa. Did you get any visits from their pet cats?

[Maki]

@@stokeygirl - no we didn't , we were staying in the last chalet, so bit to far I guess, but the other guests did get a visit every night. The dogs were around as well, but mainly for beakfast! Can't remember their names now, chips and chuckles? something like that?

[Safaridude]

@@Maki

 

Just catching up to this wonderful report. Interesting to see Zambia in the early dry season… so different looking.

 

Keep it coming please!

[Maki]

More pictures from the Nsefu Sector:

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2013 by Maki

[Maki]

Below the yellow billed stork colony in the Nsefu sector, probably even more interesting in the wet season, but it is a very special sighting.

The tree is white from all the, well you probably guessed it, the smell is awful and the wind seemed the change whenever we moved the car to another direction.

It was very weird to see the young ones, they look like ghosts...

 

 

 

 

[Maki]

Elephants crossing the Luangwa River

 

In the middle are the calfs, protected by the rest

 

 

[Maki]

As far as I am aware, a microlight flight in South Luangwa is only possible at Tafika.

It is something you should really give a try, as it is a wonderful experience, the views are amazing and so is the game viewing. We saw hippos, crocodile, impala, zebra, giraffe, eland, hyena, lions, fish eagle in nest, yellow billed stork, and probably forgot to mention some. We didn't see any lions or hyenas during game drives, but did get to see them during the microlight flight. Below are some pictures, and they are not great, but just to give you an idea why you should not miss out on a microlight flight with John.

Please do check if owner is in camp for a flight to avoid disappointment...