Zimbabwe & Zambia 2013

[africapurohit]

I've only read the Zimbabwe section so far but WOW! Your wonderful photos bring this amazing experience to life - I look forward to reading the rest.

[TonyQ]

@@Pennyanne

Very enjoyable updates = it is great to see S.Luangwa again

I love the elephant pictures - especially the babies

[Pennyanne]

Mwamba Camp S. Luangwa cont’d

 

We’d now come to the last day of our safari. Instead of a walk we went on a drive that morning to see if we could find the lions we’d seen the previous night. Vultures were gathered in a tree:

 

 

 

We found the lions and their buffalo hunt had been successful.

 

 

There were a lot of cubs (perhaps nine) of various ages. The adults were mainly lying around looking very full.

 

 

 

 

One lioness had some very young cubs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cubs were not ready for a nap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cubs were right into the buffalo

 

 

 

 

One lioness just had to have some more

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a large part of the morning with the lions. Finally they all had eaten as much as they could and even the cubs went into the bush to have a nap so we continued with our drive. This was the first time we had seen so many cubs and it was a great viewing for our last day.

 

Edited July 1, 2014 by Pennyanne

[SafariChick]

oh my goodness, those cubs are just adorable! What a striking image of the one cub looking so cute and little inside the carcass! What a brilliant end to an incredible safari! @@Pennyanne

[Marks]

Sad to see the last day roll around, but what a great experience! Some of those cubs have some really prominent markings on them.

 

oh my goodness, those cubs are just adorable! What a striking image of the one cub looking so cute and little inside the carcass!

I also love this picture...it has an unlikely charm to it.

[Pennyanne]

@@Towlersonsafari

We are enjoying this report.Are you going to say which reserve or camp you liked best? The mystery bird might be a red billed buffalo weaver,perhaps!

 

Thanks for the bird identification.

 

It's very hard to pick a favorite camp as they were all extremely good However I think Mana Pools was the favorite park. It's beautiful and we loved the walking and the wonderful wildlife experiences we had there. But we want to return to Hwange, S. Luangwa and Lower Zambezi too!

[Pennyanne]

The end of a wonderful trip

 

Our last morning we drove to the Mfuwe airport. We took our time and had some very nice viewings.

 

 

 

 

 

Including unsuccesful puku courtship:

 

 

 

Impala and crocodile:

 

 

A good viewing of a hyena:

 

 

 

 

One of our last viewings right by the park gate was one of my favorites, a nice way to leave the park:

 

 

 

There were a lot more vehicles as we got closer to the park entrance. As we’d been used to being the only vehicle at a sighting with occasionally one other vehicle it felt a little strange. We flew to Lusaka where we stayed overnight at Pioneer Camp then flew the next morning to Heathrow. There was a terrific thunderstorm that night in Lusaka which kept us awake so we were pretty tired. Fortunately we had arranged to stay overnight at Heathrow where we had a great dinner and an excellent sleep before we flew home to Canada the next day. It had been a wonderful safari.

 

I’d had a secret wish list before we started: wild dogs, lions with cubs, a kill from start to finish, leopard and hyena in daylight, honey badger, cheetah, and sable sightings, close up encounters with elephants. Well we saw all of these and so much more! (aardvark, pangolin were also on the list but I had no expectations for them).

 

Reliving the trip while writing this report I realize just how happy I feel when I am out in the bush. Every day is an adventure. Even days when we did not have exceptional sightings there was always something interesting plus the sheer enjoyment of being away from it all in a remote area. No cell phones or televisions! Wonderful! The combination of walks, drives and some river activity was ideal. It was a long trip but I would repeat it all again tomorrow. There will be more safaris.

 

[Marks]

An adorable ele calf on your farewell drive...yes, I'd say that's quite pleasant

 

I am happy to have been able to experience your safari, thank you for sharing.

[ZaminOz]

What a pure magic safari!

Love your photos @@Pennyanne

[michael-ibk]

This really was an exceptional adventure, @@Pennyanne . Loved every installment, thanks for all your efforts here for our sakes. Mana Pools especially looked brilliant, and you really started with a bang with your Hwange lion-buffalo-action.

 

Glad you almost got everything from your list, and you´ll see, next time there will be Aardvark and Pangolin.

[graceland]

@@Pennyanne

 

Such a memorable and enjoyable trip report. Thanks for revving me up for our upcoming Zim safari. If I have half your success, I will be beaming. (Well I want it all, but not going to really admit that in public )

[FlyTraveler]

Thanks for the wonderful and detailed TR @@Pennyanne! I enjoyed reading it and watching the photographs from the very beginning to the end and I am sure that I will come back to it on regular basis (that's what I do with the good reports).

 

Looking forward to your next safari and TR!

[Kitsafari]

@@Pennyanne I re-read your report from the beginning again and enjoyed it immensely once again. You had wonderful sightings and lovely photos. That baby puku is adorable! After reading the Tafika and Mwamba camps, I'm really looking forward to being there in 2.5 months' time. Thanks for sharing.

 

Now, where next for you?

[TonyQ]

@@Pennyanne

Thank you for a realy enjoyable report with lots of great pictures and writing - right up until the end!

[Peter Connan]

My sincerest thanks for a wonderful TR!

 

Mana pools just goes higher and higher on my bucket list...

[PCNW]

Oh my gosh.....@@Pennyanne I've been in Uganda (reading TR's) and I thought that was for sure where I would head next and now finishing your very excellent TR I was thinking Zimbabwe but now I'm thinking back to Zambia......If wishes were horses we'd all take a ride. Thanks for letting us share this wonderful trip.

[Atravelynn]

Holy Moly! I had seen segments of your trip but viewing it in its entirety emphasizes the quality of experiences day in and day out. So many close encounters with eles! That one standing up tall on its hind legs is a prize. The lion cubs are treasure. Your secret wish list was fulfilled!