South Luangwa (Tafika and Kaingo) and Lower Zambezi (Old Mondoro and Chiawa)- 15th July to 28th July 2018

[Julian]

Sebastian was our guide for this evening’s game drive, and another guest was also with us, Michelle an American woman who was at the very start of her first safari. She had already had a couple of hours out on a game drive, and was really enthusiastic, being constantly amazed by all of the wildlife. This was great for us because we like seeing everything, and we would be together on the drives for the rest of our stay at Old Mondoro, but Marshal would be guiding the three of us for the rest of our three-day stay.

 

Our first sighting was a small group of kudu, and after those, other than a few impala and baboons in the distance, and some storks as sunset approached, we did not see anything else until after darkness. We knew the wildlife density in Lower Zambezi was less than in South Luangwa but this initial lack of wildlife felt slightly disappointing, but it would soon improve.

 

 

Darkness came very quickly and it was a chilly evening.  We were keeping a close lookout for any signs of a leopard or the small nocturnal wildlife when suddenly we heard a really loud booming lion’s roar. It was very close and Sebastian managed to find the lion within a minute or so. It was sitting in the centre of a fairly large open space and it then roared a few more times, and was answered by two other lions that were clearly a long way off. Sebastian told us that the other two were also males, and that this coalition of three was the dominating group of males in the whole of Lower Zambezi.

 

 

 

We moved on after a few minutes and although we did eventually spot a civet, that was really all we saw that evening. Back at camp we had a very nice evening meal with just the three of us plus Sebastian and Michelle the host, as there were no other guests in camp that evening.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

a great leopard and ele send-off at south luangwa. As i caught up with that portion, i realised that was back in April and I wondered how I missed this TR. Then I came to the Lower zambezi portion, and realised I'm not that late to the party after all!

 

HOw old were those male lions in Lower Zembezi?   

[Julian]

On 2/29/2020 at 1:36 PM, Kitsafari said:

a great leopard and ele send-off at south luangwa. As i caught up with that portion, i realised that was back in April and I wondered how I missed this TR. Then I came to the Lower zambezi portion, and realised I'm not that late to the party after all!

 

HOw old were those male lions in Lower Zembezi?  

 

@Kitsafari

Thanks . No, you are definitely not late to catching up with this, it is me who is late, having produced this report over a period of several months for the first half, then a very long gap, and now having restarted it I intend to get it finished promptly. There is a lot more to come from Lower Zambezi both at Old Mondoro and then at Chiawa.

 

Dont know how old those male lions were , but just the three of them managed to take an adult buffalo and it’s calf in one overnight hunt a couple of days later . So I’m guessing they varied between about 5 and 8 years, but they do all have names , so certainly well established.

 

What was clear about the lions in Lower Zambezi is that the only large prey they could realistically take was buffalo. Other largish prey includes kudu and waterbuck but I ‘ m guessing they were hard to catch. Smaller prey definitely included porcupines and warthogs, but without prey like wildebeest, zebra and giraffe I’m guessing it would be difficult for large prides to exist, or for there to be a high density of lions in LZ.

As you will eventually see in this report, young lions were quick to learn that buffalo were the most important prey for their survival, as a breakaway group of 5 male lions, 4 of which were adolescent males, certainly no more than 3 years old , and 1 that was no more than 2 years old, hunted buffalo...........

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Julian

[BRACQUENE]

@Julian

 

Well I didn’t miss the beginning like @Kitsafari because I joined the club only mid November but I am glad that you will continue with this interesting TR of the Lower Zambezi Park which is probably going to be a major part of my next safari in 2021 but more about that in the near future

[Athene]

@Julian

I have been following your trip report since last summer. Such a beautiful report with so many details about the camps and the animals. You must have taken notes. You were also very lucky with the leopards. My favourite is the leopard with the impala kill in the gully - post 65. We only saw 2 different leopards at each camp.

I am glad you have time to continue now with the Lower Zambezi. Beautiful lion pictures. The Lower Zambezi with Old Mondoro and Chiawa is also on our list next year in September. I am very much enjoying your report and looking forward to more.

[Julian]

10 hours ago, Athene said:

@Julian

I have been following your trip report since last summer. Such a beautiful report with so many details about the camps and the animals. You must have taken notes. You were also very lucky with the leopards. My favourite is the leopard with the impala kill in the gully - post 65. We only saw 2 different leopards at each camp.

I am glad you have time to continue now with the Lower Zambezi. Beautiful lion pictures. The Lower Zambezi with Old Mondoro and Chiawa is also on our list next year in September. I am very much enjoying your report and looking forward to more.

@Athene

Thank you very much for your kind comments.

Rachel keeps a detailed, but brief, diary of what happens and what we see throughout our time on a safari trip, so that helps me significantly in producing this report, especially after all this time ( 19 months ago currently).

 

Also our photos- we have three cameras - and for the two main cameras we use we change the SD card for each location we stay at. The third camera is largely a spare , but saves us changing lenses on our main cameras ( which can so easily cause a problem with dust on the sensor as we experienced in the past), so the photos from each of the main cameras are in separate folders for each camp, and are by default in date  and precise time  order.

Therefore, when I am producing the next section of the trip report I have the diary, and three sets of photos in precise chronological order, meaning the info is all there but it takes time to put it all together.

 

Regarding leopards, there are quite a few more to come.
 

How long are you staying at OM and Chiawa in September? Both are excellent, but are very different.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Julian

[Athene]

@Julian

you both are very organized. I agree, otherwise you would not remember so many details.

I am not very organized but on our next safari I will also take notes.

Regarding OM and Chiawa, we will stay 4 nights in each camp. It is still a long time to go - in the meantime I will enjoy your report and find out about the differences of the camps.

[Julian]

2nd Day at Old Mondoro

 

After a quick breakfast we set off on our first morning game drive, just the two of us with Marshal as Michelle had opted for a walk this morning. We were full of enthusiasm even if it was yet another cold morning. To give you some idea of how unseasonably cold it was on this trip, at three of the four camps we stayed at hot water bottles were put in the bed every night, and here at Old Mondoro we even had a hot water bottle each on the game drive this morning. Not surprisingly the wildlife kept a limited presence for the first couple of hours, but we were taken in by the beauty of this National Park and spent some of the time taking landscape photos. We also had the usual break mid morning for a hot drink and snack, and a chance to stretch our legs.

 

 

After a while we started to see more wildlife and by the end of the morning what we had seen included baboons, impala, waterbuck, kudu, warthogs and crocodiles, and the bird life we spotted included hadada Ibis, sacred ibis, cattle egret, little bee-eater and lilac breasted roller. However there was no sign of any lions or leopards and, although we found lots of elephant dung, no elephants appeared.

 

 

[Julian]

 

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Julian

[BRACQUENE]

Glad to see you and Rachel for the first time in person  @Julian ;I still think that makes a difference even when you start to know people from topics and reports on safaritalk ; you look like having the time of your life and with that kind of safari in my beloved Zambia  no wonder ! We should prepare ourselves in July to some crisp starts of the day then (what a fabulous blue sky in your pictures ) but after that extreme windy and cold spell in Busanga last September we will be ready! 

[Julian]

@BRACQUENE

Thanks. It is not usually cold there by mid to late July, and afterwards I discovered it was a very unusual large cold front which had spread up from the south and remained over Zambia for about two weeks. 

[Julian]

Back at the camp we met some new guests, a family of five who had just arrived from the Okavango Delta (Duba Plains). Michele had really enjoyed her walk as being on her first ever safari learning all about tracks, plants, etc was all completely new for her. We enjoyed a very pleasant and then strolled back to our room.

 

For the next couple of hours we observed an ever changing view of wildlife from our room and veranda, with many of the animals coming down into the channel to drink, and eat, while others remained grazing on the edge of the forest. This included elephants, buffalo, impala, waterbuck, and baboons, while birds included egrets, sacred ibis and open-billed storks.

 

[BRACQUENE]

@Julian

When they visited us in Brussels , I had seen our friend Judy’s photobook from Old Mondoro back in 2014. and was really impressed by the beauty of that camp and the Lower Zambezi ; your photos add to that impression and I suppose in real it is even better !

[Julian]

@BRACQUENE

Thanks again. The landscape is really beautiful and the only safari I have been on where I would say the landscape was equally as beautiful was the Okavango Delta in June 2009, when water levels were really high. ( thats another trip Report I hope to produce sometime!) 

[Julian]

This was definitely our best ever ‘room with a view’ and we had another couple of hours on the following afternoon where the wildlife turned up again. It was equally as interesting with some of the same elephants but also some different ones. (I am including the photos here and will then return to the previous afternoon).

 

 

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[Athene]

What a beautiful landscape in the Lower Zambezi @Julian, I very much like the 3d photo in post 133  - looks like a fairytale forest - the image of the trees reflected in the still water. Yes, you had a room with a view; I hope I will get a similar one next year at Old Mondoro.  All the elephant pictures in the lagoon in front of your room are beautiful.

[mopsy]

@Julian who needs to go on game drives when the sightings from your room are as stunning and plentiful as that!?

Fabulous images from around the park, it certainly looks like a wonderful place to visit.

[Kitsafari]

what a view! i want that room if ever I get to mondoro. LZ looks beautiful and so green.

 

[Towlersonsafari]

Your splendid  report brings back lovely  memories  of the landscape  and of sitting  and watching  the ellies and buffalo  in that channel  @Julian thank you

[Julian]

On 3/5/2020 at 10:30 PM, Athene said:

What a beautiful landscape in the Lower Zambezi @Julian, I very much like the 3d photo in post 133  - looks like a fairytale forest - the image of the trees reflected in the still water. Yes, you had a room with a view; I hope I will get a similar one next year at Old Mondoro.  All the elephant pictures in the lagoon in front of your room are beautiful.

@Athene

Thanks.
Regarding post 133,  no ‘3d’ photos, although I agree that some of them in post 133 do look like they are in 3d.

We had room no.4, just ask whoever you booked with to request that room now from the camp , then when you  go you should get it.

Good to hear you like the elephant photos in the channel. We could have watched them all day. Rather conveniently most of the wildlife only came to the water from around midday to 4..00pm.

 

[Julian]

On 3/6/2020 at 3:29 AM, mopsy said:

@Julian who needs to go on game drives when the sightings from your room are as stunning and plentiful as that!?

Fabulous images from around the park, it certainly looks like a wonderful place to visit.

@mopsy

Thanks for your comments.

Definitely a location and camp we would be very happy to return to.

 

 

[Julian]

17 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

what a view! i want that room if ever I get to mondoro. LZ looks beautiful and so green.

 

@Kitsafari

Thanks.

it certainly is a really beautiful NP - definitely worth making the effort to go there.
Room no.4 . 

 

[Julian]

13 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

Your splendid  report brings back lovely  memories  of the landscape  and of sitting  and watching  the ellies and buffalo  in that channel  @Julian thank you

@Towlersonsafari

Thanks.

You obviously also really liked it there.

 

 

[Athene]

Sorry, @Julian, it was a misspelling, I meant the third picture of post 133.

[Julian]

1 hour ago, Athene said:

Sorry, @Julian, it was a misspelling, I meant the third picture of post 133.

I realised after I posted my reply what you actually meant.