An altogether memorable trip to Kafue NP

[AfricIan]

23 minutes ago, BRACQUENE said:

Impressive  I think ( 43 out of a possible 55 !! almost a great distinction  )

 Impressive indeed @BRACQUENE, thats a great score

[BRACQUENE]

For the birders , Willem also kept record of  those we have definitely seen but of course some  are certainly missing and so the list is not exhaustive  :

 

Black-backed and Black-collared Barbet , Bateleur , Little and Swalow-tailed and White-fronted Bee-eater, Black-bellied Bustard , Lizard Buzzard, Arnot's and Sooty Chat , White-breasted and Reed Cormorant , Senegal Coucal , Grey-crowned and Wattled Crane , African Darter , Cape turtle and Emerald-spotted Wood and Namaqua Dove , Fork-tailled Drongo , African Fish and African Hawk and Ayres's Hawk and  Black-chested snake and Brown snake and Tawny Eagle ,  Verreaux's Eagle-Owl , Great white Egret, African finfoot , Coqui Francolin , Grey Go-away-bird , African Pygmy and Egyptian and Spur-winged Goose , Dark Chanting Goshawk , Common Greenshank , Helmeted Guineafowl , Southern Ground and African grey and Southern red-billed and Trumpeter Hornbill , Hammerkop, African Harrier-Hawk , Black Egret and Goliath and Green-backed and Grey and Purple Heron , African Sacred and Glossy and Hadeda Ibis , African Jacana , Dickinson's Kestrel , Brown-hooded and Giant and Half-collared and Malachite and Pied Kingfisher , Black-shouldered and Yellow-billed Kite , African Wattled and Blacksmith Lapwing , Rosy-throated Longclaw , Common Moorhen , Square-tailed Nightjar , African Openbill , Western Osprey , African barred Owlet , Red-billed and Yellow-billed Oxpecker , African Green Pigeon , Black-backed Puffback , Lilac-breasted and Racquet-tailed Roller , Wood Sandpiper , Magpie Shrike , Greater Painted Snipe , Southern Grey-headed sparrow , African Spoonbill , Red-necked and Swainson's Spurfowl , Meve's and Miombo Blue-eared Starling , Marabou and Saddle-billed and White and Yellow-billed Stork , Scarlet-chested Sunbird , Wire-tailed Swallow , Black-crowned Tchagra , Spotted and Water Thick-knee ( Dikkop) , Schalow's Turaco , Cape Turtle-Dove , Hooded and Lappet-faced and White -backed and White-headed Vulture .

 

[ForWildlife]

Fantastic! And great to see so many familiar faces. How's Freddy doing?

PS: Your brown snake eagle seems to be a yellow-billed kite.

@LarsS Were you in Luangwa at T&T, during a time there was a big shower with hail?

[BRACQUENE]

Well spotted ForWildlife , it is indeed a yellow-billed Kite , so my apologies but i remember  seeing  both that same day ! 

[LarsS]

1 hour ago, ForWildlife said:

@LarsS Were you in Luangwa at T&T, during a time there was a big shower with hail?

 

Yes, I was... But now I'm really curious, how do you know and did we meet somewhere?

[BRACQUENE]

 

A Sharpe's Grysbok around Musekese but the result could have been sharper 

 

At Musekese in the Garden of Eden , walking and on a boat safari with Phil  

 

 

  

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

We stayed only two nights at Lake Itezhi-Tezhi ; it took me a while to get the prononciation wright but now I manage : the dam , made entirely from rocks , was built  during four years and completed at the end of 1977 and helped to manage the flow of water to the Kafue Gorge hydro-electric station.

A complete new range of habitats was created ! The sunsets are magical as are the big herds of elephants and the birdlife is prolific but most memorable I think are the views of the lake itself which looks quite a lot like Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe where the dam on the Zambezi was build at the end of the 50ths

[BRACQUENE]

We then arrived in Nanzilha Plains Camp and we loved it : remote , away from the crowds and what an hospitality ; I spend hours looking at the water hole in front of the dining room but will of course remember Nanzilha for that cheetah in pursuit of his pray ,  catching it and dragging it into the bush ( lions were arround ! ).

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Glad to see Kafue is coming along.  I recognize those towel eles, the beehive, perhaps the same roots and maybe even the leaping puku.

 

43/55 is impressive and some of the "missing" 12 are probably almost never seen.  I will produce a Kafue giraffe sighting for you in my report--eventually.  No hyenas or wild dogs for me either.

 

A  great list and in alphabetic order, no less.

 

Love the hazy atmosphere at Lake Itezhi-Tezhi  and what an exciting way to view the cheetah.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Atravelynn

[BRACQUENE]

@Atravelynn

 

Great comments , thank you !

For those who want to visit  Kafue NP  ,  I honestly think that  ideally ( depending of course on time and the money you can spend ) and to get most out of your  safari  a "Trans Kafue Safari" is a must which to save money can be done by car transfer like we did  and only one 90 minutes flight at the beginning from Lusaka or at the end from Busanga : I always prefer to do a park in depth for 10 to 12 nights ( we did that in Zambia with South Luangwa and Tanzania with Ruaha ) than to visit several in the same lapse of time 

People always want to see as much as possible and if it is their first and labut at the end might be frustrated 

 

[BRACQUENE]

Sorry for the last sentence ! People always want to see as much as possible which is logical if it is their first and last safari but might be frustrated at the end with the result 

[LarsS]

2 hours ago, BRACQUENE said:

I honestly think that  ideally ( depending of course on time and the money you can spend ) and to get most out of your  safari  a "Trans Kafue Safari" is a must

I agree! The park is so diverse, staying in 1 or 2 places only gives you a glimpse of what Kafue is about. A beautiful glimpse ofcourse. Thought it was really interesting to see your pics of areas like itezhitezhi. Again different compared to the places I've been.

[LarsS]

7 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

I will produce a Kafue giraffe sighting for you in my report--eventually.

A giraffe sighting in Kafue? I thought there were no giraffes there and no signs of giraffes ever lived there either... I'm curious now!

[LarsS]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:16 PM, LarsS said:

 

Yes, I was... But now I'm really curious, how do you know and did we meet somewhere?

 

@ForWildlife I'm still wondering, who are you and how do you know I was there at the time? Your nickname and profile on ST isn't helping me, so I'm really curious  

[BRACQUENE]

@LarsS @Atravelynn

 

I quote what I said before when talking abour my sightings of larger mammals   " take into account  there are no Giraffe , Rhino and Tsessebe in Kafue ! For giraffe as far as the records go they were never present but of course "never say never " ; I remember that John Coppinger manager from Remote African Safaris  and who is operating Mwaleshi and Takwela in North Luangwa , only had one report of a giraffe over there and it was probably lost ! 

 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

@Caracal @Towlersonsafari @LarsS 

 

Most people who do the Trans Kafue Safari , go to the idyllic KaingU Safari Lodge , for the setting and the riversafaris but I am still very happy to have been to the Lake Itezhi-Tezhi even if it was only for two nights which was a bit short : the light was incredible as was the scenery and did I tell you we were surrounded by elephants for half an hour in our tent on the last day before the staff from Konkamoya came to look for us !

[wilddog]

How lovely to see Itezi Itezi again. I had a week there some years ago and loved it.  Sadly I have never made it to Nanzhila Plains but I know other ST members have. Enjoying your report. Thanks

[BRACQUENE]

@wilddog

 

Glad you liked it : as I said before the road to the Lake from Musekese is very long and mostly in a terrible state but once arriving at the "Italian safari" lodge Konkamoya you rapidly forget it ; as for the remote Nanzilha .... what an experience !

[ForWildlife]

4 hours ago, LarsS said:

 

@ForWildlife I'm still wondering, who are you and how do you know I was there at the time? Your nickname and profile on ST isn't helping me, so I'm really curious  

 

I thought I answered. I was at T&T having drinks and dinner with some friends, I recognized the language (as a fellow Dutch) and when I saw your avatar and photos here I realized I did see you at T&T.

[ForWildlife]

4 hours ago, LarsS said:

A giraffe sighting in Kafue? I thought there were no giraffes there and no signs of giraffes ever lived there either... I'm curious now!

I think I've heard of one unconfirmed sighting in Kafue long ago, and one sighting north of Kafue (which might have escaped from a game farm).

I'm curious too!

[LarsS]

2 hours ago, ForWildlife said:

 

I thought I answered. I was at T&T having drinks and dinner with some friends, I recognized the language (as a fellow Dutch) and when I saw your avatar and photos here I realized I did see you at T&T.

Ah, thanks, I remember your group. You're working in S. Luangwa or were you travelling as well? What a coincidence to meet here again.

[Atravelynn]

On 11/27/2019 at 4:40 AM, LarsS said:

A giraffe sighting in Kafue? I thought there were no giraffes there and no signs of giraffes ever lived there either... I'm curious now!

Let's call it a "Giraffe."

[BRACQUENE]

@Atravelynn

 

To continue on the Giraffe subject , I remember having fabulous close views of the Thornicroft Giraffes on foot around  Chicoko Tree Camp in South Luangwa sometimes bending to drink in the Luangwa River but  a bit further south at Crocodile Camp we didn't see any ; the most magical sightings however we had on the late afternoon drives in Ruaha NP close to Kichaka Expeditions ( You can see some photos I took on my trip report from that safari in 2017 ).

[BRACQUENE]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_WVMlpGkPByuC_WmFiYUKZmi1GZhb4Ot/view

 

New Musekese explained by Phil Jeffery one early morning close to camp !

 

 

[ForWildlife]

On 11/27/2019 at 5:42 PM, LarsS said:

Ah, thanks, I remember your group. You're working in S. Luangwa or were you travelling as well? What a coincidence to meet here again.

 I used to work in SL, but now I was just travelling there.