Chapter 6: Stunning South Luangwa

[John M.]

  My final chapter. Our last African safari:  Shenton Safaris’ Mwamba and Kaingo camps in South Luangwa NP, 2008.

  Six of us had the delightful, small Mwamba bush camp to ourselves for five days, then finished with two more days at its big brother Kaingo camp overlooking the Luangwa River. 

  I’ve lusted over just about every landscape I’ve seen in Africa. South Luangwa was no exception. The next few examples are led by what I think was Yvonne’s favourite image from that trip, because of the late afternoon ‘sunbeam’ on the one member of the small group of elephants seen near Mwamba camp.

 

  I like closeups as much as anybody, but images I call “wildlife landscapes” are a special attraction. By coincidence, the day I processed the next photograph, I received the latest edition of a wildlife magazine in which a photographer expressed a sentiment, which I share, in these words: “let the vibrance of (the wildlife) do the work for you and show the environment they live in for all to see”.

  Oxbow lagoon off the Luangwa River

 

 

 

 

  You can’t ignore the hippos on the Luangwa River.

 

 

  We wondered what the fish eagle was contemplating.

 

  Of course, we wanted to see the local big cats.

 

We saw Mwamba lionesses stalking a buffalo herd which was barely visible in thick bush. Maybe the dense vegetation caused them to abandon the hunt.

 

 

 

  At other times, much more visible buffalo.

 

  A difficult sighting, a leopard with a hidden kill at night.

 

  Then, an obliging leopard, roaming along the track.

 

  An animal unique to the Luangwa, Thornicroft’s giraffe: two males contesting mating rights.

 

 

 

 

  I don’t remember which was the victor.  Then, an unusual sighting: a big croc out of the water, moving one night across the track near Mwamba camp.

 

  Finishing on a high note: 

 

                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul B]

Mwamba is my favorite camp of all time. Simple bush camp, only 3 reed chalets, excellent food and hosting, great hide and animals in camp at all times. Sublime. I hate the trend of over the top luxury, camps like Mwamba are rare.

[John M.]

5 hours ago, Paul B said:

Mwamba is my favorite camp of all time. Simple bush camp, only 3 reed chalets, excellent food and hosting, great hide and animals in camp at all times. Sublime. I hate the trend of over the top luxury, camps like Mwamba are rare.

Couldn't agree more. The old Zibalianja in Selinda reserve, Botswana, was another. And I liked the small mobile camps I had in Kenya with Cheli & Peacock.

 

[John M.]

   A few more of Yvonne's photographs at South Luangwa.  Firstly, I found the winner of the giraffe fight 

 

 

Chacma baboon and young

 

Puku suckling

 

Burchell's zebra

 

Tse tse lagoon

 

 

[ElenaH]

@John M., are those pictures scanned? I wander how they are actually good! Deep saturation and contrast. Good composition. You wer/are really a very good experienced passionate photographers with a practice! 

[John M.]

@ElenaHThank you. The originals are RAW files because Yvonne used digital cameras on our later safaris. I  processed them in Photoshop for ST. 

   I didn't use digital cameras until after Africa. We both photographed in RAW.

[John M.]

   The ears have it! 

 

 

 

   I was going to use only Yvonne's photos for this chapter, but decided a few of my slide scans might be of interest. 

   Back in camp. I often opted out of the post-lunch siesta. Instead, I settled down with my camera on the bank of the Mwamba River, which was nearly dried out, to observe the wildlife that came to camp. 

 

 

 

   On one occasion, a Bushbuck family and a Chacma baboon family were both foraging, and there was amusing interaction between the youngsters. I don't think the young baboon was too keen. Both these images needed a bit of work, including considerable cropping, as the photos were taken at some distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John M.]

   Kaingo camp affords a wonderful view of the Luangwa River.  This is how it looked for us. A deck jutting out from the bank was a great spot to relax with a drink (and a camera).

 

   And we loved the lagoons away from the main watercourse.  This was before the real heat and "dry" set in. 

 

   A "nightscape", decorated by a lioness. Shortly after this, she chased a hyena into the bushes.

[John M.]

   Birds too, of course, but I haven't found many that please me in my library of film scans. Here are a few.

   

   Scops owl

 

   White-fronted bee-eaters

 

   Grey heron

 

 

 

 

  

[John M.]

   Impala in a sunbeam.

 

[John M.]

  From the depths of my files, a few closeups, some of which might have been difficult or impossible to capture if we'd had to share sightings. In our week at Mwamba and Kaingo, we encountered other vehicles only 2 or 3 times, and never at a sighting. We passed one going in the opposite direction one day, and on our last evening we shared sundowners put on by Kaingo management at a lagoon. 

   

   Buffalo hunter

 

   Hollywood lioness

 

   Hollywood youngster

 

   Young male

 

   Leopard

 

 

   Spotted hyena

 

   Vervet monkey

 

Edited August 11 by John M.

[John M.]

   And some more landscapes showing the interesting variety. Firstly, Ebony grove... though this pic is missing the magic light that @ricmilescaptured in another part of the forest. 

 

   Lion plain. Spot what appears to be a Tawny eagle?

 

   Bend of the river

 

[ricmiles]

Hi @John M., at what time of the year was this?

[John M.]

Hi @ricmilessecond half of July, which I think is about the same time as your trip.

[John M.]

@ricmilesIt was actually mid-July. I've just discovered my trip report, which I started writing as soon as we got home. It's fairly detailed, but there are no photos as I had them removed when I "retired" from ST. The report is on the last page of the Zambia section.

[ricmiles]

@John M.It's interesting because from some locations it looks like the vegetation is more lush and green and from others it looks like the opposite. 

[John M.]

@ricmilesThat was unremarkable. The further we got from the river and its lagoons, and the higher the ground, it was drier. We drove a fair way north to a baobab area, and it was real dry there.  I'm told too that late in the season, the riverine climate at Kaingo is noticeably cooler than Mwamba.

[John M.]

   Thanks to all including @michael-ibk

@Bush dog

@Athene

@Treepol

@offshorebirder

@Pennyanne

@madaboutcheetah

@ElenaH

@Alex The Lion

@Atravelynn

@Caracal

for checking out my posts. My historical reports are rather random, usually the result of disorganised memory jolts 🙂. For personal reasons I've had more time on my hands lately to dig into old files, especially the newer Zambia ones.

Edited August 11 by John M.

[John M.]

   Puku still life 

 

   Wondering if the coast is clear to come into camp.

 

 

   One of the baobab forest, a fair drive from Mwamba.

[John M.]

   Mwamba lioness passing nearly within touching distance of our vehicle, but her attention was on buffalo.

 

 

   She was one of the lionesses shown on an aborted hunt earlier in this chapter.  The image is not cropped. The next one, of a giraffe which blocked our way between Kaingo and the elephant hide, is cropped to get a closeup of the symbiotic relationship between a juvenile oxpecker and the giraffe.