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africawild

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks for the report, Paco. Lovely images - love that Elephant feeding image, amongst several others (leopard etc etc.,)

 

Hari

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Great pics, Paco! The elephant is sooo reminding of my best photo of an ele i Mana Pools.

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Thank you everyone for the comments , i will go ahead with the report .

 

 

Well , what can i say about South Luangwa , i don´t have enough nice words to describe what i felt while i visited the place .

I have to admitt i was not expecting such a unique experience and now i would like to go back there as much as to any other of my favourite locations in Africa .

 

 

 

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I think i was right when i choose Kaingo as the base camp to spend our 6 days in the park . I don´t think the experience would have been be the same in the much busier Mfuwe area :

 

From our experience the location is one of the best things of the camp .

Deep inside the national park , away from crowds but in the middle of the action .

During our six day stay we had the opportunity to see several members of the 2 lion prides that frecuent the área , 26 different individuals in various sights , 4 different leopards , hundreds of elephants and of course much more , many times just by ourselves , like our last morning with 10 lions of the Mwamba pride following a herd of around 300 buffalos and we following both .

 

 

 

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At the same time located right in the banks of the Luangwa River that works as a magnet to all the wildlife in the área , apart from been always full with hippos , crocs and amazing birdlife.

 

 

 

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The landscapes in this area are varied . Appart from the Luangwa River and river banks wich is beautiful , we saw plenty of small lagoons packed with baboons , birds and antelopes , some very big open plains , several streams and ravines and off course the magnific forest like the mopane groves or the amazing ebony grove , something unique for this area .

 

 

 

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The camp also has a variety in the activities you can choose . Walking safaris , game drives and gameviewing from hides , specially the hippo hide , an amazing place where you are at eye level and very close to the hippo group while you see and listen how they normally and naturally interact , an experience not to be missed , or the elephant hide where you have the chance to see how groups of elephants cross the Luangwa river.

We took a game walk one morning and got to see elephants , buffalo , giraffes , hippos , baboons , impala , puku and lots of birds .

 

We visited the hippo hide 3 times and had great times there . The elephant hide is a place you visit normally when the people in camp sees the elephants crossing the river .

 

A few pictures taken at both the hippo and the elephant hide.

 

 

 

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Sorry i put so many pictures and not that much words , it is easier for me , but ...questions are welcome if you wish .

 

 

To be continue.....

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Wonderful photographs Paco, I especially like the last hippo shot with the water spray from the rhs hippo and the eye from the lhs hippo.

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Pictures instead of words are fine from you.

 

Is the first shot from the camp?

 

If you go to the hides, do they drop you off and come and pick you up later, or does your guide stay with you?

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If you go to the hides, do they drop you off and come and pick you up later, or does your guide stay with you?

At Kaingo the guide stays in the blind with you the whole time. The blinds/hides are all at locations quite far from camp so it would not be safe to leave someone there without both guide and vehicle or at least an armed game scout. Whenever I have been to their hippo hide(some years ago now) the guide would always go in first to check that no lions were already in it enjoying shade from the mid-day sun.

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Paco

Beautiful photos as usual! I love the detail in the Saddlebilled stork photo... your lens is obviously more expensive than mine... or (more likely) you are just a far better photographer! :)

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Beautiful photos Paco! Where did you see the male lion? Closer to Lion Camp?

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Thanks .

 

Twaffle , taking reasonable hippo pictures from the hippo hide has not big merit , you get to see so much action and so close that is difficult to miss .

 

 

Pault , the first picture was taken at the amazing Ebony Groove , 2 minutes walk from camp.

 

ZamindOz is right , every time we visited a hide we were with our guide all the time and before we enter the hides an armed ranger went to check nobody was there . We visited the hippo hide 3 times and we where the only ones there , but is very big and could hold many more people .For our last visit to the hippo hide we took our coffe and tea and spent more than one hour there . The best light for photography is from 4 to 5 p.m. , after that the shade start to reach the hippos.

At the elephant hide ( is a high platform beside the river ) we were taken in 2 vehicles with other guest in camp .Some of the camp staff , 2 guides and Dereck himself came along . There were 2 small elephant families about to cross and after a short wait they stated to do it from the other side of the river towards the hide . the moment was magical . At what point when they were close and we could listen the water splash the sound of my camera firing really started to bother so i stop firing .

 

ZamindOz , i have to admit the lens of my camera IS VERY VERY expensive !! ;)

 

Egilio . We saw this lion every day we were at Kaingo. He is call Metro and is the dominant male of the Holliwood pride . the first day we found him with Mayer , another male of the coalition of 3 , and six females and cubs of the pride right in front of Lion Camp . Then Metro and one of the females that were mating started to move south and they spent the next 4 days near the hippo hide , close north of Kaingo.

 

 

Paco

Edited by africawild
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Kaingo , the camp . I have to say i am a fan of canvas but i really liked the chalets , very well located in the river banks , with good privacy . Unpretentious but spacious and confortable with a very good shower and excellent bed , just what i like to have after a hard day of gameviewing.

 

 

The best part of accomodation for me are the fantastic viewing decks in front of every chalet . It is an amazing place to relax in the mid day hours but if you are crazy about wildlife viewing you can still relax while you see elephants crossing the river , hippos fighting , crocs swiming , amazing birdlife and even leopard !!!

We were having lunch at our viewing deck one day ( they serve a private light lunch in the deck ) and the troop of baboons at the other river bank started to bark like crazy . I knew that was the area of a big male leopard so i started to scan in detail the opposite bank and 5 minutes later a beautiful big male leopard emerged from the bush in front of us and walked some 100 meters the opposite bank of the river before he disappear again . It took me 4 safaris to Africa to see my first leopard and there we were , having lunch in our room while admiring this majestic animal in front of our eyes !!!

 

 

 

 

The light was very harsh and he was not too close so pictures don´t make justice to the awesome experience .

 

Here is a set of photos taken from our private deck in the middle hours , usually between noon and 3 p.m. so the light is far from good but our moments there will never be forgotten

 

 

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As you can see no time for siesta .... well if you want you could take it but , with this kind of wildlife viewing in front , siesta was a no-no for me.

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Beautiful photos! Your words and descriptions are great as well. I love reading and viewing them over and over again. Thank you for posting.

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I thought it was him! A lucky lion he is, we removed a snare from him back in 2009!

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I can only say Oh! You photography is mind blowing, If only I had my time over again, would learn about photography and buy a very expensive camera. Paco these pictures are out of this world. Gracias

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The leopard sighting is very special... who cares about the photo for that kind of thing! You are making me (and I am sure others) very interested in this camp.

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Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.

 

You have a great eye for birds with 'kills', and I particularly liked the baboons in the golden light.

 

 

Regards,

 

 

Pol

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The hides sound really intriguing. Fantastic pictures, and totally agree with you, siestas are completely redundant when the views from your deck are like that!

Thanks for coming back to this and completing the report. Zambia has acquired many new followers now.

Sangeeta

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Here is a set of photos taken from our private deck in the middle hours , usually between noon and 3 p.m. so the light is far from good but our moments there will never be forgotten

 

 

Leopard served at your own private deck....that's one heck of a sighting!!!!

Thanks for sharing all this, Paco.

@Kaingo, it's just a matter of time now until I get there ;)

 

Shreyas

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My goodness, I agree, your images of birds with their prey are mindblowing, as are the rest, and what sightings from your accommodation itself!!!

 

Superb, really enjoyed!

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