Safari in South Luangwa National Park and the getting there

The highlight of many a trip to Africa must surely be the Safari. It’s the stuff of legends, seeing huge cats roam grassy savannahs chasing beautiful and skittish prey and was one of the main reasons for me coming back to Africa for the first time since my two Kenya trips as a boy. But, positioned in the far South of Zambia and being encouraged that some of Southern Africa’s ideal game was situated in the famous South Luangwa National Park in the far East of the country, we realised it was not going to be a lot of fun to get there!

Our journey back up to Lusaka and then across to Chipata was the stuff of nightmares. To start with we were told that the bus from Johannesburg to Lilongwe (in Malawi… can you imagine?) had broken down and therefore we were going to be taking the passengers from that bus onto our own. This seemed like a bad idea but the sheer magnitude of its stupidity only became clear when a semi-brawl for seats unfolded and Nathan was left sitting on the gearbox sandwiched between about 5 rather stinky chaps who had most likely been on the

bus for 1000 miles without any hope of a wash! I got lucky and had a seat but just to make sure I could not enjoy this night journey the driver blasted rather terrible music at levels that would make a slipknot gig sound like a Quaker ceremony. A few hours later Nathan, I and another Mazungu (white person) were moved to a row which granted for ear plug assisted napping and we eventually made it to Lusaka in around 7 hours where we transferred to another bus for the rather longer journey across country to Chipata. Although this was slightly less chaotic (there were only around 10 people standing at any one time and none of them were us) the sheer length of this journey (and the 3 hour wait for it to begin) made me want to drill a 9 inch screw through my temples and, when, after 18 hours of travel we arrived in Chipata I was just about ready to collapse.

We found a taxi to take us up to the pleasant “Dean’s Hill Lodge” which is situated just too far from the town to make self-catering or exploring an option and so we resigned ourself

to an over-priced (though pretty good) beef pie and went to bed. This was not before noticing the glorious spectacle of Dean’s Horse which simply struts around the place unhindered by fences or chains with an arrogant swagger as if it’s constantly saying, “yes, I’m a horse, and I’ll walk where I like thank you very much”. Whether it was the delirium from the journey or not, Nathan and I found this creature one of the funniest things ever.

The next day we were picked up for our Safari and driven the 5 hour journey up to South Luangwa. It’s utterly ludicrous that the country’s finest game area is connected with such a ridiculously bad road and this was one of the worst journeys we had taken anywhere on our travels. It’d probably be an hour and a half’s hop on a paved road and would make the park so much more accessible for those of us who cannot afford the painfully overpriced flights that go up there. However, as will become clear, there is an argument for the road making Luangwa what it is… a true wilderness unhindered by mass tourism. When we eventually made it we were

covered in Orange dust, exhausted and just about ready for bed but we were fed and then whisked off for our first afternoon/evening drive.

To break down our safari into the minute details of each drive would be rather laborious and not desperately interesting so I’ll just summarise. We did 4 game drives, 2 in the evening which included a sundowner and a night drive – something that is rather rare in Africa – and 2 in the mornings. The morning drives were great for viewing birds of which South Luangwa is exceptionally well stocked. If you can imagine a bird, it was probably there, from darting, sparrow sized, electric blue curiosities to the mighty African fish eagle which quickly became my favourite. As you can see on the video (it’s the huge eagle in the tree) it stands proud and arrogant until it decides, in it’s own time, that it wants to destroy something. Then it’ll jump, soar and drive before plucking some unsuspecting creature from the floor or out of the sky in a devastating show of skill, strength and prowess. I’m glad I’m deemed a tiny massive for it’s appetite! We also saw everything worth eating

during our day drives and lots of crocs, hippos and elephants but no huge cats… They were off resting in preparation for their emergence as the sun set.

During the space of a couple of hours on our second night drive we were treated to a spectacular show from the cats and dogs – Lions, Leopards and Hyenas! We saw a pregnant leopard stalk some impala, gradually creeping closer to them before, frankly, I think we blew it’s game as they were spooked and dashed off. We followed the disgruntled leopard for a good time as it sulked off into the darkness. Almost immediately after this we caught a glimpse of a set of eyes in the distance that did not look like impala… sure enough, it was a pride of 4 lions making their way into the open where a herd of impala stood, nervously, hoping for the sun to rise. In a wonderfully choreographed attack, two of the lions flanked the impala and pushed them into the path of the other two waiting just 5 meters from our truck. As it is bad practice to interrupt a hunt we had to switch off our searchlight for a period

but as the chase began we switched the light back on and caught an impala jumping just a few feet in front of the vehical being pursued by an angry lioness. This was a quite magical moment.

Although that impala appeared to get away, the lions must have eventually caught something because as we headed back to camp we saw three Hyena running towards where we had come from, obviously keen to get a bit of whatever had died! In stark contrast to the lions and leopards which are beautiful predators, the hyena are about the ugliest beasts I have ever seen… there is something about the way their front legs are taller than their back legs to display their ghastly faces that just make them look disgusting. But it was, none the less, great to see them! We really were spoilt to see so many creatures, particularly by night, but it was more than just the game spotting that made our Safari in Luangwa so special. Although the Disneyland character of the Masai Mara game reserve that I had visited 13 years ago granted me to see new creatures at every turn and probably more game in total

than we saw at Luangwa, the fact that when we watched the lions and the second leopard we were the only automobile within miles of it made it all the more special. It is still a wilderness and a beautiful one at that. The rivers and lush green forests sit beneath expansive skies with some of the most dramatic clouds I have ever seen. Infact, during the duration of our stay in the park there was a storm somewhere in view. It was incredible to be sitting under beating sunshine whilst watching a violent storm a few dozen miles in the distance and when it reached us we were safely covered in our tent and able to appreciate it’s full power whilst keeping dry!

I will certainly never forget my time in South Luangwa and have our guide IB and safari operator Gavin from Jackalberry safaris to thank for that. Although we purchased the cheapest three day safari on offer, we were never granted to feel as though it was a “budget” safari. The tents were great (solid structures with beds and a wardrobe), the food was splendid and the guiding and company in the evenings as we traded

stories of our adventures were fantastic. I’d love to return in the very near future!

After the joys of the safari we had to return to the harsh realities of African travel and get across to Malawi the following day. But that is for the next blog.

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Submited at Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 5:00 pm on Africa by samantha
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