This was the second back-to-back Two Valleys photo safari that I had led in September 2026. The first had been very productive and I wondered what tone the second would take. In theory, I had up-to-date knowledge of the landscape, the wildlife and the rhythms of the bush but, equally, the fortunes of safari can turn on a dime, so I knew not to place much emphasis on the previous 10 days.

I started this trip at Lion Camp with a group of 4 solo travellers. John & David had joined my trips in the past, but Tim (David’s brother in law) and Paul were new to me. It was a lively and enjoyable group with lots of good chat to carry us through the mealtimes and keep the periods of waiting in the bush (and there were many) lighthearted. David, who had spent hours with me waiting for events to unfold in the past, commented that we spent time under the premise of “well-informed patience”….we couldn’t be sure what would happen, but with years of experience, I could assess quite well what could happen and then decide if the opportunity was worth investing the them.

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Image from a photo safari in Africa with Edward Selfe

Lion Camp, South Luangwa

Lion Camp was buzzing with game as usual, and especially at this time of year. Straight out of camp on the first afternoon, I drove into a lagoon to watch a buffalo wallowing in the mud and found 2 lionesses observing him carefully, deciding whether to approach! Buffalo are dangerous prey and lions have to consider carefully the costs and benefits of taking one on. The rest of the pride appeared later in the afternoon, and the buffalo appeared unconcerned so they pride left him alone.

From there, the sightings continued with incredible regularity; we saw elephants all the time, every day; we saw 4 different leopards, including one with a long-lasting carcass; 3 different prides of lions; a giraffe at sunrise; young male lions hunting in the middle of the day on an unusual overcast morning; tens-of-thousands of red-billed quelea in a huge cloud; a newborn Puku; lions feeding on a hippo; and beautiful sunrises and sunsets every day.

The team at Lion Camp made us so welcome and took care of my early departures and unpredictable return times — they are a great outfit and I look forward to returning again and again over the coming years.

Anabezi Camp, Lower Zambezi

We completed the trip with 4 nights in the Lower Zambezi at the beautiful Anabezi Camp. Once again, our arrival in the park brought wide-eyed excitement at the scenery, the abundance of elephants and the richness of the habitat. We were fortunate that much of the good luck I had enjoyed on the previous trip (just 10 days before) continued right through this tour of the park. We spent time with the small lion cubs — though noted their increase in size over the intervening period — searched for leopards along the waterways, lined up beautiful images of elephants in the forest and took a boat safari to look for elephants in the right spot for sunset images.

It’s hard to choose a top-moment, but I think the elephant bull who mud-bathed for 20 minutes and then gave us the best backlit dust-bath was probably the highlight. A lot of things have to come together to create a situation like that including a low angle, strong but low backlight and a clean surroundings…just perfect. We also tried to create silhouettes along the ridge line, but there weren’t many subjects on the days we tried, and the elephants appeared to stay in the woodland until later in the evenings.

There is beauty everywhere you look in the Lower Zambezi — the challenge is not finding it, but deciding where to allocate time with so many opportunities to enjoy. The best ones require careful positioning and the correct camera settings. See below for a selection of the best moments from the trip.

This concluded my double-header of Two Valleys safaris, with a total of 18 nights spent in the bush in September, the best month for safaris in Zambia. I am grateful to my guests for allowing me to take care of their precious time and show them these wonderful areas. Thank you for reading to the end!

If you would like to book on a similar tour with me, please do get in touch — I am booking 2029 Safaris now as 2027 is full and 2028 has only 4 spaces left on all my tours.