Each evening this week, the storm clouds build, the humidity rockets.....and then it all comes to nothing. Although I must admit that I was quite glad of the false start today as I was caught out in it with nothing to protect me and all [...]
The view from the bridge makes it clear that hippos are one species that are not in short supply in the Luangwa. These huge lawnmowers will soon enjoy the spoils of fresh grass when the rains finally come.
The rains are coming! We had about 2cms last night (not all that much considering it rained all night!) but it's a promise that more is on the way. Rains are a double-edged sword for photographers...the dramatic skies, leaden clouds and lightning strikes are great, [...]
Further north of here, there is a pride of lion which have featured in more documentaries than almost any others. Hardly suprisingly, someone named them the Hollywoods. So, what better to name the new coalition of 3 brothers who are at the top of the [...]
Oxpeckers never get that much attention, but they are fascinating to watch. I spent a couple of hours on the river bank recently, watching them interact with their host hippos and with each other. They move from host to host, cleaning the exposed skin and [...]
The valley's lagoons are all dry, the seasonal sand rivers stopped carrying water long ago, and the Luangwa's huge hippo population has all taken up residence in the shallow trickle of the main river. It's hot, there's not a lot of space and disagreements between [...]
Yesterday, I went again to watch the hippos in the river. I reached the bottom of the steps into the hide, and heard a deep throaty hissing sound coming from my right. I've heard that sound before, and it's not something you want to hear [...]
Sitting in a vehicle overlooking the river as the sun goes down is a truly Africa experience. Especially when a small family of elephants comes to complete the scene.
Today, I spent a few hours watching hippos from a hide on the river bank. While the hippos were wallowing, and not doing all that much, I focussed on the White-fronted bee-eaters who were nesting in the river bank. They were flying regular sorties out [...]
As I drove out of camp yesterday, I caught sight of the very distinctive tear-drop breast plumage of a juvenile African Goshawk in a thick bush at the side of the road. It was behaving strangely by remaining in the bush even when I was [...]
