We had been planning this trip for over a year by the time Denise, Gerrie, Cathy and Austen arrived in Mfuwe ready to start 10 days on my Exclusive Luangwa Tour. “Exclusive” is perhaps an overused word in the safari world; I keep it to mean a safari that is private in experience and allows us the very best safari time. Our plans can be entirely our own and we rarely, if ever, have to accommodate other guests/vehicles into our considerations. This is increasingly the measure of luxury in a safari world which is expanding fast and delivering safaris to an ever-increasing number of visitors.
Coming from South Africa, my 4 guests knew about safari! But they had also travelled widely for work and for leisure so I knew that Zambia would have to acquit itself well to claim a spot in their safari hall of fame. As always with South Luangwa, I needn’t have worried!
We arrived into Nsefu Camp, settled in and had lunch. The camp is perched in a superb spot along the top of the bank, looking along a river bend in both directions. We boarded the vehicle for the first afternoon’s activity, and quickly disembarked again as this hippo battle was taking place directly in front of the camp!
The Milyoti wild dog pack had been denning in the Nsefu Camp area since July. I headed towards that area on the first afternoon, and found that they were nowhere to be seen… Could this be the day that they had left the den?! Only these impalas would know the story and they weren’t telling…
We found the pack nearby about 30 minutes later. The puppies were playing and the adults were scouting for prey nearby.
The dogs set off hunting at last light — as they often do — and it was hard to follow. We eventually located them because there was a scuffle and some nearby lions piled in and stole their kill!
Being seasoned safari-goers this group was very interested in learning more about their cameras and how to play with light. We spent a good hour in the ebony grove near Nsefu Camp, watching the baboons descend from their roosts and socialise on the fallen trees.
Images such as this, while not containing one of safari’s wildlife icons, are in many ways more pleasing and technically interesting than many photos that are taken in the bush.
We couldn’t have asked for better behaviour and arrangements!
We continued north and returned to the area where the dogs had been seen. We were met with a bizarre scene…. 5 lionesses were lying in the grassland near the den! We knew that the dogs had moved on the day before so I wasn’t too concerned. As I was working out the situation, an imapala started to walk directly towards the lions….!
The impala passed successfully, and then I spotted 3 dogs running across the far side of the plain…the lions were watching them, but not reacting. It was only then that my eye caught sight of a small movement in the grass. Lifting my binoculars I could see one of the pack’s puppies rolling the grass, clearly mortally injured….
About 20 minutes before we arrived, there was a scuffle between the lions and the wild dog pack. Most of the puppies had run into the old den site, but 1 had followed an adult dog towards the lions. It had been quickly captured by the lions and bitten across its back. It was truly terrible to watch the poor pup rolling around on the ground, probably with a broken back but still alive. We later discovered, when we caught up with the pack, that an adult dog had also been badly injured in the fray and he later died as well.
However, the dogs were formidable and emerged from the thickets and moved the lions on. See the video below. That only left the dogs on the plain and, apart from one or two snifs, there was little interaction with the dying puppy. This was a tough morning.
We explored elsewhere in the afternoon coming across a large number of hyaenas surrounding a large thicket. Inside were two lionesses who were feeding on a hippo carcass. One of the hyaenas decided to cool down by slumping into a muddy channel…
…and the lionesses soon abandoned the very decomposed carcass and came to drink in the same channel.
By staying on the opposite side of the channel, we were able to shoot across, enjoying the reflections.
Heading back to camp that night, we spotted a bronze-winged courser on the road. We kept the light on it and got out of the vehicle, giving us this very special low angle.
Haivng seen so much already, we headed to the inland salt pans the following morning, hoping to see some zebra and possibly catch up with the rest of the Nsefu Pride. Zebras were in good numbers…
….and we found one of the two Nsefu males mating with a female along the main track that runs through the sector.
Back to chasing good light in the afternoon, we moved slowly along the river and looked for opportunities; these hippos rushing into the water added interest to an otherwise dull situation.
And we hoped that special light would combine withe subjects in the ebony grove along the river in the evening.
The following morning, it was back to searching for leopards. With a bit of tracking, and the help of some baboons, I located a leopard who had just killed a puku moments before. See the video below for the drama and then the arrival of some elephants to add to it all!
Our time in the Nsefu Sector came to an end with an evening of hippos at Lunga lagoon….
..and some fun with a very compliant giraffe!
We crossed the Luangwa for the second half of our trip at Lion Camp. This is the camp where I have spent most of my time in the last 5 years, and I know that it will very rarely disappoint!
It has been many years in the waiting, but the chance to see giraffes in the ebony grove has always been on my list! These 3 passed through quickly, and not quite facing in the direction that I would have liked, but I am thrilled that we were there when it happened!
One of the MK males — the one with the richer, thicker mane! — was positioned in a beautiful spot on the rim of the Kamima stream in the ebony grove late that evening.
The following morning was a quiet one….and when that happens, we turn to whatever the bush gives us. In this case, a family of wire-tailed swallows were resting on the bird bean plants near camp. It took us a while to get close, but they settled and allowed us to get shots that filled the frame!
Of course, the afternoon was different and we foudn first Chiphadzuwa…..
….hunting in her favourite gully….and then her daughter emerged and called to try to reconnect with her mother…. A wonderful evening.
The following morning, the light was superb. We rounded a corner to see this scene in front of us….!
Hidden between the legs was this very small addition to the herd…perhaps 2 months old!
We spent some time at Fish Eagle lagoon, watching the waterbirds and waiting for animals to come and drink. The fish eagles were terrorising the storks, dive-bombing them whenever they caught a fish in the hope of stealing it.
The giraffe population around Lion Camp is always evident and appears to be growing with sightings of new calves all the time. In this case, we were fortunate to arrive when a large bull was rejoining the group….
…so we were able to position ourselves and wait for him to greet the youngest member of the herd, a small calf of perhaps 3 months.
Our last day was a festival of wild dogs. We found them in the morning and they appeared to be on the hunt. But they picked up the scent of another pack which had been in the area earlier in the season and all the intensity of their hunt was dropped.
They settled, and were once chased by an elephant, see my instagram story for the amazing videos, and then they didn’t move until the evening when they socialised and started to hunt.
As always, Luangwa had more to give; we followed the pack as they started to hunt. They chased a puku which jumped into a lagoon to escape the dogs and was dragged under by a crocodile! They then chased the same puku’s mother which swam the water and escaped. A third puku was chased and it simply lay down….and the dogs inexplicably moved on….and then they settled for a bit. The next target was a warthog which was surrounded but by spinning on the spot, it kept the dogs at bay and they moved on. The dogs settled again, this time on the road, until one was alerted by a sound in some grass nearby…this turned out to be a leopard….which the dogs chased up a tree….twice! Finally the leopard escaped and the dogs settled in the open for the night as it was completely dark by this point. Any photos to show for it? No, but it didn’t matter. The light was poor and there was so much going on that we were transfixed by the action. What a way to end the Exclusive Luangwa tour!
Thank you for reading to the end, and for continuing to follow my tours. I am planning for 2024 and 2025 so please get in touch for opportunities and spaces on trips. Many of my tours are bespoke and sell out before appearing on my website, so don’t delay in contacting me.
