Zambia 2012

You may have heard the expression, " Dr Livingstone I presume", those famous words spoken by Henry Stanley when meeting the explorer in Africa.

We were now in Zambia and specifically in Livingstone, named after... you know... 'him'!

Memorial to Dr Livingstone

Livingstone whilst exploring the entire length of the Zambezi River was the first European to ever see Mosi-o-Tunya ("the smoke that thunders") waterfall, which he named Victoria Falls and from the air in a helicopter, you truly get to understand how impressive they are.

Victoria Falls from above...

...and from the ground

Whilst walking to and along the falls admiring the sheer power they exude, even during the dry season, with so much water around, this was a great location for large numbers of birds.

Weaver building its nest

From Livingstone we flew to a small town then were driven through other small towns to our location for the next few days at Kafunta River Lodge, located on the Luangwa River.

The lodge is sensational with large meeting, relaxing and dining areas overlooking wetlands and the river.  On the wetlands you could always see wildlife either in the form of elephants, deer or monkeys and in the distance we could hear the now familiar sounds of hippos grunting.

Kafunta Lodge reception, relaxation and dining areas with its central wild mango tree

Each of us were shown to our own 'huts' for our stay and to call them a hut is a bit of an understatement.

Our 'hut' at Kafunta Lodge

Having met our wildlife guide for the entire stay, each day we would go on 2 safari drives with him, one starting just before sunrise and another finishing after sunset and whilst here, we also tried a night drive.

Car like ours on its daily drive into to the nearby National Park

Zambia is a relatively new country to wildlife tourist activities and as a result, the wildlife was constant and abundant.  Our guide was excellent as he calmly drove us in our open vehicles to very close proximity to the animals or birds.

Here is just a very small sample...

Cape Buffalo with friend

Yellow Wattled Lapwing

Up close and personal with an elephant 

Yes... I'm watching you 

Yellow billed stork with its catch

Then our time with both the lodge and the river became even better if you can believe it.  We all had to pack up and endure a fairly bumpy 3hr drive down dirt tracks to some new but this time temporary accomodation... the bush camp.

Each year the lodge builds a seasonal bush camp located on the raised bank above the river, with hippos literally right out front. At the end of the season the lodge is all pulled down to stop poachers using it as a base.

First animal we saw after reaching the bush camp

So let me try to explain what is meant by bush camp using the photo below of our actual 'room' taken from the river in front of it.

Our actual Kafunta bush camp 'room'

Each room is raised off the ground, the bedroom has a roof over it but the shower and toilet cubicles were open to the air.  So try to imagine sitting on the loo doing your thing whilst hippos are in the river directly in front grunting back at you.

There were a few very strict rules in the camp, especially at night.  We had to be escorted to our rooms and if we wanted to go to the dining hut, and would ring a bell to be collected.

Each night when retiring to sleep, the staff placed a lit kerosene lamp at the top of the stairs and one at the end of the bed.  It was reinforced with us to never blow them out because these were there to stop either hyenas or leopards visiting.  They can climb stairs!

So this was a typical day in the bush camp.

Wait for sunrise over the river...

...have breakfast with friends next to the river

...board your boat, make that a canoe and pole across the river past the hippos to an island

...start walking, yes walking in search of lions or buffalos or birds or ??

When we were told we were going on a walking safari looking for lions let alone anything else, it did cause a rise in each of our pulses but by now we had been joined by a ranger from the National Park with a rifle... a very large rifle.

During this particular walking safari we did come upon a herd of Cape Buffalo and then marvelled at the flying expertise of masses of Carmine Bee-eaters.

Carmine Bee-eaters in formation

We walked and walked and searched for the very elusive lions, eventuality starting our hike back to the canoe when from a clump of bushes about 20m from us, the growl of some lionesses told us they had found us, a lion cub ducking under the cover bushes.

2 lionesses not too happy to see us

I only managed to get one shot off before the lions quickly left us, so I asked Rob, "did you get any photos?". "No!" came her reply.  "Why not?" I asked and her response was priceless... "I couldn't because I was standing behind the man with the gun and not moving".

We thoroughly enjoyed a few walking safaris and on another occasion when emerging out of some thick scrub we were standing less than 15m from a giraffe staring down on us... just stunning!

But all good things come to an end and we made the bumpy trip back to the main lodge for two more nights and even more safaris with another small sample of the results like...

huge herds of Cape Buffalo..

 young leopard waiting for its mother to return..

 beautiful dragonflys zipping around...

 very colourful rolas... lots and lots of rolas

 majestic grey crowned cranes...

During the very short remaining time we had in this Lodge, we were to experience a final adrenaline rush provided by one of the locals.

Our first taste of what was to come happened during the afternoon in the form of a small herd of elephants with young ones, wandering in around our rooms to eat fallen wild mangoes.

the elephants enjoying mangoes near our friends room

The very simple effect of this was that we were trapped in our rooms until they decided to leave.  Especially with young elephants around they can be very dangerous indeed.

Well they did leave and we all managed to get up to the dining area for a few drinks and time to head back to our rooms to get ready for our final dinner at the lodge.  Two of friends had gone back early.

Suddenly we were advised... the elephants had come back!

So a plan was hatched by our hosts for a guide to take us in single file on a little used track passing the front of each hut, so off we went after a short briefing that in the event that an elephant attacks us (what!!), run and hide under the nearest hut.

Hmmmm...

So the guide, then our friends Rob, Robyn and myself,  snuck past the first hut and were heading to the second when one of the mature elephants spotted us!

Well this elephant took quite an exception to us, spread its ears wide and charged towards us.

The guide was the fastest to leave followed very close behind by Robyn, who quite frankly I didn't know could move that fast, and then Rob who actually jumped over a rear railing onto a deck with the occupants looking on quite bemused.  "Hi, I'm Rob" our friend said to them.

By now with an elephant moving quickly towards us I felt almost alone whilst picking up pace to match the others, not one of my strong suits.  I did manage to put my only head underneath the hut where Robyn was already settled next to the guide, quickly earning the nickname Emu as the elephant in question decided to leave us alone.

Very exciting indeed.

After a relaxing shower, we all found ourselves around a table with the owner of the Lodge for our final dinner in Zambia and Africa.

Enjoying our dinner in wonderful Zambia with great friends after an amazing time

You would have thought that was the end of this post BUT the elephants had the last say. 

I was fast asleep when around 3am a very low rumbling sound woke me up.  After cautiously opening the door to our accomodation, there she stood, only 10m away, her young one close by.

Mum and her baby near our front door saying 'goodbye'

For me this was simply the best way to say goodbye to Zambia, a country in the process of growing its tourism but still clinging to being true to itself.


Africa In General
Before we left for Africa it must be said we were very apprehensive, filled with stories we had heard about crime and personal safety concerns.

We mitigated the risks by relying on good guides and the experience of friends who had visited before us.

Africa is without doubt one of the most amazing continents we have ever visited and yes its more expensive than most BUT if you ever get the motivation or chance to go, you will experience wildlife like no other.

Next are the people themselves.  We found the locals we interacted with, have the most wonderful and mischievous sense of humour and a joy for living, despite being no where near as well off us any of us.

Yes you do need to be careful, but with the right advice and on-site guidance, there is just nothing quite like it, its authenticity and simply being so different.

We will be back!

Below is a link to additional wildlife photos from our entire trip through southern Africa:

CLICK HERE - More Wildlife Photos Southern Africa 2012

CLICK HERE - African Scenery 2012

CLICK HERE - African Birds 2012

Enough waxing about what we experienced but you will never never know if you don't go so go well!

Botswana 2012

Our time in Botswana would be dominated by visiting two of the primary destinations this country is famous for... first the Okavango River and then later, Chobe National Park.

The Okavango River is the fourth longest river in southern Africa, starting in Angola and travelling 1,600 kms before emptying into the famous and land locked Okavango Delta.  

We would be spending our time in a houseboat on the Okavango River, this time taking wildlife safaris by boat and particularly focussed on the abundant birdlife the river supports.

Enjoying the houseboat on the Okavango River

Some locals cruise past

With so much water around supporting an abundant supply of fish and insects, there were huge numbers of very beautiful birds to watch and photograph... something we had not experienced before.

Here is a small but very colourful sample.

Very elegant Fish Eagle 

Pied Kingfishers at rest

Pied Kingfisher with its catch

Very diminutive Malachite Kingfisher with a catch

Bee-eater with bug

Egret coming into land on the dense reeds

Goliath Heron taking off in search of food

The river is also home to lots of crocodiles...

...sharing the river with locals also trying to find food

Also in Botswana lies the famous Chobe National Park, renowned especially for seeing elephants, and after settling into some very comfortable and large hotel type accomodation, we were soon off looking for wildlife, this time within the hotel grounds itself.

Rob found a few warthogs enjoying munching away on the lawns and decided to get quite close to them.

Up close and personal to a warthog

They didn't take too kindly to her being so close and very soon made her aware of it, those tusks being a great motivator to move back and quickly.

On the other hand, I found some vervet monkeys of which there were plenty, one very curious little one watching us unpack our gear when we first settled in...

Young curious Vervet monkey

Now they look really cute don't they, but while walking around the grounds during our visit, 4-5 of the parents took a dislike to me and threatened to repeatedly attack, until one of the staff came to intervene.  

The monkeys know the staff because they have to scare them away from the dining areas, and this includes the baboons who also move through the grounds.

We went on a few wildlife drives and a couple by boat.  The land based drives early in the morning delivered a few memorable opportunities.

First were some lions, in particular a large male frequently engaged in mating with a lioness and by frequently, that's exactly what is meant.

During rest periods it was time for food, in this case a baby elephant killed during the night before.

The male rests whilst guarding his current partner

Not far away from the 'happy' couple were two young male lions, full of energy and also eyeing off what was left of the elephant.

The large male seemed asleep most of the time and it was during this we learned a big lesson.  One of the young lions felt like testing his luck and whilst the large male looked asleep, moved in a little too close to the food on offer.

Almost explosively, the large male roared into action covering a 10m gap to reach the young male and clip him over its head.  The speed with which all this happened was a shock and simply taught us we would have no chance.

Also during this drive we had a few other magnificent sightings.

Giant Sable

Our first Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalos are regarded as one of the more dangerous animals in Africa because they are large, unpredictable, cranky and do not give out any warnings before they attack.

Beautiful leopard staring down on us from its tree sanctuary

The boat safaris certainly brought us within close range of lots and lots of elephants and hippos.  Before even leaving the dock, a hippo decided to say "hello", well not really, but certainly did show us why they kill more humans each year than any other animal in Africa.

yep... they have big teeth

Now to the elephants and it was really good being able to watch LOTS of them doing whatever elephants like to do like rolling in mud, feeding and swimming/walking across the rivers.

Large elephants crossing a river

We did get to see something which looked a little comical and it came when the matriarch of a group of elephants lead them across a nearby river... there were little ones in amongst them.

So they followed her into the water...

...and the comical event happened when the trunks of the young elephants were used as snorkels during the crossing.

Our last boat tour in Chobe provided yet another opportunity whilst standing on the top deck of the boat.  Mike, our guide and avid photographer of birds especially, was chatting away with us, went silent, turned a little and then suddenly started clicking away on his camera.

With only a few moments to spare, managed to swing around, spot what he was shooting and also had a go.  It was a sole skimmer doing what they do best near sunset, hunting for food.

Hunting skimmer

We had all had a wonderful time visiting Botswana and with a setting sun sinking into the shoreline, a herd of Cape Buffalo bid us farewell with our departure in the morning awaiting.

Goodbye Botswana and thank you!