South Luangwa Game Park

South Luangwa really is an out-of-this-world kind of place. As everyone hung around waiting for dinner last night a wild elephant wandered by swinging his tail and going about his business, completely oblivious to the crowd of us staring at him the whole way along. At around midnight I woke up in my tent to sound of a wild hippo munching on some grass nearby. I sat up with my nose pressed against the mesh window of the tent and watched the hippo as he slowly walked closer. Soon a few other hippos joined him, one of which walked directly in front of the tent door only a few feet from where I was sitting. After a few more hours of sleep I woke to the sound another giant hippo chomping, snorting, and grunting. I stared at him as he grazed directly outside the window. Elbie the tour guide fixed breakfast just after sunrise, then shouted at us when it was time to put everything away. “Hey guys, the monkeys is awake!!!”

The weather was perfect for an early morning safari. Robbie, our Zambian driver for the day, took myself and eight others for a four hour game drive along the wide, brown, Luangwa River. Besides several exotic birds, we also spotted herds of golden baboons, several giraffes, lazy hippos cooling themselves in the water, a few cape buffalo, some warthogs, and plenty of impala.One of the great things about South Luangwa is that it feels like it really is in the middle of nowhere. South Luangwa isn't nearly as crowded as the Serengeti. The narrow, bumpy dirt roads are just wide enough to accomodate a safari vehicle, but not so wide that the place feels civilized. The scenery is very different too. Whenever I've thought of Africa in the past I always have envisioned the tall yellow grasses and scraggly green acacia trees that are so common in the Serengeti, but South Luangwa isn't the Serengeti. Some parts of the park were filled with leafy green vegetation and could almost be described as lush. Also, the Luangwa River supports an entire eco-system that isn't found quite the same way in Tanzania. The fact that the river is home to hundreds of hippos that feed on the grassy banks during the night time is also great for anyone lucky enough to be camping nearby.More wild elephants kept us company during lunch today. A couple of large males and one younger, smaller elephant wandered through the trees at the campsite, yanking at the branches and shoving trunkfuls of leaves into their mouths.Halfway through another four hour safari this afternoon we stopped on the bank of the Luangwa river and had a few refreshments as the sun set behind black sillouettes of the African bush. Hippos honked and splashed behind me as I sipped an ice-cold orange Fanta and enjoyed the view with a few others. The final two hours of the safari tonight were a “Night Drive”. Robbie rallied the Land Cruiser over the dusty South Luangwa terrain as his Zambian assistant flashed a spotlight on the ground and in the trees looking for animals. For most of the night we saw nothing but herds of impalas and hippos who had climbed out of the river to graze, but on our way back to Flatdogs we hit the jackpot. A pride of eight lions made a great sighting to finish to the day. For several minutes we watched lion cubs play and tumble over each other as a few lionesses and one very lazy male lion laid around beside them. A few of the lions snuck up on a herd of impala that was gathered nearby, then quickly closed in and darted after them. Unfortunately we didn't see a kill, but as the lions wandered off afterwards Robbie drove after them. We followed the pride until coming to the dirt road back to Flatdogs, then watched them slowly walk off into the darkness.