Safari in South Luangwa National Park

An intrepid group of Canadians, some more Zambian than others, set out on a long weekend safari October 24^th through 27^th.  The group included “Captain” Bruce Dunlop, John “Mbovu” Peters and Kat “Which Way to Devil's Pool?” Pipin.  October 24^th is Zambian Independence Day, a national holiday, so we took advantage of the opportunity to “hacer la puente” as they say in Spain and make it into a 4 day weekend.

After much research and even some spreadsheet creation, Kat and I had decided that we would go to Nkwali camp, as recommended by experience safarier Howie Clysdale, who had been there a few years ago.  Part of the decision was based on the fact that we qualified for the Zambian resident’s rate, which is about half of the foreigners rate and they would extend the deal to John also.  Sweet deal.

We flew on Proflight Zambia (“just plane smart”) from Lusaka to Mfuwe, where we were met by our guide Thomas in a Toyota Land Cruiser with no roof or doors and we knew the safari was underway.  It was about a 45 min drive to Nkwali, made somewhat longer by our visit to Tribal Textiles  As we pulled in the dirt track to the camp, we were followed by a herd of about 6 elephants, who waded into the camp’s pond for a soak – quite a welcome.  We were also handed cool face towels and given a welcome drink and knew we would not be exactly roughing it in the woods.  

(I took this picture while in the swimming pool)

Our rooms were standalone thatch cottages with only 3 walls.  The wall facing the river was completely open with just a curtain and the beds surrounded by walk in mosquito nets.  As a result, there was no way to keep the baboons out and we were warned to tuck away anything colourful as the baboons would assume it was food and steal it.  I didn’t pay careful enough heed and was soon chasing a baboon who was clutching my pepto-bismol.  He eventually dropped it from a tree when we opened the ziploc bag it was in.  Hilarious.

The daily routine at camp is: wake up at 5:15, breakfast at 5:30 by the campfire (oatmeal, cereal, toast cooked over a charcoal fire, tea, coffee) and then depart on the morning game drive by 6.  This drive, in a 3 tiered, open topped safari vehicle, could last between 4 and 5 hours with a tea break midway.  With temperatures in the mid to high 30s, total safari fashion, included wide-brimmed hat was required!  The morning drive ends around 10 or 11, followed by an incredible lunch buffet at 11:30 overlooking the pond, which sometimes had elephants, beautiful birds and even a crocodile in it!  The afternoon is full on siesta time (if you can sleep when it’s 35 degrees – I can’t) or cooling off in the pool and then it’s tea time at 3:30 and the evening game drive starts at 4.  You stop your drive at sunset (around 6) for a “sundowner” which you pre-order (gin and tonic or savanna dry cider perhaps?) and then drive back to camp with the spot light on looking for nocturnal animals, arriving around 7.  Then it’s a huge dinner at 7:30 and bed time.  Repeat.  Here are some day finds:

 And here are some night spotting successes:

The food and service was incredible at Nkwali.  And the most people that were ever there were 8.  On 4 of our 6 game drives, John, Kat and I had the whole vehicle to ourselves!

The most interesting man in the world

For the last 3 days, the only other guests at the lodge were Ray and Amanda Lombard, a couple from South Africa.  At dinner, one of us casually asked Ray “have you ever been to Zambia before”?  This led to several hours of being spellbound by his stories.  You see Ray is an evangelist and “church planter” who travels to the deepest, most isolated parts of Africa and tries to teach people the gospel.  His goal is to create a “firewall” of churches across Africa to fight similar attempts by the Muslim faith to build mosques across Africa.  Whether or not one agrees with his theology, it was fascinating to hear his stories.  He told us being dropped at a dirt airstrip in the Congo with nothing but a backpack and his “scrambler” (dirt bike), dirt-biking for 4 days through the jungle until there was no more road, then walking for 4 more days to arrive at a village of pygmies, who he then converted to Christianity with a snappy powerpoint deck.  He said he had to make sure to get back to the airstrip on time, because the plane only stopped there once every two weeks.  He has been to 32 African countries – next stop South Sudan, right after our safari.

As for animal spotting, it is just amazing to get SO close to the animals I have only dreamed of seeing in the wild.  Each of John, Kat and I had our favourite finds.  Mine was by far the leopard, which Thomas and Youbi (our spotter) tracked by following the distress call of a puku and then watching where it was looking.  Kat and John’s was probably the giraffes, who struck several poses for us.

On the last night in camp, I woke up at 1:30 am to the sound of a hippo munching grass just outside my bathroom.  The bathroom has no ceiling, so I could peek out and see him about 6 feet away.  On the last afternoon, an elephant walked through camp, right in front of our rooms as we watched in awe.

Overall, there was a lot of silliness, especially around sun-downer time and some incredible food and amazing service from the staff and like I said, a lot of the time, there we only the three of us to look after.  

 If a safari isn't on your bucket list, add it and check it off asap!

Bruce