South Luangwa – EXTRAORDINARY AFRICA

Adventure, Africa, South Luangwa, Trip Reports, Zambia

Trip Report- Zambia 2022

July 12, 2022July 12, 2022 Alexandra Matts

Sarah and Gary have taken several adventures with us, but this time, decided to return and introduce Sarah’s mum to the magic of safari, taking in the South Luangwa National Park and Victoria Falls.

I really wanted to email you properly and tell you what a wonderful time we all had.

This time 2 weeks ago….we were having our first meal at Flatdogs and my Mum had just spotted her first hippo, in the camp! It was so funny because she didn’t quite know what to make of it. We just sat there eating our meal whilst one of the staff shined a torch on it for us to see. She kept saying, ‘is it ok?’ ‘are we safe’. I just said, ‘yes Mum, soak it up and enjoy the moment’. She didn’t sleep great the first night, she was a little anxious as she’s never experienced anything quite so wild, we had elephants eating all the trees right up to our tents all night. Even though she didn’t sleep that night, she soon settled straight in to safari life and was well away with it all.

Gary and I mainly wanted to go to Zambia to see leopards and wild dogs. We assumed everything else was a done deal, but those illusive lions proved to be the tricky ones. We had the most amazing guide, Geoffrey, he could see how passionate we are about wildlife, conservation and environment and went above an beyond to try and find us what we wanted to see.

So we saw our leopard first, got some great photos of him too. Then, quite unbelievably, using his tracking skills, Geoffrey found us a pack of hunting wild dogs !! First he found paw prints, then fresh poo, we back tracked for a short while, he pointed out where their den was, then there they were. A pack of approximately 20 wild dogs!!! I actually had a tear in my eye as I never thought I would see them. They were really lively. They had just made a kill and were sharing the food between them when an impala ran out from nowhere then they were back on the hunt !! They were unsuccessful on that occasion which I hate to say I wasn’t too upset about as Geoffrey had explained they ate their prey alive 😦 we were glad to miss that bit. We went on to see 2 more leopards and the same pack of dogs on another day.

After 3 safaris Gary and I were starting to worry that we weren’t going to see lions !! We shouldn’t have doubted Geoffrey, he knew what was on our list and lions were next. We drove far north and found approx. 300 strong herd of buffalo. Geoffrey said to us, ‘where there’s buffalo, there’s lions’ and he wasn’t wrong. He said to us he was going to look for a place for our sundowner then we would go on to look for the lions once the sun had gone down a bit more. So we circle around this area by the river, then we circled again, then again. Then there they were, perfectly camouflaged on the grass, 4 lionesses!!

So we watched them for a few minutes, popped off for a gin and a safe wild wee then returned just as they were moving off towards the buffalo. Oh my god Alex, it was so exciting and I felt so privileged as were the only car there and what we were about to see was amazing. The lions hid in the bushes, then one moved out and around whilst the buffalo tentatively moved through them. It was fascinating to see as you watch this on the BBC but were actually watching it real life. OK, so they missed the one they tried to catch, then they slipped off in to an area we couldn’t get to but they were following the buffalo and Geoffrey said he was certain they would be successful tonight. As we headed off back to Flatdogs, on a high from seeing 4 lions, we then went; on the see another 3.

The next morning, my Mum was very tired so she enjoyed some time on her own in camp whilst Geoffrey took us off back to the where we left then lions. We met a jeep on the way driving 2 girls, one was asleep and one was on her phone, Geoffrey asked the driver if he had seen the lions and he said no, but I thought to myself, why should that guide even bother trying whilst the 2 guest appeared to be showing no interest at all in where they are (we saw a lot of that indecently).

Anyway, Geoffrey, being the determined guide he was, was sure they would be there somewhere and thanks to the alarm calls of the puku and the circling vultures, he drove completely off track (I’m not sure we were supposed to be there!) and there they were!! 4 lions looking considerably fatter than they did the night before, trying desperately to fend off the impatient vultures. Amazing!!!

So I then jokingly set Geoffrey a task, I said I bet you can’t find me a porcupine ! Well he did !!! And a honey badger! I mean, what would be the chances. I shouldn’t forget our spotter too, Elias, with the torch, he as the one who found us a leopard one evening, meters in to the park on our last drive. he was working hard to shine the torch in the right places and even found us an African eagle owl!!

I loved Flatdogs, the management was very friendly, down to earth and easy to talk to, networking with guests each evening, it was also really nice how they met you from your safari each time you returned, interested to know what you had seen. The staff were just wonderful, I will never know how they remembered our names every time they spoke to us. The food was absolutely delicious and we had no worries at all about being vegetarian. The tents were totally adequate and I didn’t really want to leave there.

So then we were on to Chundukwa, where I can safely say I probably put on 5lbs hahaha. I don’t think there chef would be out of place in a really good restaurant in the UK somewhere. Knocked socks off most places we’ve eaten. I even asked for one of the recipes one evening. Really lovely setting, nice lodge, very comfortable and Doug and Gail were lovely. Poor Gail was really unwell with flu so we didn’t her too much much I could have talked to Doug for hours, he’d obviously led a very colourful life and had a real passion for conservation and local people which was really nice.

Gary and I tried a bit of horse riding, and we did the sunset cruise which was lovely too but my mum skipped that bit as she’s terrified of water and thought a hippo would upturn the boat !! hahaha. Got soaked at the falls, Gary and I walked to the boiling pot, then we went off and had lunch at The Royal Livingstone, lovely to experience but definitely not my style of accommodation, too many people, much preferred Chundukwa. We did the rhino walk which was really good too, very expensive but hopefully that money is being used in a good way and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity isn’t it?

Thank you Sarah for sharing your lovely trip with us!

Birds, Botswana, South Luangwa, Zambia

The Carmines are Coming!

September 27, 2017 Alexandra Matts

As the heat builds in the South Luangwa, September offers one of the valley’s more colourful sights- the arrival of the Carmine Beeaters. During this dry hot season the water levels in the rivers are low, exposing the banks for the bee eaters to excavate a tunnel to build their nests. The annual movements of the Luangwa River channel means that each year the nest chambers are dug anew, and there’s a stiff competition for the bee eaters to stake their claim to the steepest part of the riverbank.

Bee Eater Colony- taken by Bryan one of the Tafika Guides

Carmine Bee Eaters-taken by Bryan one of the Tafika Guides

The sheerer the drop, the greater the protection from predators like the water monitor lizard, a fearsome climber and notorious egg thief. While eggs are lost each year to the monitors, their large bodies often can’t access the further reaches of the nest chambers- some of which can be up to three metres deep, and the carmines nest in such numbers that just a small proportion of eggs are stolen. Colonies can often contain hundreds, if not thousands of birds, providing safety in numbers from other predators, including fish eagles, who’ll cheerfully pick off a bee eater or two if the opportunity presents itself.

Zambia’s South Luangwa Valley is certainly one of the best places to see this phenomenon, and most of these photos were taken in and around the hide at Tafika, however, if you are keen to see the carmines en masse another fabulous spot to visit is King’s Pool in Botswana’s Linyanti Reserve. Here the carmines nest in the ground, rising in huge clouds every time a predator approaches or a squabble erupts- it’s an extraordinary sight, and one that our own photos just don’t do justice to, so many thanks to the pros for showing us how it should be done!

Carmine Bee Eaters at King's Pool — Ground nesting carmine bee eater colony near King’s Pool

Safari, South Luangwa, Trip Reports, Zambia

Trip Report: South Luangwa, Zambia, October 2016

October 22, 2016November 5, 2016 Alexandra Matts

Hi Alex,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner; as you suspected we’ve been busy at work!

The Zambia trip you arranged for us was better than we ever could have expected it to be. I’ve completely run out of superlatives when trying to describe it to everyone who has asked! We were both amazed and extremely grateful for how brilliantly you interpreted what we wanted despite the vagueness of our initial phone call to you! The choices of camps was perfect too, enabling us to get a varied experience of different areas of the park. Thank you so much.

Other than your exemplary planning and choices there were a few particular highlights that made the whole trip even more wonderful which we would like to bring to your attention. Foremost amongst these was Nkonzi Camp in general. In the itinerary this seemed to be the (relatively) “unknown” component, having opened so recently and a relatively small online presence. It was, however, one of the best places we’ve ever been. We were particularly lucky I suppose in that we were the only guests for our time there (goodness knows why!), but I’m sure it would have been just as marvellous if it were full. Gavin Opie, the owner/guide, was astonishingly good, both as a host and guide, imparting Attenborough-esque information about the wildlife and wider ecosystem whilst ensuring a brilliantly relaxing yet unintrusive level of hospitality. Nkonzi truly made us feel like guests rather than customers (if that makes sense). Another aspect of Gavin’s camp which was very important to us was his ethics of guiding and construction of his camp. In contrast to some of the other lodges he rigidly enforced the policy of not driving off-road, instead parking and, if safe, walking off-road to get a better view.

Flatdogs was a brilliant introduction to safari, providing a huge choice of food and all mod cons whilst maintaining a sense of authenticity. The views from the tents are particularly impressive. Just in the first few hours we spent at our tent we saw more wildlife than we had expected to see for the entire trip!

Finishing at Kakuli was the perfect way to round off the trip in luxury. Again, the views from the tent were incredible – over the maintained waterhole on to the confluence of the Luwi and Luangwa rivers. As we had almost become used to, elephants were regular (and close!) visitors, meaning even our time in camp between drives was spent with camera and binoculars in hand!

Other than this we obviously saw some amazing sights. I took over 2,500 photos and am still sorting through many of them! Once I’ve selected the best and uploaded them somewhere I’ll send you a link! I’ve copied a couple of them below for now (although compressed and unprocessed!). Some of our highlights though were: sitting in the middle of a lion hunt at night, tracking and finding a leopard on foot, watching a mating pair of lions, walking closely around a large herd of buffalo at sunset, seeing a leopard about 15 metres away in broad daylight and seeing two fresh leopard kills (both impala) in trees.

Again, thank you so much for arranging such a wonderful holiday. If there are any ways in which we could endorse you somehow online just let us know where is best and we’ll get onto it! We’ll of course be back in touch soon to arrange our next safari and future ones after that.

Best regards,

Chris & Charlotte

Leopards, Namibia, Sabi Sands, South Luangwa

Where to spot… Leopards

January 13, 2014January 14, 2014 Alexandra Matts

There’s something about spotting a leopard on safari that sets people’s pulses racing. It’s often men that fall passionately for this slinky cat (sorry boys!)- it’s the ultimate predator, perfectly designed for the silent stalk, the stealthy hunt and the efficient kill.

Luxury Safari in the Sabi Sands — Leopard at Singita Sabi Sand

It’s possible to spot leopards on safari all over Africa, but they’re notoriously elusive. Stories abound about leopards successfully disguising themselves, even amongst large human populations. Legend holds that when a lone leopard was spotted on Nairobi railway station, the storyteller was rubbished. 3 years later, the bones of a recently deceased leopardess was spotted under a rarely used platform… Well, so the story goes.

For those who want more reliable leopard sightings there are a number of places to visit in Africa where a safari of two or three days should give you a very reliable chance of seeing a leopard. We’ve put some effort into personally checking these out, so do ask us if you have any questions.

3. Okonjima, Central Highlands, Namibia

The AfriCat Foundation at Okonjima is utterly absorbing for anyone who’s ever been fascinated by the big cats. It’s important to stress- these cats aren’t wild. They’ve been collared and are closely monitored by the research team. This makes it possible to get up close to leopard (also cheetah and wild dog) in a way that’s just not possible elsewhere, and learn more about hands on research and conservation than you would in 10 safaris.

2. South Luangwa, Zambia

I’ve had phenomenal sightings in the South Luangwa and a colleague who (though good at rather tall tales) claims to have spotted 7 leopard in one night drive. The leopard here are often spotted on night game drives with spotlights- this is the time of day when leopard are most active, as they’re on the hunt for fresh food. By day, look for the flicker of a tail up in the sausage trees, where leopards like to lounge on long flat branches.

Luxury Safari in the South Luangwa — Leopard spotted with Bushcamps on safari in the South Luangwa

1. Sabi Sands, South Africa

Without a shadow of a doubt, of all the places I’ve done safari in Africa (and there have been a few) the Sabi Sands has been by far and away the best place to spot leopards. I’ve tracked adults through the grasses at Lion Sands, watched leopards lounging in trees from Nottens, and most satisfyingly of all, clocked a spotted face stalking me through the reeds over breakfast at Singita Ebony. If you’re a leopard lover, go tomorrow, take my camera, and never look back.