6/27/19
We had an early start to drive to the border of Zambia at Kachebere. The Malawian countryside is very nice. Most people live in little houses made out of bricks that they made and with thatched roofs. The people are so very friendly! The kids always run out to wave and yell in excitement. The adults also tend to smile and wave.
Once in Zambia we picked up supplies in the town of Chapati. The Zambian countryside is very nice. The locals have cute little mud huts with thatched roofs. We are staying at Crocodile Valley Camp, which is right on the Luanga River, which borders South Luangwa National Park. The campsite is amazing with a swimming pool and seating areas with fires overlooking the spotlighted river, which you can observe hippos and crocs in. At night we had hippos wandering through camp and 2 elephants were within 15 feet of our tent when we headed to bed. We could hear them munching away as we lay in bed. Baboons and vervets slept in the trees above our tent, occasionally waking up to screech a bit.
6/28/19
We had an early morning game drive in South Luangwa NP. We saw lots of crocs and hippos, several giraffes, and elephants. We also saw a new species of antelope to us: the Puko. We were a bit disappointed to not have seen any cats. South Luangwa has perhaps the highest density of leopards in the world, so one of the best places to see them. The Germans that we were sharing a safari vehicle with had seen 4 leopards the day before, including one squaring off with a hyena and a cute little leopard cub.
Back at camp we had a really nice brunch. We worked on some emails (I had received notice of my initial rejection of our paper from Ecology Letters, and just relaxed at camp. We went swimming at the pool and watched the animals around camp: hippos in the the river, elephants on the outskirts of camp, and lots of baby vervets playing on the human swings and hammocks. Also some monitor lizards creeping around. It was nice just sipping beer and watching the river and vervets play.
In the early evening we went on another game drive. This time we got to see a leopard! It was in a tree with a kill. He was very handsome. We then went to the river to watch the sunset. When it got dark, we turned on the spotlight. We went back to the leopard and stayed for quite a while, watching him eat. We had a very bright spotlight, so it was a great view. On the night drive we also saw a fishing owl, a couple genets, a civet, a few hyenas, and a white-tailed mongoose. It was a really cool night drive! Unlike in Kenya and Tanzania, the land rovers here were open-sided.
6/29/19
We were up before dawn again for the drive. The pre-sunrise and sunrise were just beautiful over the dry bush landscape as we drove along. The tropical African sunrises are just amazing with the way the sky is such a deep orange and red before it rises. At one point on the drive, we had to all get out of the truck to have our hands washed and to step on a sterilization mat (and drive the truck over the mat) in order to prevent hand, foot, and mouth disease being spread. We crossed the Luangwa river over a large bridge to where our campsite is.
After setting up camp, Elisha and I hired 2 guys to take us on this double canoe catamaran thing for a paddle along the river. The river is the border with Mozambique, so we had them drop us on the Mozambique side, and we walked around there for a bit. We went over and said hello to a little family growing maize. They use fire at night as well as drums to keep hippos away from their crop. We then left Mozambique and headed back. Back in Zambia, we walked along the river for a while, and picked up a tail of many friendly kids. The little villages made of tiny mud huts with thatch roofs in Zambia are so cute!
We had an early start to drive to the border of Zambia at Kachebere. The Malawian countryside is very nice. Most people live in little houses made out of bricks that they made and with thatched roofs. The people are so very friendly! The kids always run out to wave and yell in excitement. The adults also tend to smile and wave.
Once in Zambia we picked up supplies in the town of Chapati. The Zambian countryside is very nice. The locals have cute little mud huts with thatched roofs. We are staying at Crocodile Valley Camp, which is right on the Luanga River, which borders South Luangwa National Park. The campsite is amazing with a swimming pool and seating areas with fires overlooking the spotlighted river, which you can observe hippos and crocs in. At night we had hippos wandering through camp and 2 elephants were within 15 feet of our tent when we headed to bed. We could hear them munching away as we lay in bed. Baboons and vervets slept in the trees above our tent, occasionally waking up to screech a bit.
6/28/19
We had an early morning game drive in South Luangwa NP. We saw lots of crocs and hippos, several giraffes, and elephants. We also saw a new species of antelope to us: the Puko. We were a bit disappointed to not have seen any cats. South Luangwa has perhaps the highest density of leopards in the world, so one of the best places to see them. The Germans that we were sharing a safari vehicle with had seen 4 leopards the day before, including one squaring off with a hyena and a cute little leopard cub.
Back at camp we had a really nice brunch. We worked on some emails (I had received notice of my initial rejection of our paper from Ecology Letters, and just relaxed at camp. We went swimming at the pool and watched the animals around camp: hippos in the the river, elephants on the outskirts of camp, and lots of baby vervets playing on the human swings and hammocks. Also some monitor lizards creeping around. It was nice just sipping beer and watching the river and vervets play.
In the early evening we went on another game drive. This time we got to see a leopard! It was in a tree with a kill. He was very handsome. We then went to the river to watch the sunset. When it got dark, we turned on the spotlight. We went back to the leopard and stayed for quite a while, watching him eat. We had a very bright spotlight, so it was a great view. On the night drive we also saw a fishing owl, a couple genets, a civet, a few hyenas, and a white-tailed mongoose. It was a really cool night drive! Unlike in Kenya and Tanzania, the land rovers here were open-sided.
6/29/19
We were up before dawn again for the drive. The pre-sunrise and sunrise were just beautiful over the dry bush landscape as we drove along. The tropical African sunrises are just amazing with the way the sky is such a deep orange and red before it rises. At one point on the drive, we had to all get out of the truck to have our hands washed and to step on a sterilization mat (and drive the truck over the mat) in order to prevent hand, foot, and mouth disease being spread. We crossed the Luangwa river over a large bridge to where our campsite is.
After setting up camp, Elisha and I hired 2 guys to take us on this double canoe catamaran thing for a paddle along the river. The river is the border with Mozambique, so we had them drop us on the Mozambique side, and we walked around there for a bit. We went over and said hello to a little family growing maize. They use fire at night as well as drums to keep hippos away from their crop. We then left Mozambique and headed back. Back in Zambia, we walked along the river for a while, and picked up a tail of many friendly kids. The little villages made of tiny mud huts with thatch roofs in Zambia are so cute!
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