South Luangwa National Park

With the clock ticking on my time remaining in Zambia I decided to go on one last adventure. I booked a weekend package trip, consisting of flying to South Luangwa National Park and staying at Mfuwe Lodge. It’s rainy season so the park is in off-season mode as flooded roads makes sections inaccessible. Also, the lush vegetation provides the animals with a wider distribution of grazing opportunities and more places to hide. So with few tourists visiting, discounted packages are made available to “residents” like myself. It was a nice treat to experience an African safari from the high-end. I especially enjoyed having my bathtub beside a large window from which I could watch hippos in the lagoon.

Although I have previously spent about two-weeks on various safaris in Kenya and Tanzania, I was still happy to have a couple more days of patrolling around for wild animals in their natural habitat. Apologies for getting off-topic, but this last sentence reminded me of a comment made by my friend Craig a few years ago about the town of Whistler: “It’s nice to see mass urban development in its natural habitat”…anyways, back to the story.

What I’ve learned about going on safaris is that each location and each day has the potential for a new experience. For me, it was the night safaris that made South Luangwa unique. We would drive with a spotlight sweeping around us, looking to see what creatures come-out at night. We saw a crocodile crossing the road, hippos munching on grass, and a couple of Lions starting their evening shift. The highlight was watching a leopard hide in the grass and patiently wait until making a quick strike on an Impala. I hadn’t seen a Leopard in the wild before so observing one in action was memorable. Obviously, Impalas aren’t all that intelligent, otherwise the victim may have wondered about the spotlight.

It was a pleasant weekend of watching animals, eating good food and lounging around the lodge. With less than two weeks remaining in my stay in Zambia I realized that this could very well be my last authentic African experience. Of course, that is what I thought when I left Kenya in 2005 and that proved not to be the case. However, it’s probably safe to say that it will be a long time until I will be watching hippos from my bathtub.