More adventures from the North Luangwa

The time passes by very fast at the camp. It’s been two weeks since my last post. So much has happened at the North Luangwa Valley since then. Two weeks into the winter, here below the equator line. The mornings and the evenings are still rather chilly.

However, from now on, we’ll relentlessly be approaching the summer season, not necessarily in terms of longer days and shorter nights, as this close to the equator the number of day light is pretty consistent throughout the year, but in terms of reaching much higher temperatures.

These days, as the river waters start to recede, I can see how the opposite shores are closing up on each other. Although narrower and narrower every day, the Luangwa will soon be the only source of water in the National Park, as it´s the only river that doesn´t completely dry up during the summer months. This means that the concentration of animals around us will be increasing, as the wildlife, especially the big cats; antelopes such as impala, kudu, puku, waterbak and bushbak; elephants and buffalos, come to drink. I love the breaks in between customer stays when we have some spare time to go on a drive or walk safari.

I’ve finally got to see lions, leopards and one of my favorite animals, the spotted hyena.

We also see wildlife all the time at the camp itself. A solitaire adult male elephant’s been visiting us a few times in the last couple of weeks. He comes around, probably attracted by the leaves of the camp´s acacia and mopane trees and the fresh grass from the dried lagoon on the east side. It’s huge.

The footprint of its hind leg was 52 cm of diameter, which indicates that his height must’ve been around 3 meters, from the ground to his shoulder. We could observe him very closely, at a distance of less than 5 meters, from the window of one of the bungalows, as he took his time to feed and move from one tree to another. We followed him at distance so that we could take some photos. As a precaution, the camp´s ranger, a member of the park´s security and safety squad, joined us with his rifle in case there was a dangerous charge from the elephant. I asked him why he was so vigilant. He answered that I had entered the dangerous zone in terms of proximity to the elephant, below 20 meters, while I was taking pictures. It’s easy to underestimate the risk when getting closer to these mammals. Albeit their size and weight, elephants are very fast animals. They can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h, and their reaction times are extremely fast.  It’s compulsory to have a ranger at the camp.

Their duties include going with the safari expeditions as well in case there is a dangerous situation, although rare, with animals that may pose a threat to customers.

One night we heard a lot of noise and cries coming not far from the camp´s west end. It seemed to be a lion attacking one of the hippos that inhabit the Luangwa. The next morning, we saw an injured hippo on the right shore of the river. Another 4 were around him, as if protecting him. Not far, a good dozen or so of crocodiles were awaiting their chance. This went on for a couple of days, the crocodiles looked ever more menacing each morning.

That morning I woke up especially early at 5:30 with the intention of enjoying the breathtaking sunrise. The hippo was already dead. His 4 companions weren’t guarding his body any longer. About 25 or 30 of those large reptiles were having a feast. They’d take big chunks of meat, chewing and gulping it with their mouths wide open in the air. Later at night, we could still hear the lion´s moaning roar, probably as if complaining about how unfair it was that he attested the killing strike for not being able to partake on the rewards of his effort afterwards.

Exposure to wildlife’s not only about big mammals. One night, after reading a few pages of ‘Bitterness’ by Zambian writer Malama Katulwende, I switched off my frontal light, lied down on my mosquito net-covered bed, and got ready for my sleep. It was very dark, as every other night. A few minutes later I heard something flying over my head. It flew and stopped in intervals. I wasn’t sure what it was. The thing was trapped inside the mosquito net. I covered my head under the linen and the pillow. I remained like that for several minutes while I kept on hearing those flying dives. It made me a bit nervous. After a while, I decided to get out of bed. I ridiculously stuck my feet out of bed to pull the mosquito net aside. The rest of the body followed. Afraid of being hit in the head by whatever that flying thing was, I was finally outside the bed and grasped my frontal light. I switched it on. And there it was, one of the many bats that abound the camp was unsuccessfully trying to fly out of the space created by the mosquito net as it protects the bed. I slid it up so that the poor bat could come out. After that, I went back to sleep and thought of this encounter for a few seconds. I somehow felt embarrassed for having been afraid of this harmless flying mammal. More embarrassing even if you compare my fear to its own. Bats are my friends now. There are at least 3 that sleep every night hanging under my bed. They come and go as they please. Their fast motion flies under my bed don´t bother me any longer.     

We’ve had several groups of customers staying in the lodge and going on drive and walking safaris in the last two weeks. I’m still looking after the kitchen and, more importantly, training Brighton. I´ve set myself up the challenge of helping him develop enough confidence for him to take full responsibility of it once I leave. We still have some challenges with communication, and misunderstandings still occur, almost every day. What I’ve learned is that I need to be very clear with him on what the expectation is, since his and my perceptions about cuisine are very different. How challenging it must be to ask someone to cook European style food when his cultural habits and traditions are so far apart! Nonetheless, I must say that I can see great progress. His level of interest is outstanding. And we still have so much fun while we cook together. Sometimes we even prepare meals outside, on the fire that they make with branches of mopane tree, we ask other members of the crew like Jackson, whom we name ‘the dancer’, Alfred and Isaac to join, and then play the drum and dance while we cook a traditional Zambian meal that consists of Nshima, beans, beef stew and cabbage. They're all great guys!

 

I’m still enjoying my days here. When the night falls, the busy day at the camp has set you for a good night sleep. The sounds of the bush, the wildlife at night, the wind breaking through the trees that surround the camp create a very relaxing environment that has a soothing effect on my sleep. Every morning, I feel really rested and ready for new adventures. I hope you did enjoy these ones and that you look forward to more in my next post coming soon. Thanks so much for reading!