Our next destination was South Luangwa National Park. There are not a plethora of roads crisscrossing Zambia, so getting from one place to another is often a bit of a roundabout journey. The usual route to South Luangwa from the Lower Zambezi takes you northeast to the far eastern edge of Zambia and then back northwest to the park. The other, less traveled route, is a more direct route to the north, but is mostly on dirt road, which tends to be slower and sometimes rougher than the tarmac. It is invariably more interesting, though, because it gives you a view into rural Zambian life that you don't get on the main roads. We hadn't lost our sense of adventure after our previous day of getting stuck and traversing the eastern exit from the Lower Zambezi NP, so we opted for the more scenic route. In addition, this route gave us the opportunity to bush camp in the game management area outside the national park.
After a food and fuel restock in Petauke, we headed north through many rural villages. The villages range in size, but mainly consist of a collection of mud huts, animal enclosures, a bore hole for water, and often little stands selling produce, eggs, charcoal, and occasionally junk food. The larger villages also tended to have a school and/or church. The road between villages was often quite busy with people walking and biking to and fro, particularly in the early afternoon when school was finished. Every once in a while we could see fields that were being prepped for planting and a lot of deforestation supporting the charcoal industry. This was quite sad to see, particularly because it often continued past the borders of the GMAs, likely reducing habitat for animals. There were very few other vehicles on the road, so we tended to draw attention to ourselves as we passed through the villages.
As we were passing through the villages, we were keeping an eye out for a bore hole close to the road so we could refill the water tank in the truck. Stopping at a village bore hole brought a whole new level of attention to us. There was a group of women and children filling buckets when we arrived, so J&A identified the woman in charge and got her approval to use the pump. Everyone was very helpful and started bringing the buckets they had already filled over to the truck for us. The buckets, unfortunately, were not going to work well for filling the tank without making an enormous mess in the back of the truck (where all of our clothing and sleeping gear also lives), so we pulled out the five liter jugs and took those to the pump. The kids really wanted to pump for us, but it didn't feel great to stand there while they did the work, while also knowing that we were interrupting their day. J&A were prepared for just this moment, though. They put together a photo album of their lives from home so they could share them with people they meet during their travels. This was an instant hit and drew everyone away from the bore hole, allowing us to pump our own water.
Shortly after our water stop, we entered the GMA and started looking for places to camp. The requirements for bush camping are pretty basic: flat ground for the tents; open area for breeze, predator watching, and no tsetse flies; water feature, if possible for good animal viewing; far enough from the road to not be super visible; and beautiful. We wound our way towards the Luangwa River and found an amazing spot set back from a river bank that was home to a carmine bee-eater colony. The opposite side of the river had a more sloped bank and smaller pools of water, so animals were plentiful. As we got camp set up, we started to hear the roll of distant thunder. We could see the rain moving towards us, so we quickly set up the awning on the truck and got dinner going over the fire. Shortly after dark, we heard some lions chuffing nearby. We shined our high-powered "predator spotting" flashlight across the river, and low and behold, there were four lions on the opposite bank. They didn't stay long, but it was really neat to hear them calling to each other.
As we were finishing dinner, the rain started in earnest and we quickly retreated to our tents. The rain was falling hard enough that it instantly turned the ground to wet clay. Our shoes gained an inch of mud in our 30 foot dash from the truck to the tent. We had staked out the tent flaps in anticipation of the rain so we could still have some airflow without the rain coming directly into the tent. We managed to stay dry, which was the only time during the trip this method worked. The storm moved through fairly quickly and all was dry by the morning. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and watching the birds and other animals moving to and from the river before continuing to Wildlife Camp, our campsite for the next three nights.
Wildlife camp is closer to the park entrance than we were in the Lower Zambezi, allowing us to do two game drives a day with some relaxing in between rather than being out for the entire day. It was hotter in South Luangwa than Lower Zambezi, so the mid-afternoon pool time was an added bonus. I scoffed a bit when J&A told us some of the places we were camping had swimming pools, but I quickly took back my disdain when the thermometer topped out at over 100 degrees F day after day.
We got to do a couple of things in South Luangwa NP that are not on offer in many other parks in Africa. The first was a night drive. We had to have a guide and could not self drive, but it was a fantastic opportunity to see some of the things that tend to be most active at night. When our guide asked us what we wanted to see we said "pangolin!" with great enthusiasm, but he mostly laughed at us. We settled for lion, leopard, fish eagle, and giant hornbill before dark, and leopard, hyena, buffalo, genet, chameleon, and scorpion after dark. Our spotter was amazing at finding the animals. It was fun to watch someone who knew the place so well that he could find all sorts of animals, even in the dark.
The other thing we got to do was a walking safari. In most of the parks you are not supposed to be out of your vehicle so you don't become a danger to yourself or the animals. Getting out and walking through the bush is a really different experience than being in a vehicle, and honestly, quite wonderful. You get to use all of your senses when on foot, as well as move slowly enough to be able to see the small things that you miss in a vehicle. For obvious reasons, the guide took us to an area that didn't have a lot of megafauna. We had an armed ranger with us in case we stumbled upon any animals that were not happy to see us, but it is much better to avoid that scenario all together. We learned a lot about animal tracks and poo, plants that are or were commonly used for food or medicine, and interesting tidbits about various birds and insects, including termites. Termites are not featured in any guidebook we had access to, despite them being everywhere and an important component of the ecosystem. They kind of do everything...cycle nutrients, pollinate plants, decompose dead vegetation, provide habitat for other critters and plants through their soil engineering, provide food for many species (including humans), and change the way water moves across the landscape. In this day and age it is also worth noting that termites are eusocial insects, meaning they all have a specific job as individuals that contribute to the betterment of the whole. Maybe our motto for 2022 should be "be the termite."
A termite mound supporting a rather large tree and many plants.
When Pete stuck his face next to one of the holes, the guide
warned him there could be a mamba (snake) or lizard in there
(fortunately there was not).
If you look closely, you can see multiple "apartment" entrances.
In our unaccompanied meanders around the park, we mostly stuck close to the river or other water sources where the animals tended to congregate. These were also the most lovely parts of the park with lush vegetation compared to the drier interior areas. South Luangwa Valley has a few special varieties of animals, including Thornicroft's giraffe and Crayshaw's zebra. They look pretty similar to the regular variety of these species, but are a subspecies found only here.
the river along very well-worn paths
allowing some to share the feast but not all
a baby elephant surprise at the end of our walking safari
Most evenings at camp, we could hear thunder and see lightning to the north. We didn't get much rain at camp after our bush camp night, but the rain was still a bit concerning because our last adventure in South Luangwa was THE adventure road of the trip, the 05 road. With black cotton soil and multiple river crossings, rain would have made that road impassable. The day before our departure, Jenny checked in with the owner of Wildlife Camp, Herman, who drives the road regularly to get a road report. He thought things should be fine based on what he saw during his drive the previous week. He gave us his very detailed directions and time estimates, which was great. He also told us that if we met another vehicle in the very narrow climb up the escarpment, that some of us would have to get out to distract the other driver and then push them over the edge while we continued on. He was joking, of course, but I am not actually sure what else you could do because there was definitely no way to pass another vehicle, and driving backwards on that stretch would have been terrifying. Fortunately for us, the black cotton soil was dry, the river crossings were tame, and we didn't meet another vehicle the entire way. Herman's estimates of where the tsetse flies would be the worst was also spot on, which helped us plan our bathroom breaks. We did see some animals along the way, but often only when the flies were quite bad, so we decided that opening the windows was not worth it for a photo. The 05 road took us through a variety of habitats and was a really beautiful drive.
of the season, but it still got us across the river
with only minor repairs needed on the last section
The "Great" North Road
Next up is Kasanka National Park - a small one, but full of bats! And some cooler weather, at last.
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