Just back from Zambia Pt 1
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:52 pmMy wife and I have been back just over a week from our 16 night safari in the Sth Luangwa Nat Park where we had
a fantastic time with many great experiences and memories that will last forever.I've been quite busy
editing 34 GB of images, the lenses I mostly used were the 17-55 on the D2hs and the 300 f/2.8 VR in conjunction with the D2Xs using HSC mode.
It didn't start out too well with SAA losing or rather deliberately offloading our check-in bag at Lusaka
due to over-selling of the flight, something that is not just common to SAA.
So, the first thing that gets off-loaded is the baggage!
We o'nighted in Lusaka @ the IC Hotel without even a toothbrush! That'll teach us to not at least pack
some toiletries and emergency clothing. However, we were both carrying between us over 18kg of camera
and video gear, so we had our hands full already.
We eventually got our bag 2 days later when we were at Kaingo, so it could have been a lot worse, where
we heard tales of - "You'll never see your bag again!" or "It'll take at least 10 days!"
We spent the next 9 nights @ Kaingo - the first 2 at Kaingo itself, then the next 3 at its bushcamp Mwamba and the
remaining 4 back at Kaingo.
Rather than going through a night by night description, I shall condense it a little.
Both of the camps at Kaingo were fabulous, the staff, owners Derek & Jules were very welcoming and the guiding of Greg and
Patrick- 1st class!
I can't say enough good things about Patrick Njobvu, his knowledge and sense of humor were great, especially his ability with
his animal calls to get a particular species attention, I found this extremely helpful from a photographic point of view.
The location, food and accommodation were spot on, nothing was too much trouble, the drinks flowed full and little things like having dust
covers on the vehicles for your camera & lens were a nice touch.
The spacing on the vehicles were great, where we had only more than 4 in the vehicle only once in 9 days! And they were nearly fully booked
for most of this time, this was a big plus for me and the large lens I poked around!
The animal sightings were fabulous, especially the birding ( a big difference to the SSGR). The chance to get some great photos from all of the
hides cannot be overlooked, including the Ele tree hide sleepout!!
Apart from the huge variety of birdlife and predator & antelope species, the highlights were seeing and photographing Baboons stealing White-fronted
Bee-eater chicks and eggs from what appeared to be the abandoned Red Carmine nesting holes. Also caught in this same act were a Honey Guider parasitising
on a nest hole and a Monitor Lizard seen poking his head out from another nesting hole. (BTW, have had interest from Africa Geo in regards to these photos, so here's hoping)
A female Leopard on a freshly caught Impala, partially eating it and then leaving it to 4 members of the Hollywood pride who completely missed it from only 50 yds
away due to a strong breeze that was blowing the scent away from the pride.
Watching and photographing Hippos gurgling, burping , farting and fighting just a metre or two away behind in a Hippo hide.
Watching and photographing Carmine Bee-eaters in there hundreds gathering around their nesting holes in beautiful early morning light.
Following 4 members of the Hollywood pride on a moonless night, stalk and take down an Impala, where you could hear the sound of the thud as one of the females hit
the Impala mid-flight as she lay in waiting in a small gully. And then preceding to devour it live and pulling the poor animal apart in a 4 way split!
Watching hundreds of Storks, Cranes, Ibis, Hammerkop, Kingfishers and Eagles in a fish feeding frenzy on a drying up waterhole.
Watching a Female Leopard getting kicked off her Impala kill and tree by a Male and watching 2 Hyenas below fighting for the scraps.
Going out on a Midday drive with Patrick and finding a most unusual sighting of a pair of Pel's Fishing Owls and it's fledged young in daylight, with the male being
perched out in the open!
Photographing a pair of Fish Eagles in flight and thinking we had spent too much time in that spot and moving on, only to discover a beautiful Female Leopard
walk across the track again in lovely early morning light and take refuge in a tree and watch for Impala coming down to drink, something we would not have
seen had we not spent less time with the Fish Eagles! All this taking place less than 300 metres from our Bush camp.
The next 5 nights were spent at Tafika Lodge with it's lush green lawn housing 6 very spacious Chalets overlooking the dry river plain and a welcoming cold
Mosi to wash down the dust. Once again, the location (even being outside the NP), food and staff, with the owners, husband and wife, John & Carol Coppinger
making for a very relaxed and easy going atmosphere. I wish I could say the same for a few of their guests!
The guiding & tracking were also first class, special mention to Brian Jackson and Naturalist & Birder Rory McDougall whose company we both very much enjoyed.
The highlights here were every bit as good as Kaingo.
Such as the staff being decently charged by a large Ele inside the grounds and having to duck behind a chalet.
Watching and photographing Carmine Bee-eaters (in early light, of course) diving and tussling over the river and getting some shots of them drinking.
Numerous encounters of Leopards, including a very special occasion where we spent nearly an hour with a very relaxed Female and her 2 cubs in good daylight, watching them play and suckle from mum, ............ very special indeed.
My wife, Rossana and I taking a Microlight flight over the Luangwa, scaring the shit outta big crocs laying by the river bank and coming across a big pride of Lions
relaxing by a Buffalo carcass they had taken down, we had heard this action taking place the evening before from (unfortunately) the other side of the river.
Watching Crown Cranes by their hundreds coming in to land on the salt pan, great timing by Brian for that one! And whilst we were there seeing a Grey Heron trying to scoff down a full sized Scrub Hare, being successful on it's fifth attempt ......amazing!
Following circling and descending Vultures on a Impala kill that was most likely not too well hidden by a Leopard the night before. I managed to get some very classy
shots of one of them pecking the eye out from this poor beast!
Getting decently charged by an old female Ele who didn't appreciate our presence and having to gun the pedal to get outta there! I just couldn't understand how my wife
couldn't get a video shot of this.
And to top off the last night drive, finding 2 Cervals (one, very cooperative) on the salt pan, as promised and well done by Brian!
Here are a few images I'm quite pleased with.
C&C most welcome.
Red Carmine Bee-eater drinking
Red Carmines tussling mid-flight
F Leopard 300M from our bush camp at Mwamba
Cheers
Marc[/img]
a fantastic time with many great experiences and memories that will last forever.I've been quite busy
editing 34 GB of images, the lenses I mostly used were the 17-55 on the D2hs and the 300 f/2.8 VR in conjunction with the D2Xs using HSC mode.
It didn't start out too well with SAA losing or rather deliberately offloading our check-in bag at Lusaka
due to over-selling of the flight, something that is not just common to SAA.
So, the first thing that gets off-loaded is the baggage!
We o'nighted in Lusaka @ the IC Hotel without even a toothbrush! That'll teach us to not at least pack
some toiletries and emergency clothing. However, we were both carrying between us over 18kg of camera
and video gear, so we had our hands full already.
We eventually got our bag 2 days later when we were at Kaingo, so it could have been a lot worse, where
we heard tales of - "You'll never see your bag again!" or "It'll take at least 10 days!"
We spent the next 9 nights @ Kaingo - the first 2 at Kaingo itself, then the next 3 at its bushcamp Mwamba and the
remaining 4 back at Kaingo.
Rather than going through a night by night description, I shall condense it a little.
Both of the camps at Kaingo were fabulous, the staff, owners Derek & Jules were very welcoming and the guiding of Greg and
Patrick- 1st class!
I can't say enough good things about Patrick Njobvu, his knowledge and sense of humor were great, especially his ability with
his animal calls to get a particular species attention, I found this extremely helpful from a photographic point of view.
The location, food and accommodation were spot on, nothing was too much trouble, the drinks flowed full and little things like having dust
covers on the vehicles for your camera & lens were a nice touch.
The spacing on the vehicles were great, where we had only more than 4 in the vehicle only once in 9 days! And they were nearly fully booked
for most of this time, this was a big plus for me and the large lens I poked around!
The animal sightings were fabulous, especially the birding ( a big difference to the SSGR). The chance to get some great photos from all of the
hides cannot be overlooked, including the Ele tree hide sleepout!!
Apart from the huge variety of birdlife and predator & antelope species, the highlights were seeing and photographing Baboons stealing White-fronted
Bee-eater chicks and eggs from what appeared to be the abandoned Red Carmine nesting holes. Also caught in this same act were a Honey Guider parasitising
on a nest hole and a Monitor Lizard seen poking his head out from another nesting hole. (BTW, have had interest from Africa Geo in regards to these photos, so here's hoping)
A female Leopard on a freshly caught Impala, partially eating it and then leaving it to 4 members of the Hollywood pride who completely missed it from only 50 yds
away due to a strong breeze that was blowing the scent away from the pride.
Watching and photographing Hippos gurgling, burping , farting and fighting just a metre or two away behind in a Hippo hide.
Watching and photographing Carmine Bee-eaters in there hundreds gathering around their nesting holes in beautiful early morning light.
Following 4 members of the Hollywood pride on a moonless night, stalk and take down an Impala, where you could hear the sound of the thud as one of the females hit
the Impala mid-flight as she lay in waiting in a small gully. And then preceding to devour it live and pulling the poor animal apart in a 4 way split!
Watching hundreds of Storks, Cranes, Ibis, Hammerkop, Kingfishers and Eagles in a fish feeding frenzy on a drying up waterhole.
Watching a Female Leopard getting kicked off her Impala kill and tree by a Male and watching 2 Hyenas below fighting for the scraps.
Going out on a Midday drive with Patrick and finding a most unusual sighting of a pair of Pel's Fishing Owls and it's fledged young in daylight, with the male being
perched out in the open!
Photographing a pair of Fish Eagles in flight and thinking we had spent too much time in that spot and moving on, only to discover a beautiful Female Leopard
walk across the track again in lovely early morning light and take refuge in a tree and watch for Impala coming down to drink, something we would not have
seen had we not spent less time with the Fish Eagles! All this taking place less than 300 metres from our Bush camp.
The next 5 nights were spent at Tafika Lodge with it's lush green lawn housing 6 very spacious Chalets overlooking the dry river plain and a welcoming cold
Mosi to wash down the dust. Once again, the location (even being outside the NP), food and staff, with the owners, husband and wife, John & Carol Coppinger
making for a very relaxed and easy going atmosphere. I wish I could say the same for a few of their guests!
The guiding & tracking were also first class, special mention to Brian Jackson and Naturalist & Birder Rory McDougall whose company we both very much enjoyed.
The highlights here were every bit as good as Kaingo.
Such as the staff being decently charged by a large Ele inside the grounds and having to duck behind a chalet.
Watching and photographing Carmine Bee-eaters (in early light, of course) diving and tussling over the river and getting some shots of them drinking.
Numerous encounters of Leopards, including a very special occasion where we spent nearly an hour with a very relaxed Female and her 2 cubs in good daylight, watching them play and suckle from mum, ............ very special indeed.
My wife, Rossana and I taking a Microlight flight over the Luangwa, scaring the shit outta big crocs laying by the river bank and coming across a big pride of Lions
relaxing by a Buffalo carcass they had taken down, we had heard this action taking place the evening before from (unfortunately) the other side of the river.
Watching Crown Cranes by their hundreds coming in to land on the salt pan, great timing by Brian for that one! And whilst we were there seeing a Grey Heron trying to scoff down a full sized Scrub Hare, being successful on it's fifth attempt ......amazing!
Following circling and descending Vultures on a Impala kill that was most likely not too well hidden by a Leopard the night before. I managed to get some very classy
shots of one of them pecking the eye out from this poor beast!
Getting decently charged by an old female Ele who didn't appreciate our presence and having to gun the pedal to get outta there! I just couldn't understand how my wife
couldn't get a video shot of this.
And to top off the last night drive, finding 2 Cervals (one, very cooperative) on the salt pan, as promised and well done by Brian!
Here are a few images I'm quite pleased with.
C&C most welcome.
Red Carmine Bee-eater drinking
Red Carmines tussling mid-flight
F Leopard 300M from our bush camp at Mwamba
Cheers
Marc[/img]
