Wild times in Luangwa

I'd been groggily drifting in and out of consciousness for most of the night. Despite being totally isolated from anything even approaching a town, this had not been a quiet evening. As the sun set, the hippos that had kept their distance during the day became bolder and wandered into camp. It's not safe to walk around after dark, rangers with torches guide you back to your tent lest you unwittingly blunder into several tons of angry quadruped, be it an elephant or a hippo. Not only do these animals come closer at night, they also become far more vocal, and whist I'd like to think that the hippos were trying to sing us to sleep, they won't be winning Pop Idol any time soon.

The alarm went off as the sun was starting to peer over the horizon, creating dancing patterns of light on the half-evaporated river outside. Letting out a low moan, I curled tighter into a ball, and savoured the few minutes I had left in the cosy, comforting bed before having to brave the chilly morning air for our first safari experience. Our safari party consisted of a guide called Robert, who had been at Flatdogs for 9 years, two elderly English women and their Dutch mother in law. A somewhat odd mix demographically, you certainly wouldn't find us all at the pub together! The sun was still low in the sky but climbing fast as we set out, and we'd been in the park for about ten minutes before we had out first, and arguably most exciting experience.

Slowing for Robbie to talk about a couple of bushbuck we'd driven past, we heard a commotion coming from a troop of baboons a few hundred meters behind us. Pausing in what he was saying, Robbie seemed unusually interested in this, and knocked the jeep into reverse gear, lurching us back along the road he'd just driven down. We broke away from the tarmac road onto an unmade track running through the scrub, and bumped along hurridly in time to see a few gazelle bounding through the bushes. Rushing in the opposite direction to their flight, we caught the holy grail of safari experiences: an ever-elusive leopard casually strolling into the undergrowth. We had little time to marvel at how beautiful it was, powerful muscels flexing under an immaculate pelt, before it melted into the bush.

This was a real high that was hard to follow. Leopards are far more common in Luangwa than there are in most parks, and lions are also frequently spotted, but there are no cheetah here. While I was keen to see the other animals, its the cats that really do it for me, so I was hoping for lions later in the day. The landscapes in Luangwa are beautifully varied, and this is one of the best times of year for seeing game. The long rains have passed and it's the dry season. The verdant greens of sprouting trees and long grasses have fallen back into a mellow golden brown of dried stalks, and there is relatively little to obscure animal sightings. Patches of green can be found along with a higher concentration of animals around the ponds and puddles of riverbeds and marshes that have yet to evaporate. It was around these watering holes that we spotted hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, baboons, a squirrel or two. The knee-high grasses seemed to be favoured by the antelope such as impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, greater kudu and zebra. It wasn't until we ventured onto the more open plains that we saw a leggy giraffe in the distance, suprisingly difficult to spot despite its height. Incidentally, did you know that a group of giraffe is called a 'tower'? Isn't that lovely? There are other good group names too: an obstenance of buffalo, a rank of impala (due to their heirarchical social structure) and my favourite, a dazzle of zebra. I was in seventh heaven with my 300mm zoom lens, purchased especially for the trip, shooting the big five for my photographic trophies. In actuality it will be difficult to get the big five as rhino are non-existant in Luangwa, and difficult to spot in Ngorongoro, our other safari destination.

After four hours of morning drive we arrived back and camp, and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around camp. The animal watching didn't stop. After a little while frazzling myself in the sun I decided a dip in the pool was in order. Dipping my toes in the water I squeeled: it was freezing. Each new inch submerged evinced another eek from me, but eventually I was fully in the water and doing lengths in a vain pretence at trying to get some excercise. After chugging away for 15 mins or so Nick, in a rather suprised voice, pointed out to me that there was an elephant about ten meters away, stripping branches from a tree. It's amazing how quiet they are on their big, padded feet, especially when your ears are half under water!

At four pm we set off on our night drive, which would be two hours of daylight, a beer by the river as the sun set, and another two hours of night time. The first half was fairly similar to the morning, although we added a few new animals to the catalogue of those we'd seen, including a warthog and a few different types of bird. My *ahem* 'twitchy' boyfriend was most excited about these. As the hours ticked my spirits were beginning to fall. It didn't look like we were going to see the lions that I'd been most looking forward to, which was casting a glum shadow over my previously chirpy mood. Of course, trying to predict the whims of wild animals is much like trying to predcit the weather (well, in Britain anyway - we've barely seen a cloud since we've been here!), and just after sunset we were turned on to the location of a pack of lions by the lights of three trucks that had spotted them. Hastening to the scene we were given the pleasure of gazing at seven lions lazily lolling about in the grass, totally nonchalant and indifferent to the presence of the trucks. Much like celebrities who get used to being snapped by the paprazzi, these animals had simply learned to ignore the presence of lesser beings, and rolled around as if we weren't even there, barely bothering to lift a paw. I was absolutely elated, completely overjoyed, out came the camera and I snapped away with the biggest grin on my face. Night time photos are much more difficult, but I got a few good ones! Once I'd satiated myself and was satisfied that the cats weren't going to do anything more energetic than swat at flies, I consented to allowing the guides to drive away.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, and the most interesting thing was probably a blinding stupid rabbit who refused to get off of the path our vehicle was following, and insisted on running along in front of us for several minutes, freezing in terror whenever we turned the lights on. It didn't matter to me though; I'd seen what I'd came for, and retired to bed practically purring.