Zambia: October 2009 Archives

It's all very well heading out into the bush in the protection of a huge safari vehicle, but how about pulling on some boots and stomping around on foot? Zambia is the home of the walking safari, so we decided to give it a whirl.
Off we went, accompanied by Keenan and an armed guard. The idea is to avoid getting dangerously close to any big game, but the guard is there as a precaution just in case. Walking safaris are great for spotting the small things you wouldn't notice from the car. We saw elephant prints, a hippo skull, the strange fruit of the sausage tree and jackal poo - white from all the calcium in the bones they eat - amongst other things.

It was a great, really atmospheric experience. You get a much better feel of the scale and realise just how vast and wild the bush is.
 

A trip to Zambia wouldn't be complete without a visit to one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. Scottish explorer David Livingstone - who the neighbouring town is named after - is believed to have been the first European to see this vast torrent, and subsequently gave it the name of Britain's Queen.

However, the original indigenous name, and the one now officially used in Zambia, seems far more fitting. Mosi-oa-Tunya means 'the smoke that thunders'. We visited at the end of the dry season, so we didn't get to see the falls in full flow. However, the torrents were still pretty spectacular.

The falls sit on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe - this bridge is crossing point.

The drop below the walkway from which you view the falls is vast - we decided the sign below gave pretty good advice.

There's nothing quite like spotting big cats, as we discover in the South Luangwa. With a thrill of excitement we spot two lionesses. They don't hang around - our guide says Keenan says they are off to find water for an evening drink.

Like a man with the scent of big cats in his nostrils, Keenan keeps driving. He's right - within minutes we see Nip Nose, one of the lions who live in the area. He's watching over a kill - the carcass of an impala. We watch with bated breath as Nip Nose waits, and waits.

Eventually, like any hungry man, Nip Nose cracks. He makes a start on the impala, ripping at it with his huge teeth. However, we haven't got time to hang around and find out what the two lionesses have to say when they return and find Nip Nose has started dinner without them. We've got a date with a more elusive big cat - a leopard. South Luangwa is a particularly good place for sightings of these spotty beasts.

With all the languid poise and grace you could hope for, our leopard is lounging on a branch. He's almost too lazy to take any notice of us, only the odd flick of the tail gives any clue that he's awake at all. But for one moment his eyes open, and I find myself in the extremely privileged position of locking gaze with a leopard. A truly magical moment.

One short flight later and we're in the South Luangwa national park, a reserve almost insanely rich with game. Even on the way from the airport to camp we got this fantastic drive-by of a hippo loitering by the water's edge.