The Zambian border crossing was protracted to say the least. Currency issues being the main problem, the $50 visa had to be paid in US, then the other charges, ie road tax, insurance and then for some unknown fee we had to see a guy under a tree, to pay more, all in Zambian Kwacha. Unfortunately the lady at the bank had, not 10 minutes earlier been instucted to “repatriate” her Kwacha to the bank in town so we had to resort to the black market money changers.
As we drove through Chipata, the market stalls on the side of the road were a splash of colour and variety of fruit and veg. The 120kms to Mfuwe is now tarred for about 2/3 of the distance, so we clogged on, arriving at Tracks and Trails at dusk, suddenly remembering that all fruit and veg must be kept in the bar, away from marauding elephants who have learned that vehicles may contain such delicacies. Too late, we dashed over to the bar to check in, then realised that all the fruit was in the back of the car, and one of the windows had been left slightly open, the ‘naughty’ ele was working her way through the plastic dust reflector which she broke, but couldn't quite get her trunk in through the gap when Terry and the security guard ran back and chased her off before she broke the glass. Remembering our experience of eles shaking the tent in 2010 we opted to pitch our ground tents on top of a thatched 15 foot high platform so we were safe.
We spent a day chilling by the pool which is also 15 feet above ground, which means that we could relax and swim whilst these wild but habituated eles graze within arms’ reach from the base of the pool. We stayed in this haven for 7 nights.
South Luangwa Reserve is such a fabulous place. We’ve just popped back to the camp site for a quick kip and a bite to eat after spending most of the morning watching a male leopard in a tree about 6ks from here. We were up and about at 05.30 as we mostly are these days, had a quick cup of tea and a shower then off into the park. We had heard that there had been leopard sightings in a certain area and went looking for it. The experts reckon that there is a leopard for every 2.5 sq kms of this huge park but they are shy and rarely seen. We had actually driven past and not seen it when a local game scout pointed us in the right direction. There is something quite special about being so close (25ft ?) to such a beautiful animal in its own habitat. This part of Zambia isn’t the easiest to get to so there are few independent travellers. Most tourists fly into the little airport and stay in luxurious lodges at the camp inside the park paying a fortune. The big safari companies just about have it tied up and we wonder how much longer it will be before they exclude the likes of us altogether.
Whilst here we were fortunate enough to have 3 separate lion sightings, the biggest being a pride of 22, the next day we found them again, this time in an open plain all sharing the shade of 1 small tree in a pile like the contents of a child’s soft toy box - but with big teeth!
A couple of days restocking and running repairs at Lusaka before heading off to the Kariba lakeshore, arriving there after dark after an horrendous journey, encountering numerous upside down trucks, lots of diversions and hairy encounters with oncoming traffic along the road which is under reconstruction. We camped by the side of the lake, again so inviting, but full of crocodiles.
We crossed into Zim with no hassle at all and arrived at Mana Pools camping on the banks of the Great Zambezi River that we had last seen at Caia in Mozambique , as it winds its way to the Indian Ocean there. The Mana experience was all we could wish for, a true wilderness, no fences, game coming to a fro the campsite, and all with the backdrop of the mountains in the Lower Zambezi park across the border in Zambia. The Mana elephants were much more laid back and often wandered through the camp, concentrating on eating their favourite seeds from the acacia trees rather than upsetting the tourists. Bit of a panic as we arrived at the camp because we discovered 4 satsumas that we had missed, so we quickly ate them up and threw the peel in the river just in case! There is no fruit at all allowed in the game reserve. The game was abundant5 close to the river, so we explores up and down the banks, watching herds of buffalo, plus all the usual buck etc. No lions here but we surprised a leopard who was on his way down a tree as we drove past about 3 metres away, he leapt down as we stopped and we looked at each other for about 30 seconds, just long enough for a photo before he dashed off into the bush. We hired a guide, Moses, for a morning walk along the wide plains along the river banks, this was informative with exciting moments as we had to stay upwind of the eles whilst keeping a watchful eye out for the predators that he said he saw there a couple of days earlier. As we drove back to the camp after our final game drive at Mana we almost bumped into a lone hyena who appeared to have sat on an ants nest and we followed him for a while in fits and starts as he stopped to angrily scratch various parts of his anatomy.
Planning to drive across Zimbabwe along the south of Lake Kariba tomorrow en route to Liuwa plains, next.
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