I Can't Believe I'm Here!

Thursday

This morning we left the house at around 5:40am. We got to the airport and were the first people to arrive at the Pro-flight office. We were there even before the employees! So we were the first ones to get to the counter when they actually got there. And guess what?? We got on the flight!! There were standby tickets available! We were so happy. J The whole way we were driving to the airport I was praying that God would let us get a flight if that was his will, and I guess it was. Once we got our tickets, we waited for about 45 minutes before heading to the domestic flights area. While we were waiting we met Raymond, Anne’s son, who works at the airport. It was so nice to see him, and he definitely helped us out with where we should go etc.

At around 8 we boarded our small 18 passenger charter plane and off we went! I was expecting a bumpier ride since it was a smaller plane but it was actually quite smooth! We even got a mint, drinks, and snacks on the short 1 hour flight. There were even a couple seats not occupied. So we’re really hoping we can get a standby flight on the way back now.

It was such a clear day that you could look down and see land the whole way. We were literally flying over open spaces with no habitation at all. And before we knew it, we were ready to land in Mfuwe. Our guide Billy was there waiting for us. I had called him from the Lusaka airport to let him know we were coming. We loaded our bags into the game drive vehicle and off we went on the 50 min drive to the Wildlife Camp.

The Wildlife Camp is just like I remember it! It’s hard to believe it’s been about 9 years since I’ve been here last. There are only a couple changes. The place has a few different decorations, the reception area is in a different spot, and some of the game vehicles have covers on them now. But other than that, it’s exactly the same. It is so good to be back. After a welcome from Conrad, the nice manager, we wandered around the camp taking pictures. We went to the chalets where we usually stayed at and walked to the campsite to check out the pool. Oh, I forgot to say that Conrad upgraded our rooms to a chalet instead of a safari tent chalet, at no extra cost! How nice! And our chalet is the one right next to the restaurant area, so we’re close to everything. After taking pictures we had lunch: a meat pie, salad and a roll. Then we went to the pool for the afternoon. We took a dip in the pool, read our books and napped. The pool is so awesome because it overlooks the Luangwa river, so we saw and heard the hippos and also saw a big croc sunbathing with its mouth open on the bank.

At 3 we came back to our chalet to get ready for the night game drive. We had a piece of coffee cake, tea and coffee over at the restaurant and then headed out on our drive. Our guide’s name was Su and our spotlighter was Margo. We were with a group of five people from Australia. They were on their last game drive, but the other days they were here they so pretty much everything! We got here about a day late, because last night right in the Wildlife Camp there was a lion kill and a leopard. The lions were hunting and ended up getting an impala right in the area in front of the restaurant; they said you could hear the bones crunching. And the leopard walked through the camp I guess.

Anyway, our evening game drive was wonderful! It went from 4-8ish with a break around 6 for a sundowner drink. We probably would have asked our guide to stop more during the drive to take pictures, but the other people we were with had seen all the animals before so they were more on the lookout for the big stuff. I know how that goes. So we didn’t complain too much, we knew we’ll be going on more game drives another day.  Driving through the park was so cool…I remembered all the roads we took and where we’d seen certain animals on previous trips. Made me wish my family was here to share this with me. Here’s what we saw tonight: elephant, zebra including a pregnant one, giraffe, bushbuck, impala, puku, an elephant shrew, large spotted genet cat, scrub hare, a hippos including a week old baby, crocs, a civet cat, white tailed mongoose, saddlebilled stork, sacred ibis, other birds, 3 hyenas and A LEOPARD!!! Our Australian friends saw a leopard right after it killed an impala last night. So tonight on our drive we saw the impala it killed up in the tree. We heard a nearby impala give an alert cry so we knew the leopard was nearby still, but we couldn’t see it. So we carried on for a while and had our sunset drink where we parked near the river, got out of the vehicle and enjoyed a soda while watching the sun set. Then we headed back to the tree where we saw the impala. The leopard was there! Right on a branch munching away at the impala. 3 hyena were bumming around under the tree waiting for the scraps. Unfortunately there were other cars there, so after a brief look we kept going. Su promised we’d come back at the end though. We didn’t see a whole lot after the leopard. Although we did follow a porcupine down the road for a good 10 minutes. He refused to get off the road. Su said that’s the longest he’s ever followed a porcupine.

When we went back to the leopard it was still there. Looking at it through the binoculars Dee lent us was amazing. Its belly was so full of meat it looked pregnant. We waited long enough and even saw it climb out of the tree and slink away. We were decently close to it where we could get some great pictures on our cameras!

What an amazing night. Seeing leopard is rare enough, let alone seeing it in a tree eating an impala on the first night you are here. What a blessing! So many times today I had the thought “I can’t believe I am here”. There’s nowhere else on earth I’d rather be right now though. I love South Luangwa! The stars were amazing too. Being in the middle of nowhere, makes the stars shine so much brighter.

When we got back we had a supper of leek soup, chicken, rice, green beans and carrots and for dessert, crepes with an orange sauce. So delicious after a long, wonderful day!

And we get to do this all over again bright and early tomorrow morning at 5am when we get up for our morning drive. J