A week in the South Luangwa

We have been regular Cox & Kings clients for the last 15 years or so, but mostly (the Galapagos and Costa Rica excepted) on holidays with a historical/cultural bias - we had never been on safari. A quick check of the guide books indicated that South Luangwa was rated as one of the best National Parks in Africa, on a par with the likes of Kruger and Masai Mara but much less well known. Moreover, from a weather point of view, June was an ideal time to travel.

We had a suitable gap in the diary and decided it looked too good an opportunity to miss. Less than six weeks later – just time to augment our wardrobe with the recommended sludge coloured items and update our jabs – we were on our way for a week that exceeded all expectations. Things did not start particularly auspiciously with a three-hour delay on the overnight flight from Heathrow to Lusaka, causing us to miss the short connecting flight to Mfuwe. However, we were met by a representative of Norman Carr Safaris, who operate Kapani Lodge, whisked off to a lounge, our baggage dealt with and we were on the next flight with barely an hour’s delay. Met at Mfuwe by Paul, who was to be our guide for the week – and of whom much more later – it took just 30 minutes to reach Kapani in time for brunch, a swim in the pool, a snooze, tea and then the first of many fascinating game drives.

Kapani stands about 10 minutes’ drive on a gravel road from the bridge over the Luangwa, which is the main entrance to the National Park. It was founded by Norman Carr, who was the moving spirit behind the establishment of the Park and one of the pioneers of safari holidays in Africa. He also founded a local school and set up arrangements to train local guides who, if Paul is anything to go by, maintain an amazingly high standard. Carr’s grave, marked by a simple stone, lies within the Park not far from the river in a grove of ebony trees. It is regularly visited by elephants who, according to the locals, are paying their respects to the man who ensured their survival. Poaching has, happily, been very largely eliminated from the Park.

The Lodge itself overlooks an ox-bow lake formed by the Luangwa River straightening its course. While strictly outside the Park boundaries, unsurprisingly the animals do not recognise this distinction. Hippos from the lake regularly browse right under the deck where all the meals are taken (and the gate to the swimming pool has to be locked to prevent nightly visitations!); there are resident troops of baboons and vervet monkeys, and shy impala and puku deer race off when disturbed. None of this quite prepared me for waking up at 3am to discern the silhouette of the head, trunk and ears of a large elephant just outside our bedroom window, less than 10 feet away. Fortunately the brick and thatch chalets are robustly built and he seemed more interested in browsing the trees outside. The routine for guests is well established. A wake-up call around dawn for a quick breakfast and off at about 6am with Paul in a land-cruiser for about four hours driving through the various types of habit within the Park. It was pretty cold (about 12C) to start but warmed quickly as the sun rose and by the time of the midmorning coffee break most of the layers had been removed. Back to the lodge for brunch, siesta or swim, tea at 3.30 and then the evening drive – two hours before a sundowner, usually watching a spectacular sunset over the river (a gin and tonic complete with canapés served on a crisp white tablecloth) followed by a further two hours driving with a trainee guide operating a powerful spotlight to pick up the more nocturnal animals like hyena, civet and genets. And finally back to Kapani for dinner and the hippos.

The whole point, of course, was to see the wildlife. So what did we see? At this point it is very tempting to launch into a very long list of species. The Luangwa valley is the end of the Great Rift Valley and has a fair claim to being one of the last great unspoilt wildernesses and possibly the finest wildlife sanctuary in Africa. Although there are some denser thickets near the river, most of the landscape is open grassland dotted with mopani, leadwood and baobab trees with seasonal pools, ideal for game watching. In five days, sightings of elephant, zebra, Thorneycroft’s giraffe (endemic to the Luangwa Valley) buffalo, hippo, crocodile, warthog and half a dozen types of antelope became commonplace although, especially with the elephant and giraffe, never short of the “wow” factor. Most were sufficiently unperturbed by our presence to let the vehicle get within 10 yards or s0. But, like most visitors, we particularly wanted to see the big cats. Our first sighting was on a day trip (complete with picnic) to a more remote area of the Park. This was a perfect opportunity for Paul to demonstrate his astonishing tracking skills.

By a combination of reading the spoor, noting the behaviour of other animals, including their alarm calls, and above all his acute powers of observation we were able to drive right up to a pride of five lionesses snoozing in the shade of a mopani tree. They raised their heads to look at us, yawned and went back to sleep. Later that day, a male lion strolled across the track immediately in front of us, equally uninterested in our presence. And all this without another vehicle in sight – indeed on that particular day, we only saw three other vehicles in the Park. We spent another morning on a walking safari - an innovation first introduced by Norman Carr - accompanied by Paul and an armed ranger. We became expert in matters relating to dung, including the fact that elephant only digest about 60% of their food, which is why you see baboons combing through elephant droppings in search of nutritious morsels; the construction of termite mounds and the local flora. Fortunately the services of the ranger were not required since all of the larger animals steered well clear of us. I haven’t yet mentioned the birds. Here, I am in danger of running out of superlatives. Some 470 species have been identified in South Luangwa.

Although interested, we are not expert birders; however, it would be difficult not to be overwhelmed by the variety and spectacle on display. Just from the deck of the lodge we could watch four varieties of stork, three ibis and countless raptors including the handsome fish eagle.

But once in the Park it was non-stop: kingfishers, from the great kingfisher to the tiny, iridescent malachite; the lilac breasted roller, pretty enough when perched but a spectacular turquoise in flight, only matched by the blue-eared starling; flocks of bright green and pink Lillian’s love birds; hornbills; hoopoes; woodpeckers; the blackbacked puffback, nondescript until the male blows itself up like a shuttlecock as part of its mating ritual, just to mention a few. But the real stars were the bee-eaters. I thought it would be difficult to beat the sight of a colony of bright emerald white-fronted bee-eaters darting in and out of their nest holes in the sandy bank of the river. However, a flock of more than thirty carmine bee-eaters perched in a tree with their glowing carmine pink breasts illuminated by the setting sun was truly breathtaking. Once again I have to pay tribute to Paul’s observational skills – he could identify almost every bird we spotted, whether in flight, perched on the ground or just from its call (and a check in the bird book always confirmed he was right!).

By the final day, we had seen everything we had hoped for and a lot more – all except a leopard. It had become a standing joke with Paul that this was his challenge for the week.

On the last evening we crossed the river on a pontoon, hauled manually on a cable by two muscular locals, while watching a herd of elephant fording in the opposite direction, trunks in the air like snorkel tubes. We travelled up the bank and into the forest on the far side and straightaway there was a leopard (spotted by Paul, of course) stretched out on a branch of a sausage tree just above our heads. Just like the lions earlier, the leopard took no notice of us – it was more interested in a nearby herd of impala – as we sat for a quarter of an hour watching it. Then to round off a perfect day, as we approached our sundowner site, we came across a pack of seven wild dogs, now sufficiently rare to approach endangered status. Paul said we were “lucky people”; he could often go for a month without such a sighting. A final word on Kapani Lodge itself. This was billed as a luxury safari experience and I cannot fault the description. The 10 chalets are spacious, have en suite facilities, mains electricity, potable water and are, as we discovered, elephant-proof. The quality of the meals (to which one is summoned by the beating of drums) was of a very high standard. Although they try to use local produce, supplies are not fully reliable so most is brought in from Lusaka. The staff are almost all local – a tribute to Norman Carr’s legacy – and could have not been more helpful and friendly. If you want to get even more up close and personal with the wildlife there are four bush camps within the Park but we were very happy to stay and enjoy the comforts of Kapani.

The importance of tourism to the South Luangwa community cannot be overstated. On our full day excursion we returned at dusk on a potholed track that passed for a main road, fording streams and driving through many small villages. The circular thatched huts stood in immaculately swept compounds, each with a wood fire providing both light and cooking. The villagers walk miles to gather the fuel. Their invariable cheerfulness and the eagerness of the children to wave as we passed could not conceal that this is essentially a poor agricultural subsistence economy, not helped by elephant and baboons raiding their maize crops. The only electricity supply runs along the single tarmac road from the airstrip to the Park entrance, but the cost is way beyond most of the villagers along the road. Paul is hoping to be the first in his village to be connected to the mains. Norman Carr Safaris employ about 100 local staff, as do the handful of other major lodge operators. But the lodges also cooperate to support the local schools, have established a medical service and encourage the production of handicrafts, all contributing to the local economy. Wildlife conservation is, of course, crucially dependent on the tourist industry. The balance between tourism and the preservation of a remote and beautiful wilderness is always difficult but in my view this is an enterprise that truly deserves to succeed.

Our return to London was smooth and uneventful. After 40 years travelling to almost 80 countries I thought I might be becoming a bit blasé. But South Luangwa was such an unexpected surprise and delight that I wanted to share it with others. The “last unspoiled wilderness” is a bit of a cliché and perhaps we were just lucky. My advice is do go and find out for yourself. For a copy of Cox & Kings 2010 Africa brochure, featuring The South Luangwa Valley and Norman Carr Safaris, call 0844 576 5518 quoting ref COMPASS or visit www.coxandkings.co.uk

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