In the east of Zambia lies South Luangwa National Park. We decided to visit this park as it might be the last national park with an abundance of wildlife we will visit this year.
There is also a North Luangwa National Park but because of the rainy season the tracks there were impassable.
A lot of tourists stay away during the rainy season, which makes national parks very quiet right now. Together with the wet roads and poor signage, we decided to book a safari drive. This way we did not have to worry about the tracks we would drive and the feeling of being on our own in case of an emergency. A flat tire in the bush with no-one passing for hours, in the midst of wild animals, is not ideal...
We got our personal driver and animal spotter!
The Luangwa River is known for its large hippopotamus and crocodile population and therefor in the river valley, where the South Luangwa National Park is located, there are lots of hippos and crocs to be seen. Myron spotted twice a crocodile for us, but they are such swift animals, they were both gone by the time I tried to take a picture.
Hippos we saw a lot and they are actually really cool, not only in the water, but also when they are out of the water!
We had a little picnic in the wild, just before the sunset. Twilight in Africa is really short which means that after the sun sets it takes maybe 15 minutes before it is pitch dark. We drove around for another hour, with the animal spotter shining a light on the track and the bushes. We saw elephants, hyenas, bushbabies, a leopard, a lot of hippos out of the water, and so many other animal species. I find photography in a moving car in the dark very challenging. I put my camera away and just enjoyed the experience.
And with this, we now shift our focus from National Parks and wildlife to a life with and among the locals.
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