A lot of agents and friends are asking us what our mobile safari camps will look like for our launch in 2012. After a great trip to the Kafue with photographer Patrick Bentley (http://www.patrickbentley.com/ or http://www.livingluangwa.com/), we will soon have a selection of photos on our website which will give everyone an idea of what to expect from a Zambian Dawn Safari.Patrick's photos show off a typical Zambian Dawn Safari camp beautifully and highlight some of the great game that can be found in the Kafue. As we were having sundowners on the Lafupa River, Patrick got this great shot of a hippo snorting directly in front of us.
While we were on the Lafupa river and Busanga Plains we saw some great game. Our game diary went as follows:
Monday 08 August. Arrived at Treetops Schools Camp on the banks of the Lafupa river which was to be our base camp for the weeks recce and photo shoot.
Tuesday 09 August. Recce of the Moshi area to look for a potential camp site. Got mock charged by a single young bull elephant, but saw him off! Then just down the road we came across a lioness on a puku kill with her half grown cubs. She had literally just killed it and gone for a drink of water. We carried on and saw plenty of wattled cranes and then the distinct brown feathering of a Pel's fishing owl right out in the open daylight. We identified a sight in the late morning and started setting up camp. Patrick needed the camp set up for the afternoon light. From 1600 hrs onwards it was photo shoot time - hard work I can tell you!
Wednesday 10 August. Patrick and I (David) went to the Busanga Plains to recce a Busanga camp site. We set off before dawn and Patrick got some great shots of the sun rise and the morning sun colouring the plains grass beautifully. We stopped on a raised termite mound for our morning tea with a wonderful vista across the plains. A camp was identified and due to the vast number of aardvark holes in the glade, we decided to call it 'Aardvark Camp'. Patrick pointed out that the sandy soils and vast amounts of termite mounds made for an ant bear's paradise! On the way back we came across thirty elephants on the plains. As we went off road to bump around them to get the sun on the correct side they all suddenly charged us and we had to make a bumpy dash to freedom. Again, Patrick got some great shots of the elephants literally over his shoulder. I was scared of hitting a termite mound or aardvark hole in my newly painted Land Rover game viewer! We got back to camp for a late lunch, a siesta and then out for sundowners at croc corner. Sure enough, the huge croc who lives here was out sunning himself. This is where Patrick got his snorting hippo shot.
Thursday 11 August. We went back to the camp and I did some video and then packed up. Patrick went back to Lusaka and Una, Ciara and I stayed on. We went our for an afternoon game drive and saw a Tawny eagle on Francolin kill in a tree. The two massive Lappett Faced Vultures on the ground alerted us to their presence. We had sun downers on one of the Moshi lagoons and kept driving into clumps of hippos lying up in the treeline along the Moshi dambos.
Friday 12 August. I went out for an early morning game drive and came across two male cheetah walking through the miombo woodland and then further down the road I came across five wild dog. Quite an amazing morning. No photos I'm afraid, but I will post the videos on You Tube.
Saturday 13 August. We drove back to Lusaka out via the Labunga pontoon and the hot springs. Another amazing sight which I will have to tell you about another time.
Yours,
Dave
