Lower Zambezi
Chapter two
A day in the Lower Zambezi National Park.
For my first full day in the area I’ve arranged to spend the day in the Lower Zambezi National Park.
After breakfast we’ll take a boat into the park and spend the day there. Leonard will drive on ahead and meet us in the truck. I’m asked if I’d like to take the boat back, but I tell them I’ll drive back with Raphael.
I’m the first one down on the dock after breakfast and I ask if I can help with any preparations. The captain says it’s all good and bades me sit. I wait inside the boat watching the reflection of the sun as it climbs up into the sky.
It’s a beautiful morning for a cruise. The sun paints the mountains rose, the sandy banks gold. The boat speeds down river and soon we reach the edge of the park where the captain alights to check us in.
From the checkpoint we continue cruising over the still waters. Hippos seem to be the only things to be breaking the surface and we speed by multiple pods en route to our destination.
When we arrive Leonard is waiting for us. We alight and transfer coolers and climb into the truck. The landscape is completely changed from where we were. It resembles a National Park from the western United States to my eye. Later, I’ll ask why this area is so much clearer than where we are and Raphael will tell me it’s due to flooding.
Almost immediately we’re tracking lions. There’s been chatter on the radio and Raphael drives us towards the vehicles already in pursuit.
We come across vehicles from various camps within the park, and we can see the lion prowling through the undergrowth. Leonard follows and then strikes off, positioning ourselves in the lion’s path so that we have a great view of him as he emerges from the thicket.
We follow the lion until it rests in a copse of trees. Another vehicle has priority and positions itself in the perfect spot. From where we are our view is slightly occluded. After pausing for a moment we leave to give others a chance to see the lion.
Leonard drives to a temporary body of water and sets up for tea. We alight to stretch our legs and as we gather around to drink our beverages a flock of birds take wing and circle around us before heading off into the distance.
After tea and coffee we help Raphael pack up the truck and continue on our drive. He stops in a clearing and points out an animal far off in the distance. It’s a civet cat. I’m amazed he’s spotted it from so far away, and am surprised that this generally nocturnal animal is walking around during the day. We keep our distance and watch as it marks territory and then saunters on its way.
Further on we spot a family of elephants. A few baboons hang out beside them, one of them sitting in a pile of dung. Raphael tells us that the baboons often wait for elephants to defecate so that they can dig seeds out from their dung. One in particular is too tough to eat on its own, but is much easier to manage once its passed through the elephant’s digestive system.
We continue to drive around the park, up to the edge of the river and then back inland. There are no giraffes in this park; the thicket that grows around this area makes it too difficult for giraffes to manage. And while I enjoy seeing as many elephants as we do, I realize I miss seeing the occasional giraffe.
For lunch Leonard drives us back to the edge of the river. Chairs have been arranged in a semi-circle around a buffet and staff members from the lodge welcome us with drinks. Nearby, an elephant grazes and the guides keep a careful watch, making sure it doesn’t come too close to where we dine.
Lunch is a relaxed affair. There’s a photographer who is there to shoot the camp, but he has a cold and sits off to the side. A family sits together and the guides sit off to the side. I wander off where the guides sit for a better view of the elephant and chat with Raphael as I watch the elephant eat.
After lunch we continue to explore the park. At one point we stop to watch an elephant as it roams. I get excited when I see it stop under the bough of a tree and reach up to sample its leaves. I’m more excited still as it leans back on its haunches to get up to the tastier branches.
Leonard drives us further through the park searching for game. He has a destination in mind, however, as we’re soon to find out.
He drives us to a large baobab tree and invites us inside. It’s been hollowed out and could make for a comfortable home. He offers it to us as a place to stay.
From there we head to a shallow lake covered in vegetation. Crocodiles sun themselves by the edges. A group of hippo collect on the banks. The sharp-eyed point out a hippo in the water wearing the leaves upon its head. It’s almost perfectly camouflaged.
We drive west towards the exit and our lodge. At one point we disturb a small group of elephants and one mock charges us through the bush. A baby follows suit, testing out its own ability to intimidate.
The sun stretches shadows out across the park and our pace feels languid. We pause to watch an elephant feed close by our track before heading to a larger plain where Raphael plans to set up for sundowners.
We spot impala and zebra as we head towards a small river. I note that we haven’t seen as many zebra as I’ve seen elsewhere. Leonard tells me that it depends on the season and location. On the eastern parts of the park there are huge herds.
We stop by the river and Leonard prepares cocktails and snacks. We watch as elephants cross the river further upstream from where we are. Raphael tells me that when the water is high enough, they’ll canoe down this river. I ask if it’ll be possible tomorrow; he tells me the level looks too low.
The sun sets and the moon rises. What I had thought were low-lying clouds on the mountains are actually smoke and as night falls we can see the wildfires that burn.
After finishing our drinks we help Leonard pack up the car and continue to drive west, through the gates of the park, to our lodge, stopping once when we come across a small family of elephants just beyond the park bounds. We watch as they made they way along the edge of an embankment. It’s almost too dark to see, but we do our best until Leonard motions that it’s time to leave. 🇿🇲
20 July 2024
