The bimble with the tumble

 One of the fantastic things about the two bush camps run by shenton Safaris , mwamba and Kaingo is that it's possible to opt to walk between them rather than be driven from one to another.

The walk is about 7km and takes three hours or so. On the way you encounter whatever the African bush throws your way.

Here we are setting off from Mwamba camp, just the two of us, our guide Patrick and armed scout Edgar.

 First we got a lesson in termites and how some use mud to shade themselves when working on a tree.

 Then the mood changed. Edgar (AKA "The President"), our scout, spotted a pride of Lion about 100m away. The matriarch was lying out to the front and could clearly see us. In lion terms 100m is about 6 seconds of running.

You can just about make out some of them just over Edgar's left shoulder.

 This was just the point, as we quietly watched them watching us, that Jane fell over. The ground was pretty rough and a misplaced footfall sent her tumbling down. We held our breaths - would this provoke the lion?

Not at all - Lion like their sleep and this pride wasn't for charging around - even for a tasty white woman writhing on the ground.

As we walked on from our fantastic Lion spot I noticed how the group was walking so much closer together.

African Civet

In 21 years of safari trips, I've never been able to get a decent picture of a Civet. They are nocturnal and quite shy, but this one was a gem - stood well for a picture.

The African civet is a mammal that is closely related to weasels and mongooses. This animal is widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa inhabiting all areas that provide enough water, food and shelter.

The African civet is threatened by habitat loss and deforestation. People hunt African civet because of its musk that is popular ingredient of many perfumes. Despite these factors, population of African civets in the wild is large and stable.

Ele sunset

Ele bath time

Glossy Ibis

This is the Glossy Ibis, a fairly common bird around water courses. It has a wonderful shine to its feathers, which this picture only hints at.

This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas.

It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, from where it spread to North America.

This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas winter farther south. Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. While generally declining in Europe, it has recently established a breeding colony in southern Spain, and there appears to be a growing trend for the Spanish birds to winter in Britain and Ireland, with at least 22 sightings in 2010.

In 2014, a pair attempted to breed in Lincolnshire, the first such attempt in Britain - so maybe we'll see them closer to home in future.

Lovely Leopard

Ele at dusk

The yawn

Camp life - Mwamba bush camp - heaven on earth

 Dining area

 The bar

 View of the neighbours from our hut's front door

Camp managers Matt and Charlie serve afternoon tea before the evening game drive with an elephant just a few metres away the other side of the dry river bed which forms the camp boundary.

Time for a pre prandial G&T.

Curious Kudu

Hippo pod

Hippo were , like Leopards, a constant theme of the trip.

It looks as though this will be a particularly hard year for them as the rains were poor and water levels are low - two months ahead of what is normally expected.

As water levels drop more and more hippo will have to share the same space - and that is when the fighting will start.

Night drive

One of the joys of the camps in the South Luangwa is being able to do night drives. Here you can pick up nocturnal species and much of the action of the bush takes place just after dusk. 

The one snag is taking pictures is problematic - bumpy roads and long exposures are not a good mix.

 

However the odd shot works - especially when the subject is a pride of lions silently traversing their territory.

Malachite Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher photographed from the hide overlooking the waterhole at Mwamba bush camp

2015 South Luangwa in Zambia

This year's trip took us to a favourite in Zambia - the South Luangwa valley.

This is the fourth or fifth time we have visited the valley and every time we have seen Southern Africa at its best - in terms of wildlife and guest care.

We stayed at a lodge and five bush camps this year and the trip was designed to maximise our time out in the bush.

After an overnight flight to Jo'burg, connection back up to Lusaka and small plane to Mfewe airport we arrived at our first stop for a night at Flatdogs camp.

Previously a low budget backpacker camp it has really changed and is now up there with the other up market camps just outside the reserve boundary and way better than the alternative, a night in Lusaka and morning flight to Mfewe.

After a good night's sleep we were able to take on a morning game drive to get ourselves totally immersed in Africa before we set off to drive down to our first bush camp, Kuyenda.

Kuyenda Bush Camp is a gem of serenity in the African bush run by one of the legends of the area - Phil Berry, a renowned expert on giraffe. After three nights at Kuyenda, during which time we had the entire camp to ourselves sharing it with phil and our guide Sousio, we headed off up to our second base of operations in the park, Mwamba Camp run by Shenton Safaris for four nights.

This small camp sits way out in the bush offering just the right mix of comfort and rustic charm. Here our guide was the incredibly talented Patrick, whose knowledge about everything seemed almost as boundless as his enthusiasm. Mwamba is run by two young brits, Matt and Charlie who made sure we felt welcomed from the moment we arrived.

After three wonderful days exploring the area around Mwamba we walked the seven Kms to Shenton Safaris main camp up on the edge of the Luangwa river itself, Kaingo. What this camp lacked in the rustic feel we love so much (the guest rooms are permanent structures here as opposed to the seasonal thatch roundels at Mwamba) was more than made up for by the constant chorus of hippo noise from the river and the fact that our guide, Patrick, stayed with us to take our game drives and walks.

After three nights at Kaingo it was time to cross the river which had been a constant feature of our game drives every morning and evening to go to Tena Tena, a Robin Pope Safaris camp. If anywhere could be the epitome of "glamping" it has to be Tena tena. Guest accommodation is in the form of tents, but not just any tent - these would make most homes look shabby, not just in terms of furnishing and finish, but also for the views - straight out over a sandbank onto the River Luangwa itself.

Once again our experience was enhanced by another fantastic guide, Julius, another example of the incredibly high standard of guiding in the South Luangwa valley.

Sadly our four nights at Tena tena were our last of this trip, but like all the camps we stayed at it's given us some more special memories of one of the most wonderful places we have ever been to.

I hope you will enjoy the pictures we took. They only come close to an approximation of what this wonderful area is like, but I hope they give a bit of a flavour of the holiday.