Zambia (1): Day Sixteen : Buffalo Camp to Kafunta River Lodge

Although we were due to transfer back from North to South Luangwa the next day, Buffalo Camp hadn’t finished with us yet. All through the night we could hear lions around the camp and across the river, and then, just before dawn, we could hear them inside the camp itself. Since the hut door was very flimsy (camera icon), with only a very basic, and somewhat loose, catch to keep it closed, this was quite scary.

After finishing packing we were due to take a final early morning walk. Having seen a lion on the opposite bank of the river during breakfast we naturally set off in that direction, but he had gone by the time we got there.

We then took a quick drive to the Mwaleshi airstrip (no long bumpy drive back for us this time!)  to take a light aircraft (camera icon) flight back to Mfuwe. With space being at a premium I had to occupy the co-pilot’s seat, and was somewhat disconcerted when, on the way, the pilot muttered something, grabbed a pair of pliers, and then disappeared underneath the dashboard.

On arrival at Mfuwe we made the short road transfer to Kafunta River Lodge (camera icon), situated just outside the entrance to the Park, arriving in time for an excellent lunch. After lunch we admired the lodge’s (naturally occurring) hot pool (camera icon), and made the acquaintance of its resident pussy cat.

Kafunta’s real bonus is that, instead of driving around to enter the Park by the main gate, at this time of year you can simply drive right across the river (camera icon), thereby entering the Park in quite a remote region.

An excellent game drive then followed, with the highlight being able to observe a pride of lions trying to catch one of the many antelope who inhabited the area. The three females just failed to take down an impala, which escaped their attention by means of a swift pirouette and then a rapid sprint.

This didn’t faze the females at all, who continued to look for further prey with an air of considerable confidence (camera icon). However the accompanying male was less impressed. The way it works is that the ladies do all the work in achieving the kill, and then the male moves in to have the first go at eating, while they defer to his rule. In this instance the male was clearly extremely hacked off, trudging dejectedly after the females, going slower and slower (camera icon), clearly muttering to himself “bloody useless women”.

In general the game viewing here was excellent, but it might be worth mentioning a couple of rarely mentioned, but often seen, smaller species, namely the scrub hare and the elephant shrew (camera icon), so named because of the resemblance of its long nose to an elephant’s trunk.  In fact we were told that it is actually more closely related to elephants themselves than to true shrews. They make a series of cleared pathways through the undergrowth and spend their day patrolling them for insect life. If disturbed, the pathway provides an obstacle-free escape route.

Back to camp for (belated) sundowners and the evening meal, enlivened by the presence of two Australian ladies who ran an alpaca breeding farm back home. One of them had suffered a bad reaction to her anti-malarial medication (Doxycycline) which had led to a lot of her facial skin falling off. Apparently this is all that is prescribed in Australia (rather than the very safe and effective Malarone), despite coming with the warning that it reacts badly to exposure to the sun, of which there is quite a lot in Africa.

 

At one camp the owner told us of being caught out in the open once and being charged by a buffalo that clearly meant him ultimate harm. The only thing that he could think of to do was to charge the buffalo! Fortunately its nerve broke before his did, and he survived (of course we’ve not discussed this tactic with any of the people who tried it unsuccessfully).

I once tried a similar tactic with a large male baboon that was eyeing me aggressively just outside my hut. Reasoning that I was ‘Man’, and hence superior, I faced up to it – only to discover that it was distinctly unimpressed by my posturing. I guess I can still claim superior intellectual ability – I had the sense to leg it quickly back into my hut!

 

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