Wednesday, December 11th – Thursday, December 12th, 2024
World Tour Days 39 – 40
After taking in our last sunrise over Lake Malawi we started the drive to our next country: Zambia. Our drive was 12 hours in total. Our group got to see a different side of Malawi during our lunch stop, where the local villagers fought each other for our leftover lunch food. Up until this point we had only positive interactions with local people, but we were told that these people were likely desperate for something to eat. The border crossing went smoothly and we made it to our camp near South Luangwa National Park for sunset. Sunset was along the riverbank where we could see hippos and crocodiles.
The 11th was my 30th birthday and the truck surprised me good. They got me to go onto the truck after dinner to grab Nick’s water bottle, where a happy birthday banner and cake waited for me. I almost did not see them though; as soon as they started singing outside I turned to go back out before seeing the surprise. It was very unexpected.
Our full day in South Luangwa started off with a morning safari at 6:00am. It was nice and calm. Highlights included bull elephants, impala nurseries, giraffes, zebras with the zoomies, warthogs, and hippos. We had a lovely tea time—or fika—with tea and cookies in the park as well. After the game drive we played scrabble, had brunch, and swam in the pool. We were pretty desperate for some relief from the heat. Nick unfortunately did not feel well after we took our medication for a local parasite. We did not know if we had contracted it or not but thought it was better to be safe.
The sunset safari was one of the best experiences we have ever had. The safari truck left camp at 4:00pm. It was completely open with no sides. Before sunset we saw painted dogs (which are incredibly rare to see) hanging out near the road. They were relaxing in the shade with high alert monkeys watching them nearby. There was also a snake eagle, bull elephants, and a warthog nursing two babies.
Another incredible highlight before the sunset started was a mother leopard with her two cubs. The mother was farther away relaxing in a dry riverbed after a successful feeding. The two cubs were relaxing a few meters away from our truck in the bank, stalking birds, playing with each other, and being absolutely adorable. We got to watch the family for a long time which was such a treat as leopards are usually very hard to spot, and if they are on the ground they go for cover when trucks get close. We will never forget this experience.
Then sunset began; the colors were deep orange and red through the trees. We did not make it to the best spot for sunset in time for the peak colors though as a massive rain and lighting storm rolled in with some strong winds. It was an absolute downpour but luckily the truck was equipped with ponchos for everyone. Our truck remained in good spirits and laughed at the absurdity. We fishtailed our way to the sunset spot where we ate popcorn, drank soda, and watched the sunset on one side of the river and a lighting storm on the other. My seat got drenched with big gushes of water from the ceiling of the truck.
When the sunset and it was dark it was time to begin the next phase of the safari: our first night drive through a park. A guide up front used a powerful torch to scan infront of the truck back and forth until he spotted an animal. We saw an elephant shrew, scrub hair, chameleon, genet (a cat like animal), crocodile, cape buffalos, giraffes, and a hyena. Just driving in the dark in the park was cool on its own.
The amazing day ended with a fabulous dinner back at camp where we all reminisced about how wonderful the day had been. This was our Zambia highlight.