The grand finale for my Africa experience was a safari adventure in Luangwa National Park in Zambia. It was everything that I always imagined a safari would be and made me a little nostalgic for the 5 months that I spent camping in the rainforests of Costa Rica during a Tropical Ecology study abroad program in undergrad. There’s nothing better than being able to gaze at an infinite blanket of stars at night, the constant smell of grasslands mixed with drying animal dung and being covered in a solid film of dirt at the end of the day!
Getting to Zambia from Lilongwe took about 6 hours or so. Danica and I were accompanied by two Dutch med students, a young Swiss couple, a somewhat disgruntled American SICU nurse and our fierce driver Saidi, who had an unending collection of thrilling safari stories to share with us. The strange dynamic of our group provided constant entertainment for Danica and I. Most interesting was the European folks’ constant lack of racial sensitivity which was highly offensive but eventually Danica and I learned to laugh at their crude antics and obvious ignorance since we were stuck with them!
For our safari, we were out in the park by 6 am until 11 am each morning. Then in the afternoons, we would return to the park at 4 pm and stay until the park closed at 8 pm. The best moment by far was when we were on our first night drive and had the chance to observe a mother lion and her three cubs. The mother was trying to hide the cubs in some bushes so that she could go out and hunt but the energetic cubs kept following her. She kept trying to stow them away much to their dismay which they expressed through defiant meows. I’m not sure what happened in the end since we left so as not to disrupt their routine! Also very exciting were the two male lions, supposedly brothers, that we got to see. I was surprised by the sheer arrogance and courage of the lions. They were fearless and although our jeep was parked in clear view and we were shining our lights on the animals, they were relentless in pursuing their path and made confident steps towards us, determined to go about their own business. In fact, both males decided to take a nap within 10 feet our car!
We also saw giraffes, zebras, elephants, spotted hyenas, monkeys, some very hungry hippos and a variety of colorful birds. Seeing the beauty and elegance of these animals in action is a true gift. It was also fun to observe the symbiotic relationship that the baboons and the impalas shared. These two groups of animals travel in packs so that they can warn each other about lurking predators. While baboons are able to climb up in trees and see what’s coming, the impalas have excellent night vision. At first glance this seems like an unlikely combination to benefit from each other but in fact baboons and impalas have much to gain from one another. These little intricacies found within nature continue to fascinate me. I’m not sure why but I find nature’s logic comforting and reassuring. Everything evolves in a specific way and while the purpose may not be obvious to an observer at first glance, the complexities are apparent for those directly involved and can be understood by others after some consideration.
On the morning of our departure from the Zambia, the elephants decided to make their way to our cabins. One elephant was grazing on the trees within the complex of our lodge. It was very entertaining to watch the elephants grab anything green in their path and then readily shove the stuff in their mouth! Saidi, our guide, told us that once upon a time, elephants had come to the dining area of the lodge during lunch hour and had carefully eaten everything off of each plate and out of every serving dish. Supposedly, the elephants had taken care not to break or even move any of the dishes but just eat every last morsel of food! Another funny story that Saidi told us involved a German tourist who began chasing a hippo around the lodge so that he could capture the hippo on film. However, the hippo wasn’t down for being photographed or hounded and he chased the tourist around, and then pushed him over. The tourist wasn’t physically injured but was psychologically traumatized and therefore headed back to Germany on the same day!
Luckily, we didn’t have to witness any foolish incidents on our safari. After getting some last minute photos of our heavy elephant friends, we wished them farewell and hit the road, headed back to Lilongwe.
Getting to Zambia from Lilongwe took about 6 hours or so. Danica and I were accompanied by two Dutch med students, a young Swiss couple, a somewhat disgruntled American SICU nurse and our fierce driver Saidi, who had an unending collection of thrilling safari stories to share with us. The strange dynamic of our group provided constant entertainment for Danica and I. Most interesting was the European folks’ constant lack of racial sensitivity which was highly offensive but eventually Danica and I learned to laugh at their crude antics and obvious ignorance since we were stuck with them!
For our safari, we were out in the park by 6 am until 11 am each morning. Then in the afternoons, we would return to the park at 4 pm and stay until the park closed at 8 pm. The best moment by far was when we were on our first night drive and had the chance to observe a mother lion and her three cubs. The mother was trying to hide the cubs in some bushes so that she could go out and hunt but the energetic cubs kept following her. She kept trying to stow them away much to their dismay which they expressed through defiant meows. I’m not sure what happened in the end since we left so as not to disrupt their routine! Also very exciting were the two male lions, supposedly brothers, that we got to see. I was surprised by the sheer arrogance and courage of the lions. They were fearless and although our jeep was parked in clear view and we were shining our lights on the animals, they were relentless in pursuing their path and made confident steps towards us, determined to go about their own business. In fact, both males decided to take a nap within 10 feet our car!
We also saw giraffes, zebras, elephants, spotted hyenas, monkeys, some very hungry hippos and a variety of colorful birds. Seeing the beauty and elegance of these animals in action is a true gift. It was also fun to observe the symbiotic relationship that the baboons and the impalas shared. These two groups of animals travel in packs so that they can warn each other about lurking predators. While baboons are able to climb up in trees and see what’s coming, the impalas have excellent night vision. At first glance this seems like an unlikely combination to benefit from each other but in fact baboons and impalas have much to gain from one another. These little intricacies found within nature continue to fascinate me. I’m not sure why but I find nature’s logic comforting and reassuring. Everything evolves in a specific way and while the purpose may not be obvious to an observer at first glance, the complexities are apparent for those directly involved and can be understood by others after some consideration.
On the morning of our departure from the Zambia, the elephants decided to make their way to our cabins. One elephant was grazing on the trees within the complex of our lodge. It was very entertaining to watch the elephants grab anything green in their path and then readily shove the stuff in their mouth! Saidi, our guide, told us that once upon a time, elephants had come to the dining area of the lodge during lunch hour and had carefully eaten everything off of each plate and out of every serving dish. Supposedly, the elephants had taken care not to break or even move any of the dishes but just eat every last morsel of food! Another funny story that Saidi told us involved a German tourist who began chasing a hippo around the lodge so that he could capture the hippo on film. However, the hippo wasn’t down for being photographed or hounded and he chased the tourist around, and then pushed him over. The tourist wasn’t physically injured but was psychologically traumatized and therefore headed back to Germany on the same day!
Luckily, we didn’t have to witness any foolish incidents on our safari. After getting some last minute photos of our heavy elephant friends, we wished them farewell and hit the road, headed back to Lilongwe.
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