On safari, every day brings fresh discoveries. Elephants
as bulky as ambulances file silently through the bush.
Hippos wallow in weed-covered pools, clumped together
like dumplings in soup. Rival impalas clash horns with
shocking force, while others pronk and stare. Fish eagles
screech, starlings shimmer in the glare and lions stagger
into the shade to snooze. But the best things of all? They
happen when you least expect them to.
It’s an hour or so past sunset, the last rays have ebbed
away and we’re motoring slowly back to our lodge.
Beyond the sandy track, the visible world has shrunk
to a patchwork of shadows, swept by the beam of our
spotlight. Occasionally, we pick out a glimmer of eyeshine:
a wakeful antelope, or a scrub hare quivering in the grass.
Frogs clink and quoip from a nearby lagoon and our noses
twitch, alert to the cool, damp aromas of night.
Suddenly, there’s a flash of movement. Like lightning,
a trio of zebra dash across our path, lit first by the beam,
then by our headlights.
Manda Chisanga, our driver and guide from The
Bushcamp Company, brakes swiftly. “There must be
a cat on their tail!” he whispers. The zebra are in tight
formation: a mare, a stallion and between them, sprinting
for dear life, a tiny youngster. In a split second, their
pursuer appears, a blur of sinew, muscle and spots. It’s a
leopard. The stallion kicks out and the cat, foiled, stalls.
“That baby could have been born today,” says Manda.
“Welcome to the world, little zebra! Looks like you’ve
passed your first test.”
My mother, who’s in the front beside Manda, is beyond
excited. Her eyes are out on stalks.
We’re exploring the world-class South Luangwa
National Park, where leopards thrive. But we hadn’tPREVIOUS PAGES: Colony
of white-fronted bee-
eaters on the bank of the
Chongwe River, Lower
Zambezi National ParkFROM TOP: Manda
Chisanga of The
Bushcamp Company
beside the Luangwa
River, overlooking the
Chindeni Hills, South
Luangwa National
Park; herd of elephants
in woodland, Lower
Zambezi National Park104 natgeotraveller.co.uk
ZAMBIA