Day 10, August 3: South Luangwa National Park

Out again in the early morning, to see guineafowl. Lots and lots of guineafowl.

We actually tooka long, looping drive up the Luangwa. 

A spotted hyena, hugely uninterested in us.

Weaver finches at a massive nest

Tawny eagle

Meves' starlings, and go-away bird, in the mud.

Crested barbets, boy...

...and girl

The mighty wildebeest, slummin' with some impalas.

The magnificent martial eagle

A handsome white-browed coucal.

A rather splendid looking racket-tailed roller

 ...and from the side

A southern ground hornbill.

Yellow-billed storks and  an African spoonbill (at the rear)

An African fish-eagle, harassing the storks

A white-fronted bee-eater

Red-billed quelea, part of a larger flock.

Here he is with a yellow-crowned bishop.

Three-banded plover

Southern red-billed hornbill.

And a sleepy kitty.

A hippo, being groomed by red-billed oxpeckers.

A white-browed sparrow weaver

African openbill stork.

We returned to the lodge for lunch, and a big fight. Her majesty decided we were going to visit a textile store. I have no interest in souther African textiles, and this struck me as a bit much. Furthermore, we had a 2 hour break, and if the older ladies in our party wanted to go groove on some textiles, I had no problem; I just didn't see why my wife and I had to be part of it. Eventually, it was decided to let them go check out textiles (the store was only aboput a mile from the lodge), return, and pick us up. 

This is where we went that evening, lraving from the textile store. We crossed the Luangwa via the human-powered ferry, and went hunting for wild dogs. On the banks of the river, we spotted a...

...common greenshank

A white-fronted plover

Puku male at sunset

After much searching, we did eventually find a pack of wild dogs, who who hidden in the bushes. After too many fumbles with my camera, this is the best I could do.

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Day 9, August 2: South Luangwa National Park

Entering the park

This was our route, widdershins.

So of course there were zebras

A western banded snake-eagle

We came upon a fresh buffalo kill, almost stripped clean by white-backed and hooded vultures and marabou storks.

The lions, of course, had already eaten, and were sleeping it off, lazily.

A black-headed heron

A great egret, just like in Florida...

So why are these ibises sacred anyway? Gotta look that up.

OK, they were muffied by the ancient Egyptians, as a votive offering to the ibis-headed god Thoth, the god of wisdom and reason. Fair enough, though it seems a bit rough on the poor bird. They apparently fought off invasions by winged serpents from Arabia. Wonder if they work against the menacing drones of New Jersey?

Some very lazy lions, after another kill.

A very dapper-looking African pied wagtail...

...and our old friend the puku.

A perky-looking family group of swallow-tailed bee-eaters

The purple-crested turaco, a fun and noisy bird. He doesn't know he looks like a clown.

Our first river crossing was via the bridge. Downstream, we were somewhat lower-tech.

The landcruiser, and its passengers, were hauled across the Luangwa by strong Zambian backs!

And down at the river, hadada ibises.

...and African skimmers, which are very similar to our familiar black skimmers.

A boatman.

The sun was going down, and a herd of hippos came out to look at us

And a  pied kingfisher, fishing.

By flashlight, a three-banded courser.

And a leopard and her cub.

Day 8, August 1: South Luangwa National Park

We boarded a small airplane to take us to Mfume in the Luangwas valley. Cou.ldn't see much from the plane. Then a van to take us to Flat Dogs camp on the banks of the Luangwa. The area seemed to be pretty heavily populated. and less smoky than Lusaka.

The camp is run by a couple of Brits. A nice central dining area, and a series of chalets. Stone floors; very nice.

Went out for a quick preprandial drive, in the park, on the other side of the Luangwa. Found some giraffes immediately, along with an African Harrier Hawk.

Here she is, with some pukus.

And a vervet monkey

Meves starling.

We did a much longer drive, after lunch. 

An emerald-spotted wood dove, although the emerald color is iridescent and shows up only is certain light. Here, the spots look black.

A garish looking African Harrier Hawk.

The much prettier white-fronted bee-eater

The very wattled white-crowned lapwing.

The bee-eater has some red-billed Quelea friends...

We found a near-comatose pride of lions, still bloody from a kill.

A honed vulture, helping clean up after the kill.

...and a saddled-billed stork.

After it got dark we found a savannah hare.

and a rusty-spotted genet.

Back at the camp, we found a Xenopus frog in the lodge.

We were escorted back to our chalet, a stone-floored building that was very nice. On the way, we saw a leopard, watching us. Now I know why the escorts carry a gun!