Remember that time we saw a lion kill an impala?

Yup, that happened.  But you'll have to read (or at least peruse) the rest of this post before you get to that bit.  Because, well, because that's the way it happened for us too!

So....I didn't see a lay-oh-paaahhhhd, but the trip was definitely worthwhile and a perfect way to bring 2011 to a close.  South Luangwa - while much lesser known than other safaris such as Maasai Mara or Serengeti is often ranked among the best safaris in the world (and another).  One of our friends operates a travel company here in Malawi, Malawian Style, and at one of the quiz nights, he gave away a free trip to South Luangwa.  He opened the trip up to other folks and ended up getting a group of 15 to head to Zambia last weekend.

beginning the journey to neighboring Zambia (we would have made the trip in 5 hours had it not taken 2 hours to cross the dang border!)

 When we arrived at our camp,  Croc Valley Camp, the group that departed on Thursday was just about to head out on a night game drive.  Several of us chose to stay back and just veg out.  After all, this was supposed to be a vacation, right!?

L - closing out her year in Malawi by vegging on a hammock in Zambia

The pool was more like a big puddle.  As animals often wander up to this camp at night, the pool was built so that they could easily get out if they accidentally wandered in.

but it made for a perfect tanning spot! (nothing like a good old Christmas tan!)

my chalet, with my roommate C

And our other roommate, fat frog (although he later changed his mind and left)

Once the game drive group returned, we gathered for a big family meal and then turned in rather early in preparation for our 5:30 departure the next morning.

no, she did not eat the praying mantis for dinner....

 The next morning we got up bright and early, ready to head to the park....

one of the vehicles all ready to go!

hawk

elephant and baboon - they wanted to personally welcome us to South Luangwa

feasting on some fruit

LION PRINTS!  Now.....where is the lion?  come out come out wherever you are!

it's not everyday you see impala and baboons running down the middle of the road

this shot sort of reminds me of a similar one i took of zebras in Maasai Mara

as the rainy season has just begun, this is the first real grass of the season...

 

And now for a segment I like to call, BABIES ARE SO CUTE!  Not that that's news to anyone, but really, baby animals are just adorable...

 

estimated age: 1 day

estimated age: 2 days

the baby kept trying to get up but he/she couldn't do it on his/her own so his/her mom helped with a little nudge of her foot and a gentle tug from her trunk

same photo as above, but zoomed in. 

HOW CUTE is this baby elephant!  So teeny tiny!

relatively speaking, of course

Next up, some crescent cranes putting on a nice little show for us

Mr. Hippo could never replace our recently departed friend M (the rightful owner of Mr. Hippo), but he had a nice time on the safari (from the safety of our safari vehicle)

The vehicle for our night drive (yes, you're sort of right out in the open)

back of the bus

that hippo does NOT look happy!

the gents

the ladies

the view for our tea (or gin/tonic) break.  I see a storm a-brewin'!

 

 

That's no normal monkey!

the whole gang

L, M, and C

and...it's raining in the distance which means it's not so far from us!

green parkas help....but not a ton

So, at this point, we were all wet.  I was sitting in the back row without shelter in the back and was pretty soaked through.  Our game drive was supposed to go until 8 and it was about 7:45.  Since the sun set, all we saw were a few zebras, a few impala, an elephant, and a warthog.  NO CATS.  In fact, no one had seen any cats during the entire time we were there.  We were all silently giving up hope that we'd get to see anything exciting and I was (to be honest), a little disappointed.  I knew that rainy season wasn't the ideal time to go on a safari since animals can hide behind lush plants and they don't need to search for watering holes as much...but I still thought we'd see some cats!  Maybe even a lay-oh-pahd!  Anyway, 7:45 rolls around and we stop the vehicle for a quick bathroom break.  We hop back in and prepare to return to camp. 

But then....it happened.  

So in Malawi there are kamikaze goats.  When you're driving on the road, they panic and can't decide whether to cross or not.  They change their minds 1000 times, despite your best efforts to warn them by beeping your horn.  Occasionally you get the stupidest of all goats who, rather than choosing one side of the road, opts to run straight down the center of the road (in front of your car).  Get off the dang road, silly goat!?!  Anyway, we came across one of these in impala form.  The little thing just kept running away from our vehicle....straight down the center of the road!  We were laughing that it was chasing its own shadow!

Then suddenly, it came to a complete halt.  In the middle of the road.

"Is that a lion up there?", C said as she clutched my hand.

"No way, it's a log", I quipped back with complete confidence.

But I was wrong.

It WAS a lion!

And it had spotted its prey.  And the prey knew it.  We then watched the scene unfold.  The impala stood still (like, completely still) as the lion crept closer - as gracefully as I've ever see anything move in my life!  When it got within several meters of the impala, we were all just sitting there waiting, holding our breath.  

The impala decided to make a mad dash.  Only he tripped in a drainpipe and was down for the count.  The lion immediately took off to chase the impala - itself tripping on the drainpipe (a sight I won't forget anytime soon as he really took quite a tumble) but luckily landing right on top of the impala.

A guttural noise was made.  A wimpy one at that, if I do say so myself.  I think the impala knew it was his time (and then "The circle of life" start playing in the background.  Ok...so that didn't happen.... but we were all thinking it).

And with that, we realized we had just seen what many people strive to see on all safaris.  We'd seen a kill.

The lion dragged the impala a bit further away from us and immediately started devouring it.  Off came the skin, and then we heard the crunch of some bones (gross).  And yet, we couldn't stop watching.  By this point I'd caught my breath enough to whip out my camera (which I'd put away after I'd given up hope of seeing anything cool at night...in the rain) and switched to my telephoto lens.  However, the light was difficult to take photos...so the following will have to suffice.  The memory, however, is something I'm not likely to forget anytime soon.  It was simply amazing.  So so so cool.  It was like real life "Life" or "Planet Earth" and I had witnessed it with my own two eyes...in the last 10 minutes of our last game drive! 

happy lion

yum yum!

keep in mind, this is mere meters away from us!!  suddenly feeling very vulnerable!

not a great photo, but sets the scene quite well

After that we were all on cloud nine.  I mean, what were the chances!?  Totally amazing!  We headed back to camp, not a care in the world about how wet our butts were (or how fast our hearts were pumping) and talked about it for most of dinner...

The next morning we took off for Lilongwe....but it wouldn't be a real trip without some sort of car troubles....

broken down on the side of the road

Somehow, after surviving the terribly bumpy and crappy roads en route from Luangwa to the border, we ended up running over a big piece of metal on the only bit of nice tarmac road...go figure!

of course this attracted a bit of a crowd...

but a really cute one, of course

and entertaining as well -- when we whipped out the camera they ran away (laughing) and then slowly crept back - look at that girl in the pink!  I see a professional track star in her future!

finally they came to look at the photos

and then they really hammed it up

We made it back to Lilongwe in great time - completely exhausted but well worth it!  I definitely felt spoiled after my last safari....and I feel similarly (in different ways) after this one.  Maasai Mara and Luangwa were both fantastic - for very different reasons.  The Mara is much more touristy and drivers all communicate via radio to let each other know where the action is.  It's cool because you get to see a TON but it's in the company of no less than 20 other vehicles.  In Luangwa it's much less traveled and therefore seems much more untouched.  No radios, just plain old searching for action.  Which almost makes it that much more exciting when you DO find something! 

I recommend both Malawian Style and Croc Valley - and I look forward to returning again in the dry season (which I think is probably a better season for game drives) to continue my seemingly never-ending search for the ever-elusive leopard!