South Luangwa NP, Zambia - Day 3

Wild dogs on the Luangwa river

An early morning start saw us at the gate again just before 6am where we were waved through.  Again, we decided to head into the Luangwa Wafwa on the eastern side of the park in the hopes of potentially catching a leopard again.  

Hippo on the run

Our first significant sighting was of a hippo at Mushroom lagoon.  He was out of the water but looking like he wanted to get in, unfortunately for him there was another hippo that was having none of it and actually chased him away.  The adrenalin spikes when you see a 1.5 ton hippo running towards you!  Luckily he veered off the path and into the bushes while his competitor went back into the water and calm was restored

A very pregnant (or very well fed!) hyena

Driving around we came across another buffalo that seemed to have died while being stuck in the mud from a drying waterhole. Some vultures and a few hyenas were lying around nearby including a hyena who had either eaten most of the buffalo on her own or was heavily pregnant - she looked like a big beach ball!

Luangwa Wafwa

We spent quite a bit of time with them, but they weren’t moving around much and eventually we headed back to the Luangwa Wafwa area looking for any cats.  We didn’t manage to find them but we did spot some zebras heading down to drink in the drying riverbed. 

The Crayshaw zebs chilling out

While we couldn’t get close to them while they were drinking, we found a dip in the road which made them eye-level with us, hoping that they would head back towards us giving us some nice shots from a different perspective.  We had anticipated correctly and soon they and some buffalo walked straight past us in good light.

Buffalo heading our way

A few hyenas and carmine bee-eaters later and we decided that the eastern side wasn’t going to offer us anything exciting so we made our way back to the western side in the hopes of catching something, although now it was well past 9 o’clock so we weren’t expecting much. 

A lone male impala along the Luangwa Wafwa

We were also a bit perplexed as to how quiet it was in terms of other vehicles; that normally tells us that there is something to be seen that we’re missing….

Yellow billed ox-pecker at work

It appeared that it was pretty quiet in the west as well, although that could mean that the tourists had already gone back to their lodges for breakfast.  Eventually we did come across another car and although the guide didn’t seem too keen to talk to us, one of the guests was virtually falling out of the car to talk to us ;)

Zebras are so photogenic

Turns out that we’d come across family a few times over the past few days. They’d been at the gate when we had first arrived, then we’d seen them a couple of times and each time we’d spoken to their guide and them, and with a pretty recognisable car they had noticed us. 

Southern carmine bee-eater

In fact, the father of the family was talking to us before we had even pulled up alongside them, joking that he was going to charge us for any sightings they told us about ;) 

The dagga boys

They were moving camps but the old man was happy to impart a potentially great sighting with us - wild dogs!  And not only a few - 21 wild dogs! The group had seen them but they were resting - we hoped we weren’t too late and that they’d already moved off. 

Another hyena chilling out in the water

The guide explained where they were - the same place we’d found the leopard cub the previous day - now we knew why we hadn’t seen any other cars in the morning, they were all hanging with wild dogs - this is always the disadvantage for us self-driving - no information ;) 

Wild dogs, first prize in South Luangwa

Still, we had the info now and we were off like a shot in the hopes that we could still catch the dogs before they disappeared.

Yummy breakfast!

It didn’t take long before we were in the general area that they had directed us to but unfortunately there wasn’t a sound or sighting of dogs resting under the trees. 

Dogs with a kill, best possible sighting

It was extremely disappointing to come to the place we thought they were, and there to be nothing!  There wasn’t even another car to be seen and we had a sinking feeling that the dogs had moved on.  But of course, it was no time to give up and we continued looking around the area in the hopes that they were sleeping under a tree somewhere.

The pack chilling in the shade

And then suddenly a bushbuck appeared.  As its name suggests, usually when we find a bushbuck it’s in the bushes, or heading back into the bushes.  But this one wasn’t - it was coming out of the bushes into the open area.  And it wasn’t just walking out - it was flying!! 

Everyone wants a piece!

It was running so fast from the bush towards us that we thought it was going to crash straight into the car! Luckily it flew past us and was not seen again… and then we heard it… the unmistakable twittering of wild dogs followed by the screaming of a animal presumably being killed!  

Pork chop for lunch!

We couldn’t see them, but carried on forward along the road towards the sound.  And turning the corner we finally found 3 wild dogs - hoorah!  But they weren’t just lying under a tree, they were walking around with the remains of a warthog piglet in their mouths!  

The poor Warthog family lost all piglets!

From our disappointment a moment ago to exhilaration the next finding not only the wild dogs but them actively hunting.  We sat with the 3 dogs for a few minutes while they devoured their meal, but soon one of them crossed the road (right in front of a zebra and her youngster that were completely ignoring the dogs) and moved into the bush.  

The pups got a hold of a piglet

We decided to go around and try and catch up with the dog, hopefully leading us to the rest of the pack.  And that’s exactly what happened - we came around the corner and there they were - the rest of the pack running around all excited with more warthog piglets in their mouths. 

 

Pups being pups!

A couple of adult warthogs were hanging around and every now and then half-heartedly every now and then chasing the dogs.  It soon became apparent, as another dog came running out of the bush with yet another piglet in his mouth, what had happened.

The adult warthogs could do nothing back watch as the dogs ate all the piglets

The dogs had found a warthog burrow and were busy digging up the piglets one at a time while the adults watched helplessly.  The dogs avoided the big warthog tusks but otherwise pretty much ignored them while they went about devouring the young.

This pack had dogs with unusually large white markings.

We soon realised that there were 6 young dogs in the pack and that the adults were actually giving the piglets to the pups rather than eating themselves. 

Loving the meal

The pups were loving the meals, rather gruesomely pulling the prey apart and fighting over the scraps. It was an amazing sighting, made more so that it was 10 o’clock in the morning and there was not another car to be seen.

Although the light was quite harsh, the dogs were in the shade of a big tree, so we spent about an hour with them while they ate and then rested.  Eventually, one by one the dogs moved down the cliff towards a waterhole where after a quick drink they moved back to lie in the shade.

We figured that in the (extreme) heat of the day they weren’t planning to move anywhere, so we decided to leave them, absolutely chuffed that we’d experienced such an awesome wild dog interaction. 

One of the adults watch as the pups eat their fill

Our main wish list item for South Luangwa was wild dogs and we had been disappointed to know that they’d been near the camp the day before we’d arrived, so to see a pack of 21 dogs and see what we’d seen was phenomenal! 

Time for a drink after all that eating

We headed back to the campsite for lunch, but with a clear plan for the afternoon - no more wasting time on the eastern side - straight back to the wild dogs hoping that they were still there.

Heading back for shade after a drink

And they were, with most of them in exactly the same spot as we’d left them - just as well we didn’t spend the heat of the day waiting for them ;) 

Chilling in the shade

We moved forward and saw that some of the adults had gone down to the same waterhole that they’d been at earlier so we positioned ourselves so that they’d come past our car when they came back.

Wild dog heading back from the waterhole

Eventually the alpha dogs came back from drinking and lay under a tree, soon after joined by a few others, while the pups were still being minded by a few adults in the bushes.  

Greeting ceremony for the wild dogs

About 6 of the dogs had now joined the alpha dogs under the tree and at first they all were lying down, but then one of them got up looking restless, like he wanted to move.  We know that dogs move by voting - majority rules, but he was definitely outvoted as the others ignored him and eventually he lay down again.

One was impatient to go but he was ignored

But that seemed to have triggered something in the other dogs that were lying out of sight in the bushes, because one by one they emerged from the shade and jogged to the 6 under the tree. 

The leadership check out the river below

Enthusiastic greetings, like they hadn’t seen each other in ages, ensued and that seemed to spur the others on, and suddenly the 6 pups came running towards the rest with more happy greetings - it was a great spectacle to observe.  

Youngsters run to greet the elders.

After the greetings, they all headed down to the waterhole, but strangely enough they didn’t drink.  Instead they were fixated either on the other side of the waterhole or something further in the distance, but it was like they had seen an enemy that they needed to keep an eye on.  And so they did… for the next 2 hours!

Pups running to join the greeting ceremony in full swing.

Some of them did drink, but they seemed skittish when they did and were easily spooked by imaginary noises.  Most settled down away from the water’s edge while some stood at attention looking into the distance.  And although we scanned the horizon for the threat, we never found it. 

Drinking puppies

We’d hoped that they would start to get active, but no such luck - the sun started setting but the dogs hadn’t moved from the waterhole so reluctantly we left them to be able to get out the gate on time, happy nonetheless in the awesome wild dog sightings we’d had in the day.

Chilling in the afternoon