South Luangwa NP, Zambia - Day 7

Elephant family at the hide 

We didn’t need to get up at 5am to do a game drive, but habits die hard and we were up not long after that to catch the sunrise.  Our plan was only to get across the border, not all the way home to Blantyre so were weren’t in a hurry to get going.

Saddle-billed stork

It also gave us an opportunity to spend time at the hide, which has a underground part, allowing some nice low angle shots.  First thing in the morning only had some birds fishing, but did include a hunting saddle-billed stork so it paid off.

Grey heron fishing

We were also entertained by the resident baboon troupe, who are obviously very used to people and were hanging around our campsite looking for food.  Our food was packed away but they wandered around our site in hope, giving us some nice opportunities for photos.

Baboon just chilling first thing in the morning

And then we were treated to a final gift from South Luangwa – a small herd of elephants arrived on the plain and we were able to spend a bit of time photographing them from the campsite bar.  

Mom and baby

Then they surprised us all by walking straight through the campground, past our campsite and to the hide for a morning drink.  Dru quickly headed to the hide and got some lovely shots in morning light of them drinking from the waterhole – a fitting final scene.

Elephants from the bar!

After packing up and paying our bill, we were on our way to the border filling up in Chipata on the way as we knew Malawi was having a fuel shortage. 

They walked straight through camp past our car on the way to the waterhole

Just as well, as Lilongwe didn’t have any fuel except for a few filling stations that had hours long queues, but we were able to make it back home without needing to fill up at all (and then were able to get diesel as soon as we got into Blantyre – a real bonus for us).

Awesome sighting from the hide

Another successful trip to South Luangwa and we were already planning our next trip even as we were going through the photos of this one!

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