Wild Africa - Kafue National Park and Mukambi Safari Lodge

One day Elder Hull called and asked if we were up for a short 3-day trip to Kafue National Park.  Of course, we said yes, and, after checking to make sure nothing big was coming up at the office, we took off with Elder and Sister Hull and Elder and Sister Salmon.  On the way there, we stopped for directions from this little family.  I decided to practice carrying things on my head again.  This time it was water and it didn't work well at all.  I was surprised at how heavy that small jug of water was!

We got to the lodge just in time for lunch and the food they served there was excellent!  And way too much of it!  But we ate our share, that's for sure. It was a beautiful place with lots of greenery.  This is the entrance to the lodge.

   

The lodge from the Kafue River.

The river was not always this peaceful, but this picture shows how green everything is.  It's the rainy season and we were told that just a few weeks ago it was mostly brown!  Our timing was good.  And while it was the rainy season, we did not get rained on once!  Tender mercy!

The lodge was very nice with a swimming pool, a nice restaurant, a various levels of conversation and reading areas with beautiful lookout points. 

   

We stayed in one of these little chalets.

They were very nice and we had a great view of the river off our front porch.

We were told not to walk back to the chalet alone after dark as they have been known to have unexpected visitors like hippos and lions. We had to be escorted by one of the staff.  When we asked him if they animals came up often, he answered about every night. When we asked what he would do if we encountered one. he said he would RUN!

We went on an evening river cruise                    When we got across the river, we boarded this
on this boat.  We also had to cross the                 Toyota Safari Wagon.  It was 4 wheel drive and a
river for the safari.                                                good thing too since we were driving through mud
                                                                              and ravines. The first safari was in the evenin
  
      

Here's our group!  Elder and Sister Salmon, us, and Elder and Sister Hull. 

Prepare for a TON of animal pictures, because they are coming!

We first saw these tracks in the wet sand along the road.  A bit later, we actually found the lions.  There wasn't a cub with them.  They are actually two brothers.  And they were majestic.

   

We were in the truck about 20 feet away from these two kings of the jungle.  It was a little scary, but they are very used to the safari vehicle and really paid us no mind.  They were enjoying the sun and, when it appears they may be roaring at us, they are actually yawning!  I think we may have interrupted their afternoon naps! 

  

We learned that the lioness does all the work in making the kill for food and then the lion comes in and eats!  How's that for living a lazy life!

                                

As we were driving down the road, we noticed ahead of us a large congress of baboons.  They didn't let us get too close before they took off for the bush.

   

Also, as we were driving, we saw this herd (parade) of elephants cross in front of us.  The guide said it was a matriarch with several of her children of different ages from probably 2 years to 7 years old.  They were pretty close as they browsed the trees.  They were all very protective of the baby, but relaxed a bit the longer we were there.  One time the matriarch got a little anxious and started flapping her ears and charged a few steps toward us.  But then she changed her mind and settled down again. 

 

It was so interesting to watch them interact together.

   

We spotted a few hippos while we were driving, and got a few good pictures.  We saw more while were on the river cruise.  The print on the left is a hippo print and can be distinguished from other prints because hippos have four toes. 

             

  A group of hippos is called a laughter, we think maybe because they make this sounds like laughing. 

   .

There are many different kind of antelope in the park.  We saw Impala, Bush Buck, Spring Buck, Puku and Kudu.  The lone antelope on the left has marked his spot and is waiting for females come join him, the guide said. 

 

We were a bit surprised at the large herds of these animals considering the number of predators in the park.  It almost seemed like they were overpopulated.  But the park has 22,400 km (8,648 square miles) and is huge, so I'm sure it can handle the large numbers. 

   

These are all different groups and different varieties of antelope.

   

We also saw this handsome warthog.  They are not very cuddly animals!

There are lots of Guinea Fowl everywhere.                       This is a variety of eagle.
  

The second day we went out in the morning and were lucky enough to spot this leopard. The leopardess was up in a tree and it was amazing to watch her slink down.  We didn't get any pictures of her as she disappeared into the bush.  The guide said she was probably stalking the antelope which was resting across the road.  We probably saved his life!

The guide said leopard spottings are quite rare and we were very happy to be able to see one of these magnificent animals.

 The sunset that first day was quite spectacular.  We agreed with Elder Salmon when he said the sky just seemed so much bigger out there in the bush.  There were not mountains and it was like a 360 degree sunset!

The pictures just don't seem to do it justice.  But it was truly splendid.  It was quite the experience to see such beautiful creations of God in such a truly awesome setting.