Wonderful Bush Camps - Bilimungwe & Chindeni

Each day has been full of new experiences as well as wonderful sightings of animals. The places to be explored on the morning game-drives are based on information that our guides have brought together in their discussions with each other. We start with a general idea of what we’ll be looking for, and then see what unfolds.

At Mfuwe Lodge, we went back to see the lions we’d spotted the evening before. We found several walking along the road towards us. Mulengha stopped the 4WD and we sat quietly, very quietly. No standing, nothing poking out from the car (including long lenses) – we wanted them to not be threatened.

A female, recognisable from the day before by her short tail, was walking towards us on my side of the 4WD. Her frequent low growling was a sign to other lions in the area that this was where she was, where the pride was. The deep sound penetrated my body, very differently to an elephant’s rumble, and much more threatening. It’s not a sound you’d want to hear if you were alone in the African bush.

Meanwhile, the mating pair were still together – and I was able to capture a a photo of the male lion with the sun behind him, lighting up his mane. A great start to the day!

Driving from the bush towards wide open plains, we saw giraffe off in the distance. We stopped to watch a Lilac-Breasted Roller, and I managed to take a clear photo of this beautifully coloured bird.

A male giraffe was making advances to a female, her calf looking on from a distance. She was not at all interested, but we had to give the male points for trying – maybe sometime in the next week or so she’ll change her mind.

The following day we were on the way to Bilimungwe (Location on Map: LINK), one of the two bush camps we’ll be staying at. It’s about 50 kms from Mfuwe Lodge, and we’ll be there for two nights before a short drive to our second bush camp, Chindeni (Location on Map: LINK) , for another two nights.

The road took us south along the Luangwa River, although it was often out of site as we searched for animals deep in the bush. The Luangwa River’s source is in the mountains that we could see in the distance. From the area we were in, it flows about 800 kms south west, joining the Zambezi River. The water then flows over Victoria Falls, and continues on to the south east, via a few hydroelectric power stations, until it flows into the Indian Ocean.

As we drove, all of us looked for animals, peering high and low: high up into the trees for birds and perhaps a leopard relaxing on a cross branch (I’m always hopeful), and deep into the clumps of shorter bushes for eyes that might be hiding.

Rounding a bend a hyena suddenly appeared in front of us before running away, its mate covering its own scat, an unusual behaviour for hyena - they typically use their scent to mark their territory. Further along, two giraffe watched us move by while a herd of Puku were grazing in the long grass with zebra in the background.

We saw large, old baobab trees in one area, their broad trunks scarred by elephants rubbing up against them. They really are magnificent trees, very similar to the Australian boabs.

Driving on a narrow track with bushes on either side, a very large elephant appeared ahead. At first this looked interesting. Then we realised that his ears were out and not flapping to cool him, and he had lifted his head to make his large tusks very obvious.

Mulenga stopped about 100m from him and took a closer look with his binoculars. He could see liquid dribbling down between his hind legs. This, together with his aggressive stance, indicated that he was in musth, when their testosterone levels increase significantly (up to 60x normal) and they become dangerous. Musth can continue for up to 3 months.

This was not the time to provoke, and since there was no way to pass him, we stayed quiet and still for a while to see if he would move away. He grabbed some branches to his right, pulling them away from the bushes very aggressively. Raising them high he then threw them to the ground. This guy was not moving.

So we reversed several hundred meters, and then turned left to take a very bumpy cross-country ride around the area that he was in.

Later that morning we arrived at Bilimungwe. Alex our host was there to greet us – we would be the only visitors both here and at Chindeni. She has created a beautiful dining area overlooking their “hippo waterhole”, and with good food, comfortable chairs and beds, and a star-watching deck, what more could we ask for? On our second evening we sat outside chatting, and watching the Milky Way extending across the sky and down into the trees on each side. Glorious.

Driving around the area hippos were yawning in the water, their mouths ready to engulf anything in their path. A little further along, an elephant was on its own behind some bushes – it was clearly visible, but Cindy said “watch it disappear” and it actually did. As it walked behind the bushes, its head, body and legs blended in with the bush in the foreground before reappearing as it moved forward.

As it became visible, it stretched its trunk way up high, vertically, to reach leaves at the top of a White Thorn tree (a type of acacia). It nibbled for a short while, then moved towards a low bush, eating from that before walking into the grass and eating there. Mulengha explained this behaviour: when the White Thorn tree is nibbled on, it responds by creating a chemical that tastes bad to elephants, so the elephant quickly moves to the low bush, and then to the grass. Without this, these trees would be decimated by elephant herds - this is the way these trees preserve themselves and their progeny.

Chindeni was very different to Bilimungwe. Both have spectacular views, particularly at sunrise. The view from Bilimungwe is across a dry river bed, while Chindeni overlooks a huge waterhole where giraffe meander down for a drink, Cape Buffalo are way off in the distance, herds of impala graze and birds fly by in large numbers. The deck, high above the water, overlooks all of this activity. The cabin that Sue M & I shared was up some stairs from “water level” – we were warned to watch for hippo that use a trail between the cabin and the main lodge. Fortunately we didn’t have any close encounters, although we could hear them at night.

Driving to and from both Chindeni and Bilimungwe, we frequently crossed the Kapamba River, a shallow river that flows into the Luangwa. The crossing is not via a bridge, but through the water on a “path” made of sandbags – these are designed to prevent the 4WD’s tyres sinking into the soft sandy riverbed. The first time is the weirdest - the subsequent times less so, but still unusual!

Once on the other side of the river, we came across hippos in small waterholes, birds galore and plains of slightly pink grasses that impala enjoyed hiding in. One afternoon, around the time for sundowners, we could see people along the river bank. Since there were few people in these areas, this was surprising. Moments later we drove down to where they were standing to find that they were from Chindeni, and had placed chairs carefully in a line, in the river. A table had drinks laid out, and food for us to nibble on. Sundowners in the Kapamba River!

Sue F, Sue M, Cindy, Ian and I took our shoes off, rolled up our long pants and waded into the shallow (even for me) water. It was wonderful to sit there, with drinks and nibbles served to us, while we watched the sun gradually setting behind the hills and plains of Zambia.

I can hear you asking: “but what about the crocs?” I had asked the same question as I was walking into the water. The answer is that there are no crocs or hippos because the water is too shallow. I didn’t want to know about other critters that might lurk in the water.

The following afternoon we went in search of leopards on the other side of the lake from Chindeni. The staff at Chindeni, together with Burkhard, a delightful man who is soon to have his second hip replacement and preferred to reduce the number of bumpy roads, used their binoculars to watch the events unfold from the bushcamp’s deck.

Because it was an afternoon game drive that would continue after sunset, we had a new spotter with us, Ishmael. While it was still light he sat behind me in the back lefthand seat - he would move to the front to use the spotlight once the sun had set. We came down a track and turned left. The area had thick trees and bushes running along beside us on the left, a long grassy stretch ahead, and an old narrow and windy deep riverbed to our right. Further to our right was a flattish grassy area, and then more trees beyond that. Baboon adults and babies, were playing in the trees, flying across the tops, way up high, and having a wonderful time.

The light was getting low and with the dense vegetation shadows were deepening, particularly amongst the bushes. We were moving along slowly, quietly chatting, when Ishmael said “there” in a quiet voice, as he pointed to the thick bushes to our left. Mulenga heard this and stopped the 4WD.

We all peered into the bushes, trying to find the “something” that stood out for him. And there she was, a leopard, sitting quietly and trying to stay hidden from the world while she worked out her evening hunting strategy. How Ishmael had seen her was astonishing.

Baboons in the trees above her startled her (they hadn’t seen her), and she ran to her left, still amongst the bushes. Then she flew up a tree – well it seemed as if it was flying – and hid there, watching us watching her. She only stayed there for a minute, before climbing back down and going back into hiding.

This gave us the opportunity to move to a more suitable spot that was less intrusive. At the same time, a third 4WD came around the bend unaware of what we were watching. They stopped for a few moments before turning around and driving away.

We waited until the leopard came out of hiding, walked down into the dry riverbed, then along it before coming back out onto the grass and heading for another location. We followed for a while and then let her go on her way.

She moved like the athlete she is – gracefully, and with power and purpose.

An hour or so later, we came across another leopard, this time a male. We followed him until he moved out of sight.

What an amazing day this has been. I now had a photo of a leopard up a tree. Although it’s not dragging its kill up there, or even lying with it in a tree (these really are a significant “stretch goals”), I’m amazed and overjoyed at what we’ve seen and what I’ve photographed.

Our stay at Chindeni was fantastic. This is a place to come to and to come back to, to enjoy the view from their deck, the firepit in the evening and the wonderful hospitality. Tomorrow it will be time to go back to Mfuwe, seeing which animals we can find along the way.