This morning we were joined on our game drive by three Australian tourists. They were hilarious and made our trip very enjoyable. Our main goal was to find some cats. The Australians were excited that we had had such good luck with the leopard, but this morning she was nowhere to be found. We knew lions were nearby because Billy showed us some fresh prints and other guides had heard them roaring not long before, but we didn’t find any. The drive was beautiful, despite our lack of success. We saw lots of warthogs and of course the usual elephants, giraffes, zebras, and hippos.
We lounged by the pool and talked to the Australians and some American tourists. Because Billy is the best guide ever, he offered to take me and Rachel out earlier than normal so we could travel farther to a spot where lions are often seen. We left a little before 3:15. Soon after entering the park, we saw a ton of elephants – probably twenty of them. Billy noticed they were uneasy and, because he heard that lions were roaring in the area earlier, stopped the car. We sat there for a few minutes peering in the tall grass. A couple minutes later, a bulldozer came by because he was grating the road. We pulled over a little to let it through and then watched the grass for a few more minutes. Billy, Isaac (the spotter), and I were studying one side of the field closely when Rachel turned to look behind us and suddenly exclaimed, “A lion! Behind the car! Look, look!” We all frantically turned around and saw a female lion standing mere feet away from us. It looked at us calmly and walked carefully over to the bush, where it nuzzled another female lion that was lounging in the grass. The younger lion (the one we spotted first) wandered off into the bush while the older one stayed put for a while. Soon it came out, walked just a few feet from our car, and laid on the shade for us to admire her. It was incredible! This all happened less than an hour after we got into the park. We were giddy with excitement and were so happy the pressure was off to find the lions. Soon after, we saw some male kudu – huge antelope with beautiful, twisted horns. After that, Billy took us up to the Presidential Hill – this is where the Zambian president stays when he comes to South Luangwa. We were up on a hillside where we could see the presidential house, the beautiful sunset, and zebras grazing quite near us. After sundown, we resumed our drive. We saw a third lion far off on the hill – my camera couldn’t capture it but we saw it fairly well through binoculars. We saw more genets, a civit (which is technically not a cat; it’s of its own species. A couple nights ago I incorrectly said it was much bigger than a house cat. It’s actually quite small and has the most remarkable markings on it. Its face looks like a raccoon and its body is striped and spotted), and a hyena. It was an incredible night! Tomorrow, we’re going on a game drive and then leaving directly for the airport, where we will hopefully catch a standby flight back. If we don’t, then we’re in trouble. But no point worrying about it now! We’ll enjoy our last few hours here.
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