Adventures with Elephant at Flatdogs Camp

Adventure with Elephant at Flatdogs

One of the unique features of Flatdogs camp is the fact that the wild animals are allowed to come into the park and wander around. There are night watchmen who can accompany you to the toilet at night, and other staff during the day, that help keep the human visitors from coming too close when the wild animal happens to be a hippo, elephant or giraffe!

Wonkie Tusk and Gilbert
There are several elephants that we have been told are known by name in the camp and we have witnessed "Wonkie tusk" and some of her two daughters and younger sister. She is so named because one of her tusks points to the front and the other to the back. She also has a sister that comes through the area with her children also.



Our first morning here we were not able to get into the food storage area because one of the children was grazing right there. We went back a little while later and were able to get our stuff. One morning we watched as Wonkie tusk and children cruised through the area. One of the young juveniles knocked over one of the nice wooden chairs and then kicked it for good measure. He also managed to knock over a sign.




Another morning, as we were preparing to go fix our meal in the kitchen, we saw the herd moving through so skirted around buildings so they wouldn't see us. A Dutch couple that we had been visiting with came over with their cooler. They were getting ready to leave and were packing up when the family came through. The watchmen suggested they put their cooler in the kitchen area because "Wonkie tusk" can recognize a cooler and has been known the stomp one that was outside to get to what was in it and we were told the she has also pushed open a car window to get to one she saw inside the vehicle!



I went back to our tent one morning to get some cooking items I had forgotten and was unable to get into the tent because one of the young ones was right there at our tent! He finally moved away far enough that I was able to get what I needed. Another morning we were going to catch a ride into town with the shopping run and were at our tent getting things out when the family was moving through and were afraid we were going to be stuck in our tent. The proper etiquette is to stay back away from them and try to keep something large like a tree, tent, vehicle to move behind if they get too close. If you are in your tent you are to stay there.




The only story we have been told about them bothering a tent was by Jess, one of the managers, about two young guys that reported that a elephant had cut into their tent with her tusk and took the biscuits that had in their tent out. Of course, they were not supposed to have food in their tent and this explains why.

We also have seen Gilbert, a huge old bull elephant with beautiful tusks and no tail. Evidently some of them lose their tail to parasites or a predator trying to attack them. Gilbert was our excuse one morning to go eat in the restaurant because he was feeding right outside the kitchen. While we were having breakfast, moved onto the lawn overlooking the river by the restaurant. There was a young guy down sitting in a chair enjoying the early morning when Gilbert came up behind him. It was quite a startling experience for him to say the least.

Another encounter we had with the elephants was one afternoon while I was sitting outside our tent painting and Robert was reading a book. A girl came up to the sink by our tent area and turned to me and said, "Excuse me, did you know there was an elephant behind you?" I turned around and there was one about 40 feet from us feeding. I retired to the platform to finish working on my painting and Robert followed the group as they wandered through the camp.

We have also been told by one of the local workers here at the camp that the villagers have used what has been known as a chili fence to keep the elephants out of their fields. What they do is take old cooking oil that they have cooked chilis in and dipped rags in this and strung them around their field. They report that it does keep the elephants out of their field.

Lion on the Hunt , Night Game Drive, Birding South Luangwa

Night Game Drive into South Luangwa National Park

Friday after lunch I was taking a nap in the tent when Robert woke me up and suggested we go on a game drive. We had met Johann, a South African, and his new wife Nancy, who was from Virginia at the bar the previous night and decided to go on the same night game drive they were taking. Robert jokingly told them that they were obviously having good luck and surely would spot us a leopard. Johann replied he had dreamed that Robert showed them a leopard. Sure enough, we saw a leopard on the drive!


Johann and Nancy

From the reports we had been hearing from people, the night drive sounded like the best option to see animals. You gather in the dining room at 3:30 for tea or coffee and cookies and cakes. The drivers of the various vehicles meet you and let you know which vehicle you are riding on. We then set off. We were in the vehicle with Johan and Nancy. Johann said he had a dream the night before if we were on the drive with him, we would see the largest leopard ever!

Park Entry Fee in US Dollars or Kwatcha
You stop at the entrance and pay your fee of $25.00 for the entry that is good for 24 hours so technically you could do a game drive one evening and the next morning do an early morning game drive. The fee varies for people from outside the continent of Africa and those that live in Africa. From there we crossed into the park. This park is in what would be considered woodland according to the description in my book, "The Wildlife of Southern Africa: A field guide to the animals and plants of the region." Woodland is defined as region of open woodland with trees that are spaced sufficiently apart so that there is an understorey of grass and no closed canopy. The area of arid savanna is dominated by acacia species and is generally more open. As we drove through the park, you would be in a forested area and then in an open area with few trees. The Luangwa River runs through the park and the escarpment to the north marks the northernmost boundary. According to our guide, the park encompasses 950,000 acres. (I believe that is correct)


Puka, Zebra, Bush Buck, Giraffe, Hyena, Impala, Kudu
The first two hours we drove through herds of puka which we had not seen before.They are similar in appearance to the impala which we also saw in great herds along with the bushbuck.

The puka is a beautiful rich tan in coloration. We saw some female kudu which of course are not the same magnificent species as the male. We also saw zebra of a variety that are a subspecies of the Burchell's zebra that are not found except in Zambia and parts of Tanzania. There stripes are different and you can tell the sex of the zebra by the width of the stripes on the backs of their legs; the female's stripes are wider than the males.


Hammerkopf, Gray Lourie, Bateleur, White crowned Plover
We saw some birds on the first part of the trip that we had not yet seen on our trip this time. There was a group of hammerkopf (hammerheads) around a lagoon. They were displaying their distinctive hammerhead as we watched. In the trees you could hear the gray lourie telling us to "go away." This is their distinctive call and they are also known as the go-away bird. There were some flocks of the quelea and we saw a few whitebrowed sparrow weavers. Several times we saw bands of the blue-helmeted guinea fowl. We saw two immature raptors, one the bateleur and the other the martial eagle.







One of the most interesting birds we saw was the White-crowned Plover, which has longer yellow wattles than the Wattled Plover. Very strange yellow things hanging beside his beak!






Sundowner Break with Hyenas
We stopped for a "sundowner break" just as we saw a young spotted hyena. We didn't see the larger hyena lying in the grass until the guide pointed it out to us. The animals really do a could job of camoflouging themselves! We did get to watch the two hyenas get up and lope off to begin their evening hunt. According to the guide, they are mainly scanvengers and so they are hunting for some other animals leftovers from a kill. The Spotter and The Guide served drinks and peanut snacks and pointed to a clump of bushes for those who needed to releive themselves. Hmmmmm. The hyenas were nearby, and no telling what else.

There was a family of Thornikroft giraffe coming up as we drove up. These are a species that is only found in the South Luangwa National Park. They have brown patches on their face that distinguish them from other giraffe.









Darkness Falls, Lions Get Up to Hunt
Then the sun went down and the night part of the drive began! Each vehicle is equipped with a spotlight which enables the guide to look for the animals. We and several other safari vehicles immediately ran into a pride of about 15 lions! They were just beginning their evening hunt.






As we had been told, the vehicles get right up with the animals and all are shining their lights on them. I guess the animals are immune to this because they just ambled past us. For about 20 minutes, it was almost like rush hour traffic. The line of safari vehicles following along behind the pride. We soon figured out eating dust and exhaust was not the way to go and so our guide pulled out of the the line and we took off on our own.





Leopard!
In about 10 minutes it became apparent why the guide and spotter are such a big part of the drive. The spotter was moving his spotlight back and forth across the grass and spotted a leopard crouched down apparently hunting. We would have never seen it. The leopard took off and we were able to follow at a distance as it was hunting an impala. Fortunately, the leopard moved out of sight and so we didn't see a kill take place.


Leopard!

Genet and Civet
As we continued driving we saw in various places 5 different genet and 5 different civet cats. Throughout the evening we saw five of each and at times they would stand still long enough for us to look at them closely and also take pictures. We saw two more individual lions, both males. One did a nice pose for us, turning so we could see his mane and then he wandered off into the bush.






Lazy Lion
We also saw a final male lion near the entrance to the park. Two girls we had talked to called him the lazy lion. When we drove up to him (very close) he turned and looked at us and then layed down. Then he began his calling, grunting, roaring for a prone position. It was quite interesting to watch!


White tailed Mongoose and Giant Eagle Owl
As we were heading back to the entrance we saw a white tailed mongoose and then a giant eagle owl. It was too dark for us to see owl's pink eyelids but we did get to watch him for a minute or so.

As we drove back to the camp and crossed the Luangwa River bridge, we saw a buffalo near the road water and right outside the reception area we saw a swamp mongoose. Wow!

Game Drive Ethics
We discussed with Johann and Nancy the ethical question of getting so close to the lions and other animals with so many spotlights and vehicles right on top of them. At times the safari vehicle was within a few feet of the lions.

So all in all, the night drive was quite an adventure and is well worth repeating! We went to bed early and people told us that as a consequence we missed the giraffe walking along the path near our tent.


Croc!

Baby Hippo Heaven: Luangwa River, Zambia

Hippo Heaven: Luangwa River, Zambia

On one of the mornings when we went down to the bluff to enjoy our coffee, breakfast, and wildlife viewing we were lucky enough to see a baby hippo and it's mother across the river. The baby was about the size of the mothers head and was quite entertaining to watch as it walked about. We are not sure how old it was but it was so very small in comparison to its mother. He walked around a bit sticking his head into various holes made by the hippos as they had walked about the shore.

He did this for time and then wandered over near the water. He seemed to hesitate and then-----splash into the water. The mother also got into the water and stayed nearby. He did not venture far from the shore and then you could see where the mother and the baby were resting near the shore. We have not seen the baby since that first morning and so are not quite sure where the mother and baby went.

Birding South Luangwa National Park : Sacred Ibis, Yellow billed Storks

Birding South Luangwa National Park : Sacred Ibis, Yellow billed Storks

Our early morning routine has been to fix a pot of coffee and then go sit on the river bluff and watch what wildlife is about. We have had two good mornings enjoying the antics of a yellow-billed stork. He wades through the water and appears to be fishing. He does some amazing acrobatics almost--balancing on one leg and lifting one wing as if for balance. We were able to watch him through the spotting scope and his colors are quite nice. His back has a pale pastel pink color to it and the feathers look scalloped and fluffy. We noticed there was pale turquoise on the end of his tail feathers. Up close his face is very vivid colors, red stripe, orange then the yellow bill. His eye is orange or so it appears. He does not seem to be frightened of people as he got quite close to us. In flight they are very beautiful to watch as well.


Another bird we have enjoyed watching is the sacred ibis. His colors are black and white feathers with a black head and beak. They are very graceful as they move about the area searching for food. When they fly they are so very graceful looking and make flying seem so effortless.