Crowned Cranes -- Adventure Birding in Zambia

Crowned Cranes with Saudi Expats Karen and Dave, and the E Learning King of the Luangwa Valley, our fellow long term Flat Dogs camper Sasha.

Ok,you say, what is 'Adventure Birding?' Well, for us it was getting out of the vehicle in a game management area where lions and leopards and hippos and such are free to roam. Taking a risk that buffalo might happen up and not like the idea of people being in there space.... For us, that is a real adventure and got our heart beating faster than the normal fo sho.

We were fortunate to be invited on two afternoon game drives with fellow Flat Dog Campers in order to search for the Crowned Cranes at the Kalawani Pan in the Game Management Area across the River from South Luangwa National Park.

The crowned cranes are called kalawani because of the sound they make when they are
calling to one another.

There was a very large group of about 150 crowned cranes moving about on the area. They
have several very distinctive calls they make to each other. We got to sit and enjoy them
for quite some time before they began to fly off to roost in the trees for the evening.

They would leave in groups of 15-30 at a time crying "kalawani,kalawani" according to
Sasha.

We sincerely want to thank Sasha and the British couple for this unique experience!



While there listening to the haunting calls of the large flock of cranes and other sounds we were pleased to see Zebra come into the area.


We also enjoyed sighting a Goliath Heron the day we went with Dave and Karen in their Land Rover, and two Maribou storks during our sundowner with Sasha.



The Crowned Crane is the national bird of Uganda, according to Sasha, but we were quite awed to see it in Zambia. What an amazing bird! What a real rare gift to see a flock and hear their haunting calls..... We are so thankful!

More Adventure with Safari Mike: Luangwa Lions Lounging, Male Giraffe Necking

Lounging Lions of Luangwa

Because the park entrance fee is good for 24 hours, we were able to do both a late afternoon and early morning game drive with Mike. He had been working for Born Wild Foundation in Malawi. According to Mike, this organization was founded by the actors from the classic movie.

When we set out on the early morning drive, Mike informed us if we saw lions, be prepared to sit and watch them for a couple of hours. We said that would not be a problem for us. He had been on several safaris at Flatdogs and had yet to see any lions. And, afterall, since he had been working for Born Free wildlife conservation in Malawi for several years, we simply had to help him study his lions! We had noooo problem with that idea at all!

We drove through parts of the park we had not been to but were not finding any lions. We would get hopeful when we would either see very little in the way of wildlife and what looked like an animal alerting as if there might be a lion around.

Finally we came on a safari vehicle and stopped and asked them if they were seeing anything. They said there were lions right back where they had been. As we approached the area where they had been, we saw a giraffe sitting on the ground. We wondered if the lions were still there because the giraffe did not seem concerned. We drove into the clearing and there they were! It was 10 lions in two groups sitting on the ground.








Suddenly, they got up and looked like they were getting ready to start hunting. Some began to move out and others went plunk, back down on the ground! They moved into several groups and began to do what according to Mike they do 80% of every day------resting! Mike hopes one day to become a safari guide and has a book with facts and figures about the various animals.

Mike drove from the open area where some were resting, "off road!" ,to a place where another vehicle had gone. They turned around and left, we saw nothing, turned around barely missing trees and such, when Laura cried "look", two lions were coming up behind us. They, too, went plunk, and began to rest. We watched them for some minutes up close and personal, and it was thrilling, I tell you.

Then off stage, we heard a thundering of hooves. What was that?
Later we learned from the folks in the Flatdogs game drive vehicle that the lions all of sudden got up and chased the giraffes! No luck, though.

Just after we heard the hooves another self drive vehicle drove up, this one carrying people in muslim dress, one man driving, three women passengers. Laura commented that the back window had been broken out, and she wondered if by elephants. As if the man read her lips, he began telling us that they had been in a lodge near Flatdogs and had left oranges in the back. Oops, seems that "Wonkie Tusk" had been busy....

We then spent the next two and a half hours ,moving between and watching the resting lion small groups. Many times they were very "cat-like" in their behavior--rolling over and stretching, preening and cleaning and yawning and stretching. It was all very entertaining!





Male Giraffe "Necking"
We also came up to three male Giraffe doing the strangest thing. According to Mike, the males were "necking." They were butting each other with slow but great force, apparently in preparation for the mating season. Mike told us that male Giraffe are distinguised in part from females by the hair being worn off their horns.

Pictures of Leopard on the Hunt! Awesome experience with Mike the Safari Man !

Leopard on the Hunt! Awesome experience with Mike the Safari Man !

We were about to find a place for a "sundowner" where you get out of the vehicle and watch the sunset. Yikes!

As we road along the dirt park road we spied a game viewing vehicle stopped on the side of the road. They had spotted a leopard that was almost impossble to see in the grass, even with great sunlight. Ibises were circling loudly near the ground making their strange calls, but we just could not make out the leopard! Finally it got up and began hunting. We pulled along side them and they silently mouthed, "Leopard."

Afternoon Game Drive with Mike, Part I

After we had done our very interesting drive through the wild game management area in the morning with Mike, we returned to the camp to prepare for our trip into the Park. One of the interesting sights we saw when were driving through there was a hippo with one of his teeth growing sideways out of his mouth. Poor thing. We also saw a woodland kingfisher that was very colorful right above some puka on the ground. We decided to fix ourselves sandwiches and would enjoy them within the park. I walked over to the self-catering kitchen with my head in the clouds and not paying attention to what was going on. I got within 15 feet of the door and looked up and there was Gilbert by the kitchen. He flared his ears and took a step toward me. I started and then, WHAT DO YOU DO? They tell you to freeze, remain calm, and slowly back away. I can tell you, the first thing you do is panic! I was first tempted to jump into the bush but then moved slowly away and when I got out of his sight, walked as fast as I could back to our tent. Robert said I was as white as a ghost!

Mike drove me back over to the camper kitchen and we fixed the sandwiches and were off to pay our fees at the park gate. When you enter the park you, the pass is good for 24 hours. Because we entered at 1:00 pm, the permit was good until 1:00 the next day. Since Mike has been to the park several times, he had a good idea of where we could go. His main focus was looking for lions but we enjoyed other animals and birds along the way. Since he is driving a Land Rover, he was enjoying taking off on some of the small tracks that quite often petered out and we had to turn around and go back. His comment as he turned off onto these roads, "This is not a problem for a Land Rover!"

We enjoyed the puka and impala that were out in great numbers. We stopped at one waterhole and saw black egret, open billed stork, and African spoonbill. At another lagoon type area, we saw hippos gliding through the water lilies. At one point we were amused when a gray heron landed on the back of one of the hippos and it appeared that he was surfing as he was standing still on the hippo back and being propelled through the water.










We saw some a magnificant kudu male with his fine horns and nice markings. We saw Swainsons's francolin running back and forth across the road. We saw a very large herd of buffalo on both sides of the road. We continued to drive and explore areas of the park we had not been in. We saw elephants and a family of giraffe, the baby running back and forth.