Late August and September brought the warmer weather and some windy days that cleared the skies. An unexpected but welcome cold front followed the wind and crisp mornings have kicked off with clear light basking the banks of the Luangwa and Mwaleshi rivers at sunrise. Out in the bush lagoons have started to dry up, sun bathing turns to mud bathing, fishing parties swarm remaining oxbow lagoons and predators lie in wait by the river for easy opportunities.

Game viewing has been impressive with the usual waterbucks, zebra, giraffe and elephants keeping us entertained. The exclusive Kawere hide has numerous visitors which can be spied in secret. Tafika’s resident leopard, Chibala, has been spotted regularly with her cub. We’re still unsure if it’s male or female.

Our other resident female leopard, Kamini, has made a rapid recovery after her de-snaring ordeal. Her injury is indistinguishable and she appears to be in full health again. Her cub is more shy but has still been seen periodically. Kamini and Chibala had a territorial squabble, as their territories overlap, but luckily it was more bark than bite and just made for an interesting sighting. They have been seen together since this spat, both much more relaxed.

The Hollywood lion pride crossed the river to visit Tafika on the east bank and took down one of our resident zebras. They have several cubs and subadults in the mix. The Nsefu and Salt pan prides, who generally keep to the East side, have suffered some cub losses with the Nsefu pride losing as many as 4 cubs to crocodiles, hyena and leopards – Chibala and Olimba being the culprits.

The remaining cubs are becoming more active and honing their hunting skills with lots of play so hopefully they will be more successful in the game of life.

The lions are gravitating towards remaining water sources for easy kills. The Hollywood pride were unpleasantly surprised when they met some unlikely competition and forced to abandon a buffalo kill when it was swarmed by red ants. The voracious ants showed the ‘king of the jungle’ who’s really boss.

Up in the North Luangwa wild dog have been seen frequently at Mwaleshi with most sightings enjoyed on foot. Even a few hunts have been witnessed from a quiet hideaway in the bush. Cat sightings have increased with Moffat cozying up to a relaxed male leopard at Takwela. Selfie time!

As it heats up the Mwaleshi river is the perfect spot to cool off. The Takwela team are now often boating across the Luangwa to set up a lunch in the Mwaleshi river so guests can enjoy the cool water and a tasty meal at the same time.

As lagoons dry up the fishing parties of Saddle-billed Stork, Great White Pelicans and Marabou Storks are an impressive spectacle. Luangwa’s abundant grassland and rich flora is rapidly being flattened by hungry elephants and buffalo herds. Elephants are focusing their movements around the paperbark thorn pods (Vachellia sieberiana) and winter thorn pods (Faidherbia albida) which offer important sustenance to these giant herbivores at this time of year.

Hippos are carving trails through the bush from one sausage tree to the next (Kigelia africana), searching for fallen sausage fruit which sustains them during this dry time of year. Impala, puku, bushbuck and buffalo fall in step, following the same trails in search of tasty sausage tree flowers that bloom for one night only and drop to the ground in the early hours of the morning and giraffe inspect the treetops for tender new sausage fruit.

Thanks to the diverse and abundant flora of the Luangwa, there is still a lot of food but due to the low rainfall it’s going to be a drier dry season than usual and we wait to see how the larger herbivores will fare in October. What is certain is that the abundance of wildlife around the remaining water sources will increase significantly as the dry season progresses.

The Tafika Fund

The Football for Wildlife league came to a dramatic end mid-August with the South Luangwa teams finishing triumphant. In the ladies league, the Lukusuzi Pangolins beat Chitemwa Buffaloes with a convincing 2-1 after having two goals disallowed. In the mens league, Mkasanga Leopards came back in the second half to overcome the Chidyake Wildebeests with a 3-2 victory. The final took place in Mkasanga, South Luangwa, this year. We are grateful for Jimmy Sakala’s expert organisational skills that enabled the league to run smoothly.

16 teams of 15 players + 1 coach = 256 + 48 officials (linesman + referees) = 304 beneficiaries total
Each player, coach, referee and linesman receives a match fee
Transport, uniforms, footballs, first aid kits, sacks for rubbish and food for the final are provided by Tafika Fund and Remote Africa Safaris
Approximately K260,722 / $10,224 spent on the league

Many of the football players are made up of school children that were enjoying school holidays but that swiftly came to an end with term 3 starting in September. We handed out term 3 scholarships at Tafika at the end of August and although several students were already at school participating in holiday tuition programmes, we met with 8 of our 14 pupils. They were happy to receive stationary packs and solar lights which were donated by generous guests so a big thank you to those of you that hauled out goodies for the schools this year.