This morning we will head over to the Flatdogs (another word for crocodile) campsite. We were supposed to go there last night, but it was dark and the road was too wet. It is still very muddy, but at least it is now daylight so if we get stuck, it will not be so bad. We have breakfast and then pack up the campsite. Then, in order to prepare for the mud, we put the chains on the rear tires.
We decide to have a bit of a competition on who could put the chains on faster - the girls vs. the boys. It was a tough competition and, at first, the girls thought they won, but they had not locked one part. The boys won by a short margin. A lot of good fun, but it is quite tough to put the chains on these big tires, also considering the chains have these sharp studs on them.
We are off shortly after 9 AM. And the road is a mess. We make it most of the way, but then we get stuck in one spot. The right, front tire has sunk into the mud up to the axle. We have to get out the shovels and dig it out. It takes us a bit over 30 minutes to get out.
We arrive at Flatdogs shortly before 10 AM. After setting up camp (we set up our tent in one of the two tree houses that they have there - it is a bit scary as the platform is not much bigger than the tent - and with no railings - but it is a nice spot and the hippos cannot reach us here), we take it easy for the rest of the day until mid-afternoon.
At mid-afternoon, we head of for an afternoon and night game drive. South Luangwa National Park is one of Africa's best kept secrets and we are keen to head off on our game drive. We get into the open topped land rovers and head across the river and into the park. We are not disappointed - we see quite a lot on the game drive.
We see some wart hogs, impala, 3 long tailed starlings fighting off a snake attacking what we presume to be their nest in a tree, ...
... zebra (including this young one with a "mohawk"), big lizards, open billed storks, red beaked hornbills, giraffe, puku antelope, forest king fisher, crested barbit, water bucks, guinea fowl, ...
... a fish eagle, ...
... a very large troop of baboons (including baby baboons with bright red ears riding around on their mothers), ...
crocodiles and, just before we stopped for a break, a dead 3 meter long python that had just eaten an impala. We were told that he had been killed by a leopard that for some reason left him uneaten. It was quite a sight and it must have been a big struggle. We then took a short break by the river to stretch our legs.
We then started on what would be the highlight of the game drive - a night safari. They had a strong spotlight, which they would shine into the bush looking for animals. We were able to see quite a bit that we could not see during the day. We first saw the hippos. It is hard to see hippos out of the water during the day, but at night they go and feed on land. We saw many of them. The first ones we saw we surprised and they ran amazingly quickly given their bulk into the stream. But then we saw large groups in the bush and could watch as they wandered by.
We then were rewarded with an elephant and some baby elephants that were right next to the road. They would stand there and watch us. After that it was a large spotted gannet and then some mongooses.
The highlight, however, was the pride of lions that we found. They were laying by the side of the road and they would just lay there in the spot lights while we watched them. There was about a dozen of them, including a number of young ones. One of the young ones played with and chased a red dragonfly.
Every once in a while they would get up stretch and walk over to another place to lay down. It was great to watch them. From there we headed back to the campsite, getting back a bit after 8 PM.
We have dinner and then wash up, after which we get ready for bed. At this point it started to rain very heavily, so we retreated to our tent to go to sleep. As our tent was set up on the wooden platform without pegs, it was not set up perfectly so we had some problems with leakage, but it was manageable and we got a good nights sleep.