Day 14 - 27 May 2016 The Wildlife Camp, Mfuwe

Day's trip schedule

 Wildlife Camp - Mfuwe - South Luangwa National Park

Distance & time taken

0 km
0 hrs

Accommodation

The Wildlife Camp, Mfuwe, South Luangwa (www.wildlifezambia.com)
+/-6km from the village of Mfuwe on the banks of the Luangwa river

Trip Notes

We decided would be a day for relaxation - or so we thought.  I had a bit of trouble with the nerves in my back & neck during the night which I can only surmise was from a combination of the photographing out the window of the vehicle the day before & trying to chop the logs of mopane wood we received to braai with.  The pain brought back memories of the trip here 2 years ago.  It was a good thing that we had decided the previous day to extend our stay by an extra day as it would give me time to relax & do exercises to get things back in order again.

I made coffee & we enjoyed it from our perch at the side of the river watching the animals come to life & head down to the water for a drink as well as the hippos returning to their sanctum in the river. Hippos are real strange looking when they are out of the water - such huge round bodies on such short legs, but can they move fast.  Dave & Marianne departed around sunrise after popping around to say their goodbyes to Ang & I as well as Robert & Laura.

After breakfast, I checked the vehicle over to check that all was in order for the next leg of the journey.  We did a bit of repacking as a few days in one place makes you lazy & things start getting put into any open space.  The rest of the morning we read, downloaded photos, slept & after lunch, tried again to access wifi.  We also took the time to revisit T4A to plot the rest of our trip as we had already made a number of adjustments over the fist 2 weeks.

View across the campsite - Robert sitting under the lapa on the left

During the day, we managed to eat our way through all the leftovers in the fridge which opened more space for beer.  Caught up with Robert & Laura in the afternoon as they would also be heading out on Saturday.  They would be travelling by taxi to the border just outside Chipata & then once they were processed through, they would then be met by a contact from Lilongwe who would then take them through to a camping spot.  On Sunday, they were due to fly to OR Tambo, overnight at a backpackers & then rent a car to drive through to Kruger.  We admired their courage (or is it deathwish) to travel by public transport on Zambian / Malawian roads.

Checking for leftovers

As we had eaten well during the day, decided to have a light snack of smoked oysters on Salticrax - washed down by a few Mosi's of course.  Reminded me of the end of the month meal when we had just started working & the funds dried up towards the back end of the month.


Spending the day in the campsite also allowed us the opportunity to see / watch the wildlife around the camp & the river.  We saw a multitude of hippo, impala, puku & the odd elephant as well as a number of water birds including the Crested Crane, Yellow-billed Stork, Open-billed Stork, Wattled Lapwing & Goliath Heron.  We also had a visit near the tent by a Grey-backed Camaropter as well as a first sighting of the Variable Sunbird.

All in, it was a good, relaxing day to prepare us for the next leg of our adventure.


Costs for the day

Accommodation

Wildlife Camp

US$20,00

Last sunset over the South Luangwa National Park