South Luangwa!

The drive to South Luangwa was thankfully uneventful and relatively short (5 hours from the village). As we had all gone the last four days without showers, everyone was justifiably relieved to find that rather than having to pitch their tents, the great folks at Wildlife Camp had six double "en-suite" (has an attached bathroom with shower!) safari tents ready for us on the shores of the Luangwa River.

We unloaded our gear and everyone quickly headed for their showers and got changed. We had enough time to all collect at the riverside bar at sundown, where we enjoyed our first true "sundowner" drinks in the African bush. 

The other surprise - along with the safari tents - for the students is that while at Wildlife Camp, we no longer had to make our own meals. The staff at Wildlife Camp are fantastic and we sat down that night, clean and refreshed, to a fantastic meal along the river - hippos and baboons serenading us with grunts and barks, respectively. 

The next morning we were up before dawn to start our game drives in te national park. After a good breakfast at 0530, we loaded onto our safari vehicles with our knowledgable guides and headed off into the bush!

The wildlife in the park is amazing, and neither this game drive nor any of the other ones has disappointed anyone. I was particularly impressed that despite all the amazing thugs to see, everyone still stayed focused on collecting their data while on the drives. (Emily and Katy are diligently recording observations.)

Here is a small sample of some of the amazing plants and animals we saw just on the first drive:

Elephant

Kudu

Warthog

Zebra

Puku

Giraffe!

Lions, three males still hanging around a carcass of a young hippo they had killed the day before. 

Vultures at the hippo carcass