Safari in Africa

It’s a dream come true for me! I have never thought in my life that I would be able to do real safari in Africa. For someone who spent half of her career in environment development work, such opportunity is rare; therefore a great fulfillment. Less than 3 weeks in placement, I couldn’t resist joining other volunteers to a safari, thinking that it might be difficult to organize it by myself. The destination-- South Luangwa National Park, the second largest national park in Zambia in terms of size but number one in fauna diversity.

For a first-timer like me, I had the impressions that it was a long travel which was more than the 2-hour drive people claim to be. Apart from this, the road was also bumpy which I think made the trip longer. I tried to relax my body to avoid feeling the bumps and was relieved that there was enough room for two people in the car. We stayed at Condote Guest House, which is one of the many ventures of Chipata Diocese. It has rows of self-contained rooms and twin-bed rooms with common toilet and shower. Monkeys were all over the place climbing and hanging on the trees. The guest house was simple but comfortable and one of the cheapest in town because of its location outside the national park. Most of the guest houses are within the national park and normally charge higher.

The first thing done was pay entrance to the park to save time for the early start of the next day’s safari and also book for the night safari. Private vehicles are not allowed inside the park during night time. The next day was really an early start. Luangwa National Park is located in a valley, different from the Philippines because to see animals, you have to trek or climb up mountains, unlike here, animals are roaming around. The vegetation is characterized by medium tall trees (apologies to my terrestrial professors for not able to call them the proper way!), I know that Africa has its own name for its type of forests, but again I cannot remember it. Since October is the hottest month in Zambia, the vegetation of Luangwa National Park was brown with little patches of green. I was excited to hop in the safari car and while on it, my eyes were widely open every time there is sighting of animals. I enjoyed watching the animals wandering around the bush. I wish I have an SLR camera because my digital camera failed to capture the birds and even taking photos of animals from a distance. Rules and regulations on getting off the vehicle are strictly observed. Some of the animals I have seen, as far as I can identify and name included elephants, which has a big population, monkeys, baboons, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, deer, wild buffalos, again a big population, impalas which were seen everywhere, my favorite giraffes and zebras. Although at the end of the day, I was disappointed for not seeing the king of the jungle. However, it didn’t mean all hopes were gone because the safari operators assured us that we would see them during the night safari.

The night safari was another wonderful experience. For four hours, we were taken around to see animals but primarily the target was lions. The same animals we spotted during the day were seen although better in the sense that we found them in assembly. The birds were busy chirping reminding me of one of our guests in LIKAS who can identify birds by the sound of it. I was amazed with the nice colors of birds and even the colorful butterflies. Almost giving-up for the night, it was on the last hour of the night safari that we spotted lions, also in group, like a family because there were big ones and lioness as called by our safari guide. The King of the Jungle finally showed up and we were happy; however, excitement didn’t end with just the lions because we also spotted leopard and hyenas. My safari buddies and I were all happy as we drove back to the guest house because we have seen the animals that we wanted to see. The only regret I have was, failing to pose with the giraffes and zebras. Well, I still have enough time to go back to the park and the next time, I will try my best to capture moments with some of the animals.