Walking with Lions and Leopards

Writer: Sarah Kingdom Photography: Jane Addey

Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park is at the end of the Great Rift Valley and it is through this 9050 square-kilometre national park that the meandering Luangwa River flows. The river, with its oxbow lagoons, tributaries, riverine woodlands and open plains, plays host to huge concentrations of wildlife including elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion, giraffe, hippo...in fact 60 species of mammal and over 450 species of bird. Portuguese sea captain, Antonio Gamitto, when writing of the Luangwa in around 1832 said…’Game of all kinds is very abundant…great numbers of wild animals collect here…we can only say that this district appears to be the richest in animal life of any we have seen.’ In 1866, Scottish missionary, David Livingstone, upon crossing the Luangwa River, said…’I will make this land better known to men that it may become one of their haunts. It is impossible to describe its luxuriance.’

We were in South Luangwa for a three-day walking safari with one of the most expert safari guides to be found in Zambia, Deb Tittle. With over 2,500 safari walks under her belt, Deb has been guiding in South Luangwa since the 1990s and is experienced at both interpreting the sights and sounds of the bush and at understanding, anticipating and explaining animal behaviour. Deb’s new camp, Mapazi, is one of the northern-most camps in the park, far beyond the busy game drive loops found further south. This is an undisturbed part of the park where there are few roads and even fewer people… perfect for walking safaris. Mapazi roughly translates from the local language, Chichewa, to mean feet or footstep, a fitting name for the experience we were to have here. There is something unique about a safari on foot—no noise of vehicles—just the crunch of dry grass underfoot. Senses are heightened, you see and hear things that you have never noticed before and become very conscious of how loud your own breath sounds in your ears as you try hard to walk silently through the bush.

Nothing makes your heart beat faster than coming face to face with a leopard. We had startled a young, female leopard as she descended from an enormous tree. Deb knew the leopard had stashed a part of her kill in the tree a few days earlier and thought there was a chance we may still find her in the area. We approached the tree quietly and surprised the leopard as she was coming down. She didn’t spot us until she had all four feet on the ground, and it was only then that she looked up and saw us, just a few metres away. Motionless, she stared at us for a moment, before coming to her senses and disappearing into the undergrowth. That feeling of locking eyes with a leopard, when we were both on foot, was a magical moment.

Continuing our walk, we came to an open plain, dotted with acacia and sausage trees. A group of 10 or so giraffe came into sight, sauntering in their graceful way across the plain. Eland, waterbuck and impala grazed in the background. The giraffe, clearly deciding we presented no threat, continued their slow amble, stopping occasionally to nibble the flowers on the sausage trees and wild gardenias. As we returned to camp, we found three male lions relaxing in the shade of a tree. Unfazed by our intrusion on their morning nap, after giving us a cursory glance, they resumed their siesta.