Monkey Trouble

Day two at Wildlife Camp is proving to be as productive as Day one was. A good drive this morning starting at 0530. Another good sunrise in the park. Today's mission was Hippos and Giraffe and it was vert successful. The Luangwa River has the highest concentration of Hippos in the world. This time of year, in low water, they are broken up into groups consisting of a dominant Bull, several females and their calves. We also saw quire a few Crocodiles today, at least 8 different individuals. Back in camp, everyone is on watch for pesky monkeys that try to steal food from the table. They also try to knock over the garbage can to steal goodies out of it. At least at night we only have to worry about Hippos roaming through the camp. The afternoon game drive was special. In a small pond, only an acre or two in size, we found dozens of Crocs devouring the caracas of a young Hippo. The Crocs probably didn't kill the young Hippo, that was probably the work of the Herd's Bull. But the Crocs were certainly taking advantage of the free meal. Some of the Crocs were massive. They would grab on to the Hippo and roll in the water to twist off a hunk. Quite amazing to watch. We stayed about an hour and I shot around 80Gb of the action. On the way back to camp, we found 5 Lions. Two females and three cubs. We spent about 45 minutes following them. It was after dark, so we were using a spotlight to track them. Not good enough for video, but I got some stills for proof that we saw them. Didn't want anyone to think we were Lyin:<)

A Hippo family cooling off in the river.




Elephants crossing the river at dusk


Elephant takes a drink


Crocodile Reflections


Chow time