Continued
The rooms at Tafika were a thatched open aired chalets,
ideal for the heat at this time of year (some days 40
deg +) with reed matting walls for the bedroom, the
bathroom was a roofless enclosure underneath a tree
giving shade from the sun. A shower under the stars was
a novelty. On the first night a family of elephants
decided to feast on the shower tree and surrounding
shrubs, that night we lay awake listening to the flora
being devoured by these silent giants of the night only
feet away from our beds. An encounter a bit too close
for comfort but the night passed away without a problem.
Something Special
As dawn broke we were aroused by the night guard, 5am
was the time to start each day, we were on our way an
hour later after a casual breakfast by the open fire
whilst looking over the Luangwa river. We passed through
the park gates by 6am, it was just the two of us this
time with our guide Lloyd who was our guide for most
game drives at Tafika.
Soon I discovered most game drives in the morning
start quietly with frequent sighting of the regular game
but once or perhaps twice on each game drive something
would appear that was exceptional turning the game drive
into something very special. For this game drive it was
the wild dogs that appeared from over the hill and run
down the track towards us. It was the water in the small
stream on our left they were after but for 20 minutes we
were privileged to have 6 wild dogs resting and playing
just a few yards in front of the vehicle. I have
travelled to Africa a number of times in the hope of
seeing wild dogs but only once did we glimpse these
predators on those occasions.
Suddenly, they all grouped up together, ears all
pointing in the same direction and then they ran back up
the hill at a trotting pace in search of breakfast.
We knew we had been treated to something extra special.
We followed them at distance for some while and it was
obvious they were in hunting mode but alas we did not
see the kill as it was in an area we were unable to go.
We found the wild dogs again in the afternoon game drive but
by the time we came close the light had faded to an extent
that decent photography was not to be had. I had seen more
wild dogs that day than I had ever seen before, a big one to
tick off the list.
We were advised by another vehicle that lions had been seen
back where we had come from, so we made haste back to the
stream to find 11 lions (the 'Village' pride)
at the same spot we had watched the wild dogs only an hour
before. Again I was able to practise my photography with
predators only feet away from my lens.
Photographic Notes: It has been
my experience that you do not always need a long lens to
take good photographs of wildlife but of course a long lens
does have it’s part to play.
Because the ground was parched and dry dust became a major
problem for photography when on a drive, the dust seemed to
get into every nook and cranny, even if you religiously put
the bits of equipment away when not in use. So cleaning the
camera kit was a daily task, sometimes more frequently. All
my lenses, extenders, caps and cameras were cleaned at least
once a day after each game drive.
From a photographic point of view I discovered the morning
drives produced most of the better shots, mainly from the
point that as the morning drive progressed the light
improved, whereas the afternoon game drive the light started
to deteriorate quickly after about an hour into the drive
perhaps sooner if sun fell behind the clouds on the horizon.
Therefore, when on the afternoon game drive the sightings
had to be found quickly. A large part of the afternoon game
drive was a night.
At Tafika each day followed a similar pattern, up with the
lark and back after dark from the afternoon game drive with
a rest and lunch during the heat of the day back in camp. We
saw many leopards on our night drives, I do remember on one
evening night drive we came across a young Leopard just
after she had made a kill and we watched her drag the Impala
up the tree to safety, out of reach of the Hyenas.
The Impala must have been half the size again as the
Leopard, such strength and determination. If that had been
during the day I would have some remarkable shots but just
watching her was nearly as good. However, I had few
photography opportunities of Leopard during the day whilst
at Tafika but there were plenty of other wildlife sightings
to keep me photographically amused on each game drive. Apart
from the wild dogs the other special close up game
experience was that of two mating lions, we saw them first
on day 3 but it was cloudy morning and the light was poor,
photographs were OK but could be better. The next day we
meet them again but this time we had good light and
photographic positioning and a few pleasing snaps to tell
the tale.
Tafika has it’s own Carmine Bee Eater hide not far from the
camp, a good place to spend an hour in the afternoon. The
best shots I was able to take was from the bank above the
nesting place where the birds would perch quite close on the
shrubs on top of the bank.
We finished at Tafika on day 6 it was time to move on as I
think we had exhausted the photographic potential on that
side of the river. I must say we very much enjoyed our stay
there, a professional run lodge with excellent food,
excellent company and excellent guides.