Once again we headed off at 4pm for our last game drive in South Luangwa NP.  Having seen our target bird (Lilian’s Lovebird) and the stunning leopard in the morning, we were ready  to just relax and enjoy this drive, come what may.

Mama hippo with a cute little baby hippo

We continued along the river to see the nesting areas for the Bee-eaters.  In season, this is where you find the striking Carmine Bee-eater.  At least we did see some White-fronted Bee-eaters, which are also very lovely birds!

We hit the rush hour traffic.

Here we see a dead crocodile that has been pretty well picked over.

Time for the traditional sunset viewing and snack.

This is where I had been sitting in the truck for all the drives, except I did get shotgun on the first morning drive.  Take careful note of how open this vehicle is.  Nothing to prevent an animal from jumping inside if it wanted to.

A lonely Fish Eagle looks for one last meal before bedtime.

It does get dark very quickly once the sun sets.  The nocturnal animals were coming out eager to find food.  We returned to the dead crocodile and found a hyaena chowing down.  Yuck!

Notice the glowing eyes from the spotlight, this is how they spot animals in the dark.

I hope this rabbit doesn’t become someone’s dinner!

Do our butts look big in this?

And then it happened.  Out of nowhere, a pride of lions was spotted.  We were the first truck to find them and had them all to ourselves for quite a while.  Remember how open the truck is?  Well take note of how close we were, I got the mirrors in on purpose.  There we were, basically room service for these hungry lions!  The guide told us to stay quiet and keep our hands and bodies inside the vehicle.  My heart was beating rapidly as I realized that they could leap inside anytime they wanted for a nice human buffet dinner.  The logical part of me was saying that the guide sees this all the time and wouldn’t have come so close if there was any real danger. 

This last one seems to be saying, “Yeah, I know I could eat you but I’m going to let you go instead”.

What a way to finish an amazing stay at the South Luangwa National Park!

We were given afternoon tea at 3:30pm, then left on the game drive around 4pm-ish.  It was still pretty hot and most birds and animals were resting.  As dusk approached, they started coming out.

Meyers Parrots in flight

Hammerkops

Grey-crowned Cranes

It’s always a pleasure to see the beautiful Lilac-breasted Roller

Don’t bother me!

Openbill Stork

South Luangwa River, a great place to see hippos and elephants

Although the showier Carmine Bee-eater wasn’t around this time of year, thankfully the elegant White-fronted Bee-eaters were.  After all someone has to eat all those bees!

Meves Starling

Art in the middle of the reserve

Notice the safari vehicle without a roof, these would be very hot with no place to hide!

It was just as the sun was starting to set we spotted a small flock of Lillian’s Lovebirds!  I was thrilled to find these little beauties!

A sweet little family!

The sun was setting and I was losing the light, plus the other people in the truck weren’t was bird-crazed as I was!

Sunset stop with a snack

The sun goes down fast and the nocturnal animals started coming out.  Unfortunately, I am even worse at night photography than I am at day photography.

Hyaena

Hippo

We slowly made our way out of the park where dinner awaited us back at Marula Lodge.

I have a ridiculous number of photos so I will be breaking up this series into 4 parts and selecting a few key birds to profile.  In this post, I will be writing about the 1st morning game drive the day after we arrived at Marula Lodge.

We had a 5am wake up call, then served a light breakfast at 5:30.  At 6am, we were off to the park!

The sun was coming up as the driver/guide pulled up to the gate and we each paid $25 for the entry fee.  You are advised to keep your ticket as you can use the same one for the full day but you have to buy a new one each day.  Cash only so be prepared!

We drove slowly over the bridge and into the park, stopping for all creatures great and small.

Helmeted Guinea-fowl

African Fish Eagle

There are quite a few of these little guys.  While I do have the checklist made with the guide, putting a name to a photo is a bit harder!

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Hornbill

Probably an eagle nest

Meves Starling

Lions were fairly common, we saw at least 1 on each drive.

Mid-morning snack

Perspective of how close we were in an open vehicle

Hammerkop

Hornbill

Southern Cordonbleu

Red-necked Francolin

Monitor Lizard

Giraffe with a hitch-hiker

Grey Go-away Bird

We returned to the lodge around noon-ish in time for lunch, then time to rest or swim or whatever until the afternoon.