South Luangwa National Park

We started the morning early but luckily we didn't have to pack up our tents until we got back from the game drive. A big truck turned up and we all piled on, there were no windows or barriers (kind of like a cattle truck with seats) and it was freezing.

As we entered the park we saw five hippopotamus' by a water hole which appeared to be frozen in time, not moving at all. We looked closer to see that there were three lions walking behind them. I think they were going with 'if I don't move, you can't see me' approach. We continued driving around the park, we saw several water buffalos, thomson gazelles, baboons, elephants, crocodiles and several other common animals.

We stopped for a cup of team and all of a sudden our guide got very excited pointing to across the other side of the lake where we had been looking at another hippopotamus popping it's head in and out of the water. I couple see another group standing around something, everyone rushed over and then I saw that it was a pangolin. A pangolin is very rare, that rare that our guide had never seen one and had been a guide for thirty-one years. The guide was so excited and wanted to tell everyone, we listened as he would tell other guides as we drove past them and none of them believed him, they wanted to see a photo.

Interesting facts about pangolins:
• african people believe that seeing a pangolin will bring them good fortune.
• the pangolin is one of the most hunted animals in the world accounting for almost twenty percent of the wildlife black market, around 100,000 every year are captured with majority being shipped to china.
• they are the only mammal to have scales.
• they emit a noxious acid like skunks.
• some climb trees, others dig holes.
•their name means 'something that rolls up'.
• their tongue can be longer than its body.

Once we had finished our game drive we headed back to the campsite where we had to pack up our tents, we were a little bit late leaving because there was a problem with the truck's gearbox and Aloise was trying to fix it.Read more