10 Incredible Wildlife Adventures

The Kafue and Luangwa tributaries of the River Zambezi nurture an abundance of wildlife. From escaping ravenous lion prides to being charged by African elephants and encountering packs of wild dogs, Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy savour a wholesome slice of Zambia.

We were barely a few metres away from a pair of mating lions in an open safari vehicle.

The tyres were horribly stuck in the mud, and daylight was fading faster than our bravado. The more our Zambian driver and-guide, Powell Nchimunya, revved the engine, the deeper we sank. The cloud of grey fumes we blew towards the lions wasn’t exactly the post-coital smoke they would have enjoyed, so we begged Powell to ease off. “During mating, lions prefer to stay in one area, and they’re at it 60 to 70 times in the space of two to three days,” we were informed. “Just once makes people so ravenous,” we chuckled. And here was a lovely international spread for the Lions’ delight if they so chose. “English, Swiss, French, Indian—what would you like to have tonight, dear?” Nervous laughter ensued.

It was a strange predicament, thanks to unseasonal heavy rains, which had rendered the loop roads and tracks of Kafue National Park slushy. There was nothing we could do but radio for help and wait for a safari vehicle from Mukambi Safari Lodge to pull us out. “Shall we have the sundowners now?” Powell tried to sound cheerful. Considering our situation, it wasn’t a bad idea. Out came sausage rolls and white wine. He carefully kept one spotlight trained on the tawny mane in the bush. “Umm… can’t spot the lioness,” we observed warily. “Actually, there were two lionesses,” Powell corrected us. “I don’t see the other one either.” We nearly choked on our wine, imagining two hungry big cats stalking us in the darkness.