After visiting Victoria Falls, we took a bus from Livingstone to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We didn’t actually want to see this city, but had to pass through there twice to get to the national parks. First was Kafue National Park, where we stayed at peaceful Roy’s Camp.

Unfortunately, we both got sick during the night, so had to cancel our morning safari drive. We were able to go in the afternoon though, luckily! Else the long bus ride here would have been for nothing… But – we didn’t end up seeing many animals at all. Some elephants here and there, some impalas and pukus, but no cats or anything more special. Bush, bush, bush… too bad.

Next day, we returned to Lusaka for a night, to catch a 12 h bus the day after to Mfuwe/South Luangwa National Park. It was a looong day, but it was worth it! We stayed at Marula Lodge, a beautiful place on the river, right outside the national park. We got a really good all-inclusive package which included accommodation, food and 4 game drives. It felt like a holiday from travelling – we didn’t have to care about anything, just follow the daily schedule: breakfast – game drive – lunch – relax/pool – coffee & cake – game drive with sundowner – dinner. It was awesome!

Also, we ended up really liking South Luangwa National Park: Pretty landscapes, and lots of animals everywhere.

The highlight though was our very first game drive, during which we finally got to see leopards. Yes, not just one, but two!! We first saw the leopard cub up in the tree, toying with some leftover meat from a kill the mother made some days ago. At one point, it dropped the meat and the expression on his face was hilarious!

Then – the mother came out of the hiding to clean up after her kid. So cool! The little one then followed her down the tree and into the bush, so gone they were… This showed once again how much luck you need for spotting these cats: you have to be at the right time at the right place.

Already super happy, our guide then received a call about some wild dogs that had been spotted. Wild dogs are some of Africa’s rarest animals and you have to be very lucky to come across them. And we did!! A pack of 13 wild dogs was resting in the shade, not bothered at all by our presence…

To top it off, we saw loads of elephants and a big herd of buffaloes! A really good morning…

The other three game drives we did were also good, but just not AS amazing anymore. We did get to see lions, some hyenas and loads more ellies. And between these, we saw zebras, giraffes, impalas, pukus, hippos, crocs, loads of colourful birds, a chameleon (!!) and more.

We truly enjoyed our time in South Luangwa – finally seeing leopards and wild dogs was a great end to our safari time in Africa!