It was unusually calm this morning, it felt like the earth stood still.

Clear blue skies and a striking sun welcomed the early hours over the Mopane forest as I was hoping to capture the silhouette of an elephant. Only a few antelope showed.

Yesterday’s showering filled up other waterholes so that animals don’t need to travel to camp.

The calm and sunny conditions invited Rick for a last spin over the Luangwa River.

It was the first time on my stay here that no clouds cumulated over a vast, eerie horizon.

There were no noises to be heard near or far.

Only the geese colony made themselves heard as the birds chased each other over feeding and breeding grounds.

I packed Zimba’s tent and collected my belongings. One baboon peeled off with my carrot grader. Those monkeys.

What a place, what a camp, what a wildlife experience bonanza here by the Luangwa River. There’s no point recommending to stay here, if you can’t read between these lines. Zikomo.

A quick stopover in Kakumbi saw me restock some groceries and diesel. Even though I was sure that I had enough of each, one can never be sure going off-road into the wild.

The weather forecast looked a touch iffy with dark clouds accumulating and heavy thunderstorms predicted. According to Murphy’s Law; You never know if you never go.

I passed the gates to the Nsefu section of the South Luangwa National Park which caused some commotion. The park warden had never seen a zebra with alloy rims before. Friendly chap.

It had rained here as well as long green grass attracted a herd of zebras.

They hadn’t seen a zebra on wheels either. This is the perfect lion country as tall grasses provide perfect cover.

No wonder the herbivores were on the edge.

A small herd of Kudu looked just as surprised as we passed by.

Maybe a pair of ground hornbills got their attention.

Another thing I noticed along my way north was that baobab trees started flowering.

I couldn’t beleaf it seeing greens on their branches. Baobab trees start flowering long before rainfall begins. They can suck the moisture and humidity out of the air as the build-up season progresses. And when it does start to rain, the trees are already to be pollinated.

Baobab trees never cease to amaze me, Mother Nature is amazing. I have a feeling, there will be a few more posts about these incredible trees.

The impala didn’t care, they had reproductive business to attend. It’s that time of year again.

As I passed the northern gate of the Nsefu sector, I noticed dark clouds in the northern direction. My direction. The peaks of the mountain range that runs parallel to the Luangwa River captured the condensation. No doubt that it will be raining soon. Where exactly and how much I will find out, let’s see how far we get. I passed a few communities and crossed two dry river beds. The locals hadn’t seen a zebra on wheels either and happily waved in my direction. Smile and wave.

The river beds were dry as but sizeable. Imagine the amount of water flowing in a hefty wet season into the Luangwa River only to flood its way south. Phew, but not today. It was hot and humid all day until it started drizzling. Lightning and thunder signaled unweary weather right ahead. I was heading towards a thunderstorm and should sit this one out.

Ideally, I would have kept on driving but I was lucky to have found some empty spaces. There aren’t any campgrounds or any form of population anywhere near, perfect. Moving along, I discovered a track leading west from the D104 towards the Luangwa River. I drove a few kilometers into the uncertain and settled for camp under a large tree.

There was clear evidence of animal activity right here. This is wild country; no people (of what I know of), no fences, and no boundaries to either national park. I am camping next to the eastern arm of the divided Luangwa Riverbed which is completely dried up from as far as I can see. After most of the thunderstorms passed north of my current site, constant rain showered this dry land for a few more hours. Just as well de-dust and take an outdoor shower. My outdoor office was compressed to a seat on the passenger side, I still hadn’t seen all the footage from the wildlife camp adventure. I sat under the tent in complete darkness when I heard those gentle and soft steps. An elephant bull tracked his way to the riverbed. He wasn’t far off when he passed us, though he was a little confused. Usually, there aren’t any zebras parked here. Lions roared for most of the night towards the dry riverbed. How safe am I going to be? You just never know.

It took a while for the sun to break through the clouds, good morning sunshine. I seized Rick for a spin to give a better indication of my surroundings.

A few impalas grazed on the riverbed, which was completely dry. Animal tracks scatter the sands like a mosaic.

Another elephant came for a visit early morning, just as I packed in. Fortunately, they are rather shy towards humans around here and trotted off.

So should we Zimba! No doubt that we will hit some mud holes but how many and how deep and other ‘hows’ remain to be seen.

We had fun. Lots of it. Having Zimba sliding effortlessly through muddy terrain like we’re on a rally championship circuit. I was somewhat surprised by the depth and how many mudflats we encountered as it didn’t rain that much and that heavy.

However, I did turn around eventually. A two-wheel drive taxi bus plowed through a decent stretch of mud, this will not do. I still had about 100 km ahead of me and escorting a taxi van through mud wasn’t my ideal scenario. I was confident enough to say that Zimba and I would have been able to reach our destination somehow, sometime. But mud is an off-road factor not to be taken lightly when traveling alone.

This also meant that I wouldn’t be able to complete the North Luangwa circuit and wouldn’t emerge on the T2 national highway to follow the fruit bats for their dawn and dusk migration at Kasanka National Park. I would have been able to complete the circle if I had left the wildlife camp two days earlier, But …

Would have, could have, and should have are best left to the wondering kind. Fact is that I need to return to Chipata and make my way southwest like I did 6 years ago.

The park warden at the Nsefu Gate couldn’t recognize Zimba, neither could I. ‘Ja, we had some rain. And we had some fun.’