South Luwanga NP

After the long ride from Chipata we arrived late and I didn't make it to the Flat dogs Camp. So I slept in Mfuwe town (road with shops on the side). The next morning I got supplies and left for the hostel that sounded so good in the LP. It turned out to be very cool. Backpackers are allowed to camp in the canopies of the trees, overlooking the grass with all it´s wildlife. Baboons and smaller monkeys are roaming the area and peacefully eat what they can get or fight each other in a noisy spectacle. A couple of giant lizards are also around.
From the riverside you can look out at the hippos that are there in great numbers and making bass sounds all they long. In the evening time they come out of the water to eat the grass below the tent. So you can actually see these massive animals moving around. They are vegetarians and aggressive, but if they are afraid of something they run to the water. Because of their size and power they can run people over while running and kill them.
Elephants are also dangerous and people die regularly in this area, because the elephants have decided that the villages are part of their food gathering circles. The houses are usually just huts and if the elephants smell food they will use their power to get to the source of the taste and in the process killing the residents.
In the morning antelopes eat grass at the shore. I once saw a buffalo and apparently the river is littered with crocs, but I never actually saw one.
A few days in a row their was a huge massacre of insects. They were flying around the lights the whole evening until most of them died. The grounds were full of millions and millions of dead insects. This happens only once a year and I was lucky to wittiness it. Locals love this time because they collect the dead insects and eat them with Nshima, yummy.
I stayed there for a week and cooked my own stuff in the kitchen, which was surrounded by monkeys. I read a couple books and mostly stared out to the hippos. People that come here are either equipped with their own wheels or fly in. The lucrative lodges are owned mostly by South Africans and prices for game drives into the park are expensive. So I actually never went into the park and the title of this blog could be considered misleading. But there was so much game in the lodge and in the river, that it didn't make sense to pay for it.
The rainy season showed it´s ugly side and my stuff and myself got completely wet. I actually had to evacuate my tent and sleep in the toilet because it was getting messy. My tent is only suitable for summer and is actually called "The Weekender". I bought some plastic in the village to cover my tent.
I general I had a really nice time there and enjoyed the wildlife a lot. On my way back to Chipata I hitched and the guy had to replace two tires in 6 hours.