Our last day dawned but as our flight was not until 1750 we had a whole morning to see the bush and didn't even have to think about packing until after lunch as we didn't leave until 1445.
What a last drive - we saw the big 5 for Luangwa - no rhino as they are extinct but we saw elephant, buffalo, a young leopard lying flat out in a gully- he was full and fat after eating his mornings bushbuck kill which he had been seen with earlier up a tree. We then made our way to where other trucks were looking at something which turned out to be 3 male lions - with interesting manes - they were not full manes - they looked more like punks with Mohican manes. The best bit was as we drove towards them we spotted a leopard walking across an open area- needless to say the impala looked worried and were alarm calling. She came straight towards us and passed really close to jeep - I could see right into her eyes - she was beautiful. Apparently she is the mum and the one we saw flat out in the gully was her son - she also has a daughter in the area.....it was fantastic. Unlike the rather scrawny lions she was really special and had a beautiful coat. As we continued we saw a special bird - temincks coarser; we also saw spoonbill, bushbuck and tussling young elephants. The last hurrah was the most special - 5 wild dogs - today's picture - unexpected as they are rare but absolutely brilliant and what an end to an excellent week.
Very happy we went back to the Lodge to pack and prepare for our return trip. I decided to have a quick swim before lunch- it was refreshing but as I went to change I twisted my back - the pain was excruciating but as I moved around it slowly eased -I was relieved as I didn't fancy seizing in my airline seat!
We said our goodbyes to the team at River Lodge and headed to Mfuwe - meeting up with the young NZ couple we met earlier- who were also going back to Lusaka. When we arrived in Lusaka we were whisked to the Protea hotel - a really comfortable hotel and only 25 minutes from the airport....our location meant our final morning was easy and we were back at the airport by 0700. We always wanted a large giraffe so decided to buy one in the airport shop ( a 4' metal one) - it was fully wrapped in newspaper and luckily the BA cabin crew were very helpful and put him in a locker for us. This is the only way we could have bought him and brought him back safe and sound. He now has pride of place in our hall and is a lovely reminder of the holiday.