The WildEarth Legacy Tour: Where the bush always provides

It's never easy to condense an experience like this into a few words... but what can I say? The bush always provides.

I picked up the group at Chitwa Chitwa after Cedric and Ben had already spoiled them rotten over at Jaci's. Energy levels were sky-high – these guys had already banked seven leopard sightings and a stack of good game before I'd even said hello. But they still had a wish list: David wanted wild dogs, and everyone, without exception, wanted lions and buffalo.

Afternoon one, we rolled out to Torchwood, and wouldn't you know it – the first animals we saw were wild dogs. David was over the moon, so pleased, in fact, that he asked to be dropped at the nearest pub for the rest of the drive. I'm fairly sure he was joking. We didn't drop him off anyway – mostly because there is no pub anywhere nearby.

The hunt for the Nkuhuma pride

Over the next few days, we put in some serious hours chasing down the Nkuhuma pride and their ten cubs. The first morning was quiet – they'd wandered back over onto MalaMala before we could catch up – but we weren't complaining, not with zebra and giraffe posing beautifully for us out on the burnt area.

That afternoon, we tried our luck with the lone Nkuhuma lioness denning on Djuma, hoping for a glimpse of her new cubs. A few drives later, still no sign of her – the bush keeps her secrets sometimes. What we did get, though, was quality golden-hour time with the Kambula breakaway (2 adults and 4 sub-adults) pride out west, complete with a couple of spectacular walk-byes.

A lesson in trust

That same afternoon, just minutes after leaving the lodge, we were handed a masterclass in trust and boundaries, bush-style. We found a good-sized herd of elephants at Chitwa Dam and parked up on the dam wall. The herd had other ideas about personal space – the whole lot of them ambled past within a metre of the vehicle. Special doesn't quite cover it. Everyone was buzzing and very present!

Chitwa, being Chitwa, pulled out every stop along the way – a pizza truck in the middle of the bush, a magical bush dinner under the stars (with hyena visitors). And still, the best was yet to come.

TP, the Nzenga males, and a farewell leopard

On our last morning, we were called into a sighting of one of the Nzenga males, the one who was recently badly injured. With his nose to the ground, he led us straight to the rest of the pride. What followed was a walk-by for the ages – six powerful lionesses, ten cubs, and both Nzenga males (one trailing a little behind, but keeping up like a champion).

And then, just when we thought the trip couldn't top itself, after our last coffee stop, we spent our final few minutes with Langa, the female leopard, who'd stashed a steenbok up a tree for safekeeping – with a bonus glimpse of her young son thrown in for good measure.

The final tally

All in all, this trip was an outright success. We had some lovely birding, from saddle-billed storks to resident fish eagles. We even visited the Wigs (spotted eagle owl pair) and found them in residence!

Elephants galore, endless general game, big cats aplenty, and three white-tailed mongooses – or, if you squinted hard enough, three very convincing honey badgers. We squeezed in a short but informative bush walk, and the meals and treats were, frankly, off the charts.

So, thank you, Chitwa Chitwa – your staff are something special, and they looked after every one of us brilliantly. Thanks too to Daniel and Siphiso for leading the drives; truly memorable stuff. I'll most certainly be back.

-- Written by Steve Faulconbridge

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