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A visit to the lost park of the Luangwa Valley

16 October 2017 by Simon Barnes 5 Comments

Luambe is the lost park: the Luangwa Valley’s secret garden. It lies between South Luangwa National Park and North Luangwa National Park in Zambia: a small patch of land I remembered as a place rich and meaningful even by the standards of the Valley.

I had seen elands and lions when I was there last: elands who seemed to reduce their preposterous flight distance in my honour and lions that lolled insolently in full view. I was passing through – it’s a place people used to pass through – in 1991 on my way to the north park, and in 1992 when trying to find the road up the Mchinga Escarpment.

But since then, the human population of the Valley has grown, and lonely Luambe became a magnet for poachers. It’s had some troubled years but now I was on my way back with Mario Voss, who has set up a camp there in a great act of adventure and daring. Luambe is now a place for stopping and staying a while.

It’s a truism that the tourist tends to destroy whatever he seeks: the first visitors to St Tropez were in search of an unspoiled fishing village. In Luambe tourists have a rare chance to do the exact opposite. Here you can create what you seek. A benign human presence is a serious deterrent to poachers.

And at the same time, it becomes clear to the nonhuman residents of Luambe that not all humans are enemies: that it’s possible to relax in the presence of human admirers.

So it was that we came across a crowd on elephants: 40 of them: a herd of such numbers would have been impossible a few years back. It would be an exaggeration to say they were at their ease: we got a threatening head-shake – but no worse – from one of the matriarchs, and a couple of the younger males stuck their tails out horizontally to show how stressed they were.

But as we did nothing, so the elephants settled down. Heads and tails were lowered, and this social gathering continued, perhaps a trifle self-consciously, as we watched from a discreet distance. The visitor to Luambe is reclaiming the park for elephants. These elephants.

There was something oddly satisfying about this. Earlier that day I had seen elephants in the South Park infinitely tolerant of humans and their vehicles: here, it seemed, were wild elephants and the negotiations that would allow us to co-exist in the same small space had not yet been completed. But they were progressing…

I remembered the chapter at the end of The Silver Chair in the Narnia books.

The Healing of Harms.

www.luambe.com

I was co-leading the Sacred Combe Safari with www.wildlifeworldwide.com

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Comments

  1. Susi Dillon says

    16 October 2017 at 1:28 pm

    It was such a wonderful experience doing the Sacred Comb safari to the valley with you. We enjoyed every moment and we have fallen in love with it. We can’t wait to return. All the best Susi and John Dillon

    Reply
  2. Annabel Henry says

    16 October 2017 at 1:32 pm

    Dear Simon, I love your writing, and your blogs – so many of them have inspired me to look more, see more, and learn more – thank you so much for writing.
    My husband and I are planning to have a special holiday birding or wildlife holiday next year. I looked up your Luagnwa trips as they look remarkable … but I just wanted to say that you are, very sadly, pricing this out of the range of many people – the costs are huge, meaning that the visits can only be enjoyed by those who are financially very comfortable. We ourselves have organised birding trips to south India and understand the work involved, and the pricing involved, and wonder if you might be persuaded to offer trips at more modest prices?
    We would so love to join your groups!
    Very good wishes, and don’t stop writing!
    Annabel

    Reply
  3. Jen Ferguson says

    16 October 2017 at 1:50 pm

    I so enjoy your writing – almost read it in on bended knee …in a respectfull ‘worshipful’ position. Love being in Luangwa with you. One thought –is it elandS …or just eland? ( As in sheep , as ’twere!)

    Reply
  4. BRIAN STEWART says

    16 October 2017 at 4:07 pm

    Lucky man.

    Reply
  5. hilda denham says

    17 October 2017 at 9:11 pm

    Wonderful! Thank you Simon, lovely to imagine being there.

    Best,

    Hilda

    Reply

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