When the river runs thin, instincts rise thick.
July has barely ended, but the land is whispering October secrets. Dust lifts off the roads in steady columns. The air is dry to the bone. And across South Luangwa, the impact of a failed rainy season is becoming undeniable.
Many of the lagoons that would usually hold water into mid-season are already bone dry. The Luangwa River is low — far lower than it should be this early — and shrinking by the day. For those of us who know this place well, it feels like the calendar has skipped ahead. Guides, scouts, and longtime staff all agree: we’ve never seen it like this in July.
(Buffalo in their Thousands off the Main Lodge)
WATER IS A LIFELINE
In response, and with approval from the National Park, Lion Camp has stepped in to support the land and its wildlife.
Three water sources are now actively maintained from camp:
- The Oxbow stream in front of the lodge continues to receive pumped water.
- A new borehole behind camp feeds the Workshop Lagoon — a key water point just metres away.
- A second borehole has been established at Tsetse (Pelican) Lagoon, a seasonal hotspot that now offers refuge once more.
The drilling process itself was a feat of manual ingenuity — a crank-and-rope system using gravity, water, and muscle to drive a hollow pipe deep into the soil. Soil samples are taken at each stage until the drill reaches water at around 25 metres. Once found, solar pumps and troughs are installed — simple infrastructure with lifesaving impact.
(The Borehole Crew Drilling at Tsetse (Pelican) Lagoon)
Behind the scenes, our team has been hands-on: laying pipework, building the troughs, and keeping the systems running. It’s been a full camp effort — for the wildlife, and for the future.
WILDLIFE AT THE WATER’S EDGE
The result? The plains in front of Lion Camp have transformed into one of the most dynamic viewing areas in the entire Luangwa Valley.
(Super Herd of Buffalo Drinking in front of the Main Deck at Lion Camp)
Massive herds of buffalo — sometimes over a thousand strong — now visit the stream daily. Elephants arrive from all directions, often returning more than once a day to drink, wallow, and dust themselves under the mid-morning sun. Lions trail the herds, and just nights ago, a pair of our nomadic males brought down a buffalo calf within sight of the lodge.
Guests can watch it all unfold from the deck over lunch or head down into the hide — a shaded, ground-level structure tucked near the water’s edge — where elephants have been known to approach within metres. One of the young bulls, affectionately nicknamed Mudball, has become a firm favourite. With a habit of climbing all over his older siblings and launching into theatrical mud somersaults, he’s been a source of daily delight.
And of course, Charlie and Scooter, our long-standing resident bulls, continue to visit. In true Scooter fashion, he recently wandered up into the lodge at night and, in a half-asleep daze, rested his trunk right on the breakfast table before nodding off. It’s moments like these — unplanned, intimate, wild — that make life at Lion Camp so special.
(Wayne, with our Resident Bull – Scooter)
THE HIPPO DILEMMA
But not all species are faring equally.
Hippos are under pressure. Their survival depends on deep water — not just to stay cool, but to maintain their strict social structures. As the river drops, space becomes scarce. Dominant bulls defend shrinking pools aggressively. The weaker ones are forced into shallow margins — vulnerable, overheated, and exposed.
We’ve already begun to see hippo carcasses along the banks and in the river — a worrying sign, especially this early. These deaths don’t go unnoticed. A hippo carcass becomes a magnet for every carnivore and scavenger in the area. Crocodiles feed in the masses on a fallen hippo in the river, then lions, hyenas, and vultures — compete intensely for any found on land.
This is a hard truth of drought: the fall of one animal often sustains many others.
(Crocodiles Feeding on a Carcass in the River & a Hyena and Vultures on Land)
A SEASON OF SURVIVAL
What’s unfolding in Luangwa is raw, real, and unforgettable.
It’s not always easy to watch — but it’s honest. And it reminds us that in times of challenge, nature doesn’t falter. It adapts. It sharpens. It reveals the instincts that run deepest.
As the land dries and the animals converge, we are bearing witness to one of the most intense and spectacular seasons in recent memory — a time when the wild pulls no punches, and survival takes centre stage.
Lion Camp. Here, the wild writes its own story — and we simply listen.
(Chiphadzuwa Preparing an Ambush at Fish Eagle Lagoon)
