At 3 am, a sheet of canvas was all that separated Liuwa Plain National Park's only surviving lioness from Stephen Cunliffe as he lay awake in his tent. The Legend of Lady Liuwa is true, and this is how it goes

At 3 am, a sheet of canvas was all that separated Liuwa Plain National Park's only surviving lioness fromu00a0Stephen Cunliffeu00a0as he lay awake in his tent. The Legend of Lady Liuwa is true, and this is how it goes

Type: Safari
Best from: Lusaka, Africa
You need: 5 days

Iu00a0sat bolt upright in bed -- the alarm clock read 3 am, as my sleep-drowsed brain abandoned dreamland and tried to figure out what was going on. The only sound outside my tent came from the monotonous calling of raucous toads and the shrill whine of crickets. I sat dead still; fighting to control my breathing and straining to hear what had roused me. The distant whoop of a hyena drifted on the breeze ufffd but that was not it. There was only one explanation -- my spare bed must have slid on the tent's concrete floor. But big, heavy beds don't just slide across floors!

I had been sound asleep in the comfort of one of Matamanene Camp's four en suite tents, deep inside Zambia's Liuwa Plain National Park. Gradually, I began to relax and convince myself that it had only been a vivid dream. I slowly sank into the warmth of my duvet and began to drift off again ufffdwhen a deep guttural purring resonated through the tent. A second later, the spare bed shifted noisily once again. There was no mistaking it this time. In an instant I knew ufffd I was being honoured with a late-night visit from the legendary Lady Liuwa.

She walks in beauty of the night
The furniture creaked and groaned as she 'affectionately' nuzzled up against the canvas wall of the tent, pushing the bed and table a few inches across the floor, before flopping down outside my mosquito gauze-covered window. All that separated us was a thin sheet of canvas and, as I lay in bed, I could clearly hear her rapid breathing as she rested barely a metre away.

It was not terror I felt, but a feeling of tremendous privilege and honour to be graced with a visit from the queen of beasts. At no stage did her behaviour display any aggression, and I had the overwhelming feeling that she simply craved companionship.

Lady Liuwa is as enormous and impressive as a lioness you are likely to find anywhere in Africa. (Of course, she looks especially large in the dim glow of a paraffin lamp when she comes and settles outside your canvas tent during the wee hours of the morning!) Sadly, she is also Liuwa's last surviving lioness and this is believed to have contributed to her affiliation with the tourist-packed Matamanene Camp.u00a0

Why would a wild lioness choose to spend so much time around humans? Some believe she is lonely and, as a social cat, seeks companionship from the only available species too slow to flee from her instinctively. Others postulate that competitive pressure from the spotted hyenas on the plains has driven her to seek nocturnal refuge from relentless persecution.

Whatever the reason, she certainly provides a whole new dimension of adrenaline-pumping excitement to the Liuwa safari experience.

Men for company
The park management has prioritised the reintroduction of male lions to the park to rectify the situation. The genetically closest feline relatives of Lady Liuwa were traced to the Kafue National Park, and two mature male lions were recently introduced to provide some much-needed company for the queen of Liuwa. The sound of deep roars echoing across the open plains, as the males proclaimed their new territory, was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Liuwa is, however, better known as the home of Africa's second largest wildebeest migration. Historically, the wildebeest population numbered hundreds of thousands, and these huge numbers drove a migration from eastern Angola across the Liuwa Plain grasslands and into the woodlands before returning to Angola. Heavy poaching reduced the wildebeest numbers to a low 14,000 when African Parks Network (APN) took over the management of the park in 2003. But in the last seven years, the wildebeest population has staged a remarkable recovery to reach 45,000 animals this year.

Lady Liuwa and her eternal enemy, the spotted hyaena, are not the only predators to inhabit the reserve. Packs of wild dogs recently returned to the park's southern woodlands, while two female cheetah and their cubs now reside further north in the park.

Why you should go on a Lady safari
Great news for prospective Liuwa visitors is that in late 2008, Robin Pope Safaris (RPS) reinstituted their Liuwa safaris, so there is once again an experienced and professional operator offering regular tourist safaris to Liuwa during the peak migration season (December) and prime bird-watching months (May/June).

The sense of endless open space that appears to stretch forever, in all directions, stirs powerful emotions among visitors. Liuwa is a place of enormous skies, spectacular storms, dazzling stars and deafening silence.

With wildebeest and zebra scattered as far as the eye can see, the only sound that pierces your solitude is the slosh of wildebeest hooves crossing shallow wetlands.u00a0

Liuwa is a truly wild and spectacular area best described as a cross between Kenya's Masai-Mara, Tanzania's Serengeti and Botswana's Okavango Delta. Most importantly, it is devoid of crowds -- making sure there will be nobody else to distract the regal Lady Liuwa from paying you a late night visit.

Getting there

Flights
South African Airways (https://www.flysaa.com/) offers regular flights from Mumbai to Johannesburg, with short connections on to Lusaka.u00a0 Alternatively, Jet Airways (https://www.jetairways.com/) and Air India (https://www.airindia.in/) also offer code share flights with SAA on the same route.u00a0 Another convenient option is to fly with Ethiopian Airlines (https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/) connecting through Addis Ababa.u00a0 On arrival in Lusaka, the easiest way to reach the park is with a charter flight (https://www.proflight-zambia.com/) to Kalabo on the park's southern boundary.

Visa
Indian nationals require a tourist visa to visit Zambia, and this should be issued in advance through the Zambian High Commission in New Delhi.

Fact File

Situation:u00a0Liuwa lies in Barotseland on the western side of Zambia sandwiched between the Zambezi River and the Angolan border.u00a0

Where to stay:u00a0Matamanene Camp is a tented camp that offers four permanent en suite safari tents. It is located in the heart of Liuwa and forms the base camp for RPS during their 3-month safari season. A fully inclusive 5-day Liuwa safari package costs US$ 2,400.
Log on tou00a0 https://www.robinpopesafaris.net/ for details

When to go: Extensive flooding of the plains results in the park closing between December 1 and May 15. The park is at its driest during September and October.u00a0

Health and safety concerns: Western Zambia is a malaria prone area. Consult your local doctor regarding health precautions, malaria prophylactics and immunisations.

Further information and tourist facilities: Visit https://www.african-parks.org/ or https://www.robinpopesafaris.net/ and follow the links for Liuwa Plain National Park.