I've been working hard to prepare the report and recommendations from my experience in Zambia. But now that the second draft is in review, I can start posting again. I still can't believe how long I've been back. It feels just like yesterday that I was in the middle of all this.
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After church we had a quick lunch at the guest house and departed for the airport...time to go to Mfuwe!
Our little puddle jumper made it for the 1-hour flight. My mom would have hated that tiny plane. Mom--you and Dad should go to a different national park when you go to Zambia :]
We had an hour drive, and then we arrived at the glorious Kafunta River Lodge.
Mario and Alison, the German and South African managers, greeted us by name with cool damp towels. While this lodge is pretty exclusive (a maximum of 20 guests can stay at one time), we got the star treatment. There were only 5 of us and one kooky Australian woman there for the whole stay.
When we first walked out onto the deck, our breath was completely taken away. Just down the bank past the deck and the chalets, antelope, warthogs, birds, crocodiles and monkeys were grazing and playing and drinking. We freshened up and got dressed for our first safari. First, we were treated to a lunch of delicious fish, quiche, and freshly baked bread.
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| The view from the pool. Impala and warthogs are grazing on the plain. |
Puku, impala and warthogs grazed just a half mile from our table as we ate. And the silence, save a few bird calls, was breathtaking. Binoculars gave us a view of a crocodile who was barely visible in the murky swamp. We could also see a Red Ox Picker on an impala's back, crowned cranes, and countless other chattering birds.
From each of our chalets, which had private bathrooms, a tented bed (left), an indoor seating area and a furnished balcony, we could see the same view.
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| The view from my balcony |
We were truly in the African wilderness. Welcome to South Luangwa National Park!
To illustrate just how "wild" it was, Mario have us a warning talk when we first arrived at the lodge. "Do not go to or from your chalets after dark. Clap and a watchman will come and get you. If there is an emergency, there is a whistle on the inside of the door to your chalet." He followed this up by saying, "You don't want to startle a hippo at night. And if the hippos can walk up here, you can imagine that everything else can, too."
After getting our warnings and seeing the first animals from "afar," it was time to go on a real live safari! I couldn't even contain my excitement. During the day drive, which lasted from about 4PM-6PM, we saw...
- elephants (a mother and her first- and second-born)
- male thornycroft giraffe
- puku (a small antelope, solid brown)
- impala (more slender antelope with black and white striped markings)
- striped mongoose
- crowned cranes
- storks
- a fish eagle
- two huge crocodiles
- pods of hippos in the water
- a large pack of baboons
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| Warthog on her front knees so she could reach the short grass more easily with her snout |
And we were so close to the animals--closer than in any zoo I've been to. And they were in their natural habitat, which made it that much more amazing.
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| The mother elephant was calm with us nearby |
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| The thornycroft giraffe was more shy than I expected him to be |
Crossing over the river was an adventure in itself. They call it a "ferry," but I'm not sure what we'd call it. Our guide had us all exit the big truck as he drove it carefully onto a metal raft. We all boarded again, and two men with wooden sticks with grooves in them pulled us across the river using a cable and the notches in the sticks. These same two men (below) pulled us back and forth across the river each time we went.
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| The river ferry |
The night drive was so exciting. After a short stop for a couple Mosi, we turned the spotlight on to see nocturnal animals.
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| A giraffe walked past us in the sunset |
That part of the safari was my favorite. Getting up early and having blankets and coffee was great, but being on the night drive and swiveling our heads back in forth to see glimmering eyes in the jungle was a complete thrill. On the night drive, we saw:
- puku and impala, getting ready to sleep
- hippos eating out in the field
- elephants
- a baby elephant and a hippo eating side by side
- 2 mongoose
- a civet
- a lone hyena, scavenging (if he finds something big, he starts howling. Something small he'll eat on his own)
Andrew, our guide, was a total riot. He had great tales of close encounters, hilarious jokes, and loved to talk about his family.
He was almost killed TWICE on the same walking safari. First he had to stand down two male lions. Then, he had to avoid a herd of charging buffalo. I wasn't too upset that we didn't have that much excitement.
"To beat lions," Andrew said, "stare them right straight in the eye. Don't run, and don't shoot. They're faster than you, and you would probably miss." In his case, he stared them down and they turned and walked away grumbling.
He also told us this:
If a hippo charges you, either jump over a fallen tree (hippos can't step over it), or simply side-step right before he's on you (they run with their mouths open, so he'll run right past!).
At 8PM we returned for red wine and a four course dinner on the deck overlook under a star-filled sky. All was quiet and peaceful except for the occasional grunting and snorting of hippos over by our chalets.
It was a full day, and the next would start bright and early. I got under my mosquito net to get some rest.
I felt like a true adventurer. It was only day 3, and already the experience of a lifetime!
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