Sat Sept 14

Woke up early…..before our wake up call.  Opened my eyes, just laid there for a bit watching the monkeys in the trees…..jumping and swinging and chattering…..I could do this every morning!  Full moon last night so we’d left all the flaps open in the tent just to get the breeze and see whatever, so incredible to wake up to this.

Cheri and I joked about the sticky zipper out to the bathroom…..hoped we didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night!!  Something woke me up around 3AM….maybe that hippo that was 2ft away from our tent??  I don’t know, but of course I then had to go to the bathroom.  The floor is very uneven and squeaky, so just about fell flat on my face on the way to the back of the tent. With only my phone for light I found the zipper pull and then it got stuck….grumbling and stumbling around trying to get a better look at it, I started to laugh…..not sure why.  Then I heard Cheri laugh….so much for trying to be quiet!!

Full moon so could see outside pretty good….watched the hippo for a bit then back to bed and listened to him until I fell asleep.  I swear I could hear him breathing!!

My toe hurts….a lot.  A little worried it might be infected.  Gave it another good clean this morning but just not sure if there is still a bit of bark mulch stuck in it.  Quite red and tender.  Took one of my antibiotics (from the travel clinic in case of major tummy issues)  What would I do if it is infected??  Will assume that Flatdogs Camp will have some sort of first aide person if need be.  Oh well…..can’t let a banged up, potentially septic toe stop me!!

Coffee arrived arrived at 7.  Beautiful sunrise over the river.  Just fantastic sitting out on the deck, coffee and cookies (and bug spray!) to start the day.  Updated my journal, watched the monkeys in the trees, the hippos in the river……..just really enjoyed the peace and not so quiet!

After another great breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon etc) we got loaded back up, including the boxed lunches they’d packed for us.  Matthews drove us back to Lusaka to catch our flight to Mfuwe.   Left just after 9AM.  A 4-5 hr drive.  Same highway back into Lusaka, thru Mumbwe.

Lusaka must be spread out for miles and miles.  Lots of new buildings going up, lots of traffic too.  People walking along pushing and pulling various types of wheeled things and makeshift carts loaded up, lots carrying stuff on their heads, gals wandering in and out of traffic selling oranges from baskets on their heads.  Everything and everywhere just buzzes with activity.  Stopped at a different mall to find an ATM.  Fun place…..a big Spar market was having a party of sorts and draws for the winners of some new cars.  A band, a bunch of local celebrities talking to people.

Just a few random pics

Got to the airport around 2:30 for our 4:30 Proflight to Mfuwe.  Sat in the bar and ordered Savannahs and ate our boxed lunches.  Very interesting place to sit since it’s right in the centre of the main terminal and not very big.  Lots of people from everywhere.  We speculated on who was on safaris……hahaha probably 90%.  Some had guides with them, some had huge backpacks with sleeping bags.  A lot of local families with kids in tow….you just have to wonder where they are all off too.  For a small airport it’s really busy…..tons of planes coming and going…..big and small.  There is a big brand new airport being built next door (Chinese are building it).  Looks lovely…..lots of metal and glass….very modern.

Flight was on a Dash 8 prop plane that held about 50 people.  Was just over an hour and they even served drinks!  Landed at Mfuwe just after 5:30.  Very small airport.

Malama, from Flatdogs, met us and a couple from Sweden.  Drive took around a half hour.  Was getting pretty dark by the time we hit the road so didn’t get to see too much of the area.

Arrived at Flatdogs Camp and dropped the Swedish couple off at reception and we carried on past the other chalets or accomos thru the camp to ours, “The Crocs Nest”.  JUST WOW!!  Now this is what I would call “glamping” at it’s best!

https://www.flatdogscamp.com/

First class service all the way!  No check-in or anything???

The Crocs Nest is a huge two bedroom with ensuite TENT!  Nice big comfy living room and dining room, bar cabinet with fridge, coffee making stuff etc.  Bathrooms are huge and semi open.  But the outside is just gorgeous……nice big pool, a couple of different seating areas and a fire going in the fire pit just in front on the pool.  I am speechless!!

Malama and Kennedy explained the radio to us…..we put Russ in charge of that!  Since we cannot wander around off the decks on our own at night…..or, they suggest thru day either….everything, including lunch and dinner is delivered to us.  We get picked up and dropped off at our front door.  The table was all set for dinner…..very nicely too!  Told them we’d probably order around 7:30 for 8.  They left us the daily dinner menu and off they went.  Even though we’d booked this and knew it was pretty darn nice, the pictures really can’t convey what it is like to actually be here!!  I think we were all pretty impressed!

Very warm here compared to Kafue…..actually hot, even in the evening!  Definitely no sweaters required.   The fridge had been nicely stocked, so into our bathing suits for a swim and a beverage before we ordered dinner.

Had our choice of 3 appies, main courses and dessert.  Got them all sorted out and Russ on the radio ordering it all.  Fun!  All he had to say is Crocs Nest calling……

Our first course arrived right on time.  I ordered the spring roll appetizer (v.g.), the chicken curry for my main and mango pavlova for dessert (v.v.g).  What we didn’t know was that they deliver each course separately!!!  Amazing again…….3 separate trips!  Everything comes with a cover on it to make sure it’s hot when it arrives…..and it was.

When they deliver the next course they take all the stuff from the previous one with them.  When we had finished dessert, rather than them coming out yet again all plates, even with bits of food on them, get put in a cupboard next to the bar and latched up tight.  Don’t want unwanted guests of the animal kind visiting in the middle of the night!

Sat out by the pool and played cards.  They have these cool little solar lanterns that give off an incredible amount of light….perfect for outside.  Good lighting inside!  Could hear all sorts of things out in the grass!  The hippos we figured out but not sure what some of the other things were out there.  Too dark to see anything.  We shone the spotlight out on the grass towards the river and were surprised at just how close those hippos were.  Decided we wouldn’t use the firepit…..especially when you can’t really see much more than a few feet in front of you.

What a great day!  And this place is just fantastic.  Up tomorrow at 5AM for our first game drive here……hopefully a few giraffes around!  And a leopard or two!

Sun Sept 15

Woke up at 4AM with a start!  Sat right up…..thought the tent was collapsing or a tree had fallen on it.  Staring right at me, thru the tent window was a massive elephant!!  He was right there chowing down on something.  What a way to wake up!  Watched him/her reach up into the tree right outside and pull down a big branch….which is what I heard.  Ate that and then decided to munch away at the bush beside the deck.  Watched him until he had had enough, turn around and mozey off.  Wow!!  We’d left the tent flap open just to get some breeze in because it was still pretty warm when we went to bed.  I get now why they say not to go wandering off.  If I’d gotten up and opened the door I could have touched this guy, he was that close.

Somehow managed to fall back to sleep until our wake up call, or knock and “hello” at 5AM.  Had a coffee on the deck, not far from the door in case the elephant came back.

Malama, who is our guide, picked us up at 5:30 for our first breakfast.  Drove to the main lounge/restaurant area for that.  Simple fare for this time of the morning set up in a buffet….yogurt, cereal, fruit, toast and coffee.  We have our own table.  Probably 10 or so others in there having their breakfast before their drives.

Off on our first drive at 6AM.  Much warmer here in the morning.  Still needed a light sweater just cuz of the breeze from driving.  It’s a 1km drive from the camp to highway and park entrance.  We hadn’t even left the camp and saw a large herd of elephants just by the parking lot.  Lots of pukus.  About a 5 min drive from the camp gate to the park entrance…..tons of monkeys and/or baboons.  The monkeys are vervet monkeys and have bright blue balls!!  Really!!

After signing in at the gate it was another 5 min drive to the dirt road that we took.  The sunrise over the river was beautiful!

Two minutes in and we had to wait for a herd of elephants to cross…..lots of cute little babies!  A bit further and found cape buffalo.  Lots and lots of guinea fowl……or bush chickens as they’re also called……really fun to watch them scurry along.  Very bright blue heads and necks!  There’s usually quite a few of them together…..they’ll squawk and run like crazy then fly a few feet.  More termite mounds than anthills here….some are huge and have taken over the entire base and halfway up the trees.  Interestingly though….they will not ever kill a live tree!  They only burrow into dead trees or wood.  Some of the mounds are hundreds of years old.  You can tell which came first by whether there are roots on top of the mound, if so, the tree started growing out of the termite mound.

Lots of hippos wallowing in the swamps.  Much more swampy here than Busanga.  And finally a giraffe!

Off in the distance and just barely able to pick him out from the tree trunks.  And then more and more….so happy to finally see one!  Lots of zebras, big and small, and the usual antelope.  Crocs in the river and pretty much in every waterhole or swamp that still has water in it.

Our first leopard!!  Crossed right in front of us…..watched as he headed off down into a gully.  Just beautiful!

The trees here, and everywhere else for that matter, are so picturesque……some big, green and beautiful, I think of them as raintrees but I think they’re a type of fig.  Sausage trees, ebony trees, tamarind etc.  Some trees that look pretty much dead, some that are just knarly.  Many broken or knocked down by the elephants or ones that have had the life strangled out of them by the “strangler” vines or from the bark being stripped off.  Ansell Adams would have gone crazy!

Lions, lots of lions.  A pride of 10 or so with 3 males with full manes and what looked like very full tummies just relaxing on the river bank….just incredible to see.

Found an elephant carcass from a few months ago.  It had died of natural causes.  The hyenas and vultures had picked the bones clean and scattered them…..the sun had bleached them white.  Interesting bit of info about their teeth, which you could easily see on the skeleton.  Malama explained that they grow new teeth constantly.  The new ones come in at the back, slowly pushing the old ones forward to replace ones that had worn down from chewing bark, grasses, plants etc.  Also elephants grow all their life, until they get too old and, like humans, their bodies just stop or shrink away.  So the bigger the elephant the older he likely is…..interesting!

The colour of everything in the morning light is so beautiful…..so hard to explain and so hard to capture in pictures with my crappy camera.

Stopped for our tea break around 9.  Nice to get out and stretch a bit.  Tea, coffee, cookies and cake today.  The stop was overlooking the river filled with hippos and crocs and the most gorgeous birds called Carmine Bee eaters, they make their nests in the clayey river banks.  Fun to see and hear the hippos bellowing…..it looks like they’re yawning.

One bellows and then the bellowing slowly works its way through the other herds all the way down the river.  A couple of the hippos had a fight!!  Both into the shallow water, one chasing the other…..it’s true they move pretty fast!  Quite the noise coming from them.  One finally decided to move on….all the others had raised their heads out of the water to watch all the excitement.  Pretty exciting for us too!

After coffee we watched a bunch of warthogs digging around…..they get down on their knees….to eat bugs and roots.  No babies here!  Not until October, which is interesting because there were tons of little guys in Busanga Plain.  Lots of zebras this morning.

Around 11 on the road back into camp we came across a giraffe and a couple of elephants.  We were welcomed back by Ade and Jess, how nice.  Breakfast was served!  In the dining room…..your choice of eggs, bacon, sausage and pretty much anything else.  All very good!

Very hot by the time we were driven back to the Crocs Nest just before noon.  Kennedy, our maid/food deliverer (hate to call him that….. “maid”….but not sure what else to call him) is just great.  Everything cleaned up, beds made, nets tied back up, the place tidied, solar lamps recharging out by the pool.  We never see him but know he’s been there.  Took a bunch of pictures…..was dark when we arrived last night and still dark this morning when we left.  What beautiful place it is.  Nice pool and outside deck area with lots of umbrellas for shade, a great view of the river.  Really hot by noon.  Went for a swim, sat around reading, napping, journals etc.  Also operated on my toe….was still very sore and red this morning.  After being in the pool, it got a bit weepy, so squeezed it and noticed that there was still a little sliver of the mulch stuff stuck in it.  Dug out the tweezers, poked around and with Andrea’s help managed to pull it out!  Almost immediately my toe felt better!  Gave it another cleaning with a wipe, more polysporin, new band-aide and all was good. Still took one more antibiotic just in case!

Poured a savannah and had got comfy reading my book when I notice something out of the corner of my eye…….elephants!!  Three of them had came for a bit of a visit.  One huge one, a medium size one and a baby.   Russ was sitting at the table reading and didn’t hear a thing either.  I said we’ve got company…..and as we were told to do…..stood up and slowly worked our way backwards toward the door.  They came right up to the stairs to the deck, the big one putting her foot on the bottom step!  Then both bigger ones moved to the side outside our bedroom and proceeded to chomp away at that poor little bush, and pulled on the branches of the tamarind trees to get the pods down……like they did in the wee hours of this morning.  The little one decided it would like a drink from the pool…..filled it’s trunk and promptly spluttered it all back out.  Did it again but this time giving itself a bit of a bath.  She moved along and the others came to join her, with the big one putting it’s foot on the stair again……we moved right inside just in case she actually managed to come up the other two steps and on to the deck.  Eventually she joined the other two walking right through our fire pit….another reason not to use it!!  Then the medium sized one tried to go between the end of the deck and tree….didn’t look like she was going to fit thru and did get a bit stuck, but wiggled around and carried on.  OMG…..what fun!

Ordered our lunch around 1:30….many things to choose from on the menu.  We ordered a bunch of appie type things to share…..nachos, chicken satay and french fries, which was more than enough seen we’d just eaten a couple hours ago.  Also had them restock our Savannahs…..so much more refreshing than a beer or glass of wine in this heat.  Rest of the afternoon spent relaxing and keeping an eye out for more elephants.

Got ready for our first evening game drive here.  Malama picked us up at 3:30 for tea time in the main lounge area before the drive.  Quite nice….ice tea/coffee, hot tea/coffee, cake and cute little cucumber sandwiches.  We got to choose our beverage of choice for our sundowners.

Got about 50ft down the road and there was a huge giraffe having his tea!  They love the fruit from the sausage trees.  Some cape buffalo a bit further along, lots of antelope…..and we hadn’t even hit the main road yet!

There are a few baobob trees around…..really are quite odd looking.  They call them “upside down trees” because it looks like the roots are coming out of the top.  Some of the big ones are probably close to 1000 years old.  They’re hollow on the inside.

Sky is very pretty tonight…..a bit of cloud with sun rays.

Driving along the river I noticed a bunch of sticks sticking up a bit further down….asked Malama what they were, possibly a fishing weir or contraption of some sort….he said he’d tell us about when we came to it??

Came to a “pontoon boat” river crossing.  Malama got out and went in the little hut thing to pay or whatever.  We were looking around and not seeing any sign of a boat….a boat ramp, very steep…..but no boat.  When he came back we drove a few yards further where he turned and started heading towards the river…..where the sticks were!!  OMG….it was a sandbag road with the sticks lining either side so you’d know where to drive!!  Off we went down the bank and over this road….you can’t even see the sandbags because their under water a good 6 – 12 inches.  Unbelievable!!  It was a bit scary in that I’m pretty sure a few of the sandbags were missing…..bump, thump, bump we went….all the time holding on for dear life and keeping an eye on the crocs and hippos in the river.  We made it safe and sound of course…..was quite the thrill!

Ton and tons of the carmine bee eaters.  Beautiful red birds with blue on their tails…..they don’t actually eat bees though.  Another gorgeous sunset was happening….some clouds and lots of pink tonight.

Another leopard crossed right in front of the jeep…..just sauntering along then disappeared down a gully.  Our spotter found a very well camouflaged pack of painted wild dogs just hanging out under some brush….they blended in perfectly with the black, brown and white markings.  Sort of like hyenas but not as much of a sloped back…..big almost round ears.  Much prettier.  Crappy blurry pictures!!

Had our sundowners on a high bluff overlooking a valley.  A few more hills in Luangwa, even some mountains off in the distance.

After the sun went down we started our night drive…..the spotter gets the search light out and scanned the bush as we were driving along, looking for eyes glowing in the dark.  He somehow spotted a chameleon on a branch next to the road.  Even as he was pointing to it we couldn’t figure out what heck we were supposed to be looking at.  He reached over and picked it up….about 6 – 8 inches and looked just like the leaves on the tree….once he put it back it was easy to see how we missed it.

Only one lion tonight.  A couple of hyenas and lot of little critters…..shrews, mongoose and a civet.

I think the highlight of the drive tonight, besides the animals, had to be crossing the river on the sandbag road!!

Back to the Crocs Nest just before 8.  Ordered our dinner for 8:30.  My dinner was a delicious and ridiculously huge chicken stir fry……apparently we can order 1/2 size meals!!  Did think about a swim….still really warm at this time of night but decided to just play our crib games and to bed.  Fairly early nights here……getting up at 5AM!

A few more elephants lurking around, including one that was after the pods on the tamarind tree again…..it really does sound like the whole thing is going to come down on the tent….can hear the hippos but can’t see them.

Just fantastic here…..animals galore!

Mon Sept 16

Picked up at 5:30 for our “first” breakfast….toast, yogurt, cereal, which you have to fight off the monkeys to get to LOL.  They use a slingshot to scare them off…..which isn’t really very effective because they’re back in 2 minutes.  They especially seem to like the big Wheetabix things!

Entered the park, crossed the river and another very pretty sunrise.  And baboons….not monkeys….the bridge is always full of them.  Apparently that is their “home”.

Warthogs, pukus, impala etc.  Came across, literally had to stop on the road for them, battling baboons……incredibly fierce!  Sounded like they were killing each other, which they may have been doing! Interesting to watch…..like 2 gangs going to war.  Two or three would start across the road, then a couple from the other side would charge at them, then they’d all scurry back to their corners and start the whole process all over again…..screeching, some blood curdling screams etc. the entire time.

Birds….so many different kinds.  Will have to remember to look them up later.  So many pretty pictures of the sun coming up thru the trees.  Love the little guinea fowl with their bright blue heads.  A few crocs just lazing in the swamps.  Lots of hippos, in an out of the water at this time of day before it gets too hot when they can get sunburned!  Big herd of elephants including one very little guy….pretty cute.

Lions…..a large pride.  They had a kill tucked away in the bush that they’d finished with and the vultures were cleaning the bones.  Very interesting to see 3 males in one pride.  One big guy stretched out and rolling around just like a house cat!  They all had big round bellies, so full and so sleepy.

Lots of elephants today….big herds of them.  More lions lounging by the river.  Zebras.  Storks or cranes in the trees.

Stopped for coffee in a field full of old elephant tracks that were in the dried up mud.  A good foot deep and at least that round too…..

Rest of the morning was giraffes, herds of kudus, carmine bee eaters along the river, and a lone hyena that we followed for a bit hoping he’d lead us to another cat kill, but nothing.

Back to camp around 10:30 for our big breakfast…..eggs anyway you like, bacon etc. full English if you wish and today there was also avocado toast on the menu so Russ and I shared an order……very good.  We were treated with a visit from the elephants in the main area.  They had closed the main camp pool until they moved on……was fun to watch them.  They really could care less if people were around.  Watched a monkey having fun with the place settings on one of the outside tables…..knocking the cutlery off and flipping the place mat over it’s head.

Back home for a few hours of relaxing by the pool, reading etc.  Have no idea what the temp is but has to be up in the 30’sC/90’sF.  Thought the elephants might be back but no sign of them this afternoon. Ordered our lunch around 1…..just how much and how often we are eating is ridiculous!!  But it’s all really good so you just can’t help it!  Today we ordered appies again to share…..pizza, one clubhouse sandwich cut into 4, a mixed salad (which came with buns!!).  And more beer and Savannahs.  Just so hot….a bit of high cloud, maybe smoke??  Although not nearly as much burning around here as in Busanga Plains.

Picked up at 3:30 for tea!!  More food!!!  Chocolate cake (v.g.) and delicious little bruschettas with tomatoes.

A few minutes into our drive we found some leopards tucked away in some bushes….could barely see them.  Had eaten their fill of a kill which they had somehow managed to get way up in the crook of a tree.

Lots and lots of elephants and antelope, a few cape buffalo…..no wildebeests here.  More giraffes, which are Thornicroft giraffes….he didn’t explain why or how they are different from other ones.

Another leopard in a gully keeping an eye on some pukus.  She climbed up to the rim but they were still a little too far away for her to make an attack ……5 – 10 yards it about the max away from their prey they can be for the element of surprise to make a successful kill…..anything beyond that the antelope will take off and scatter too quickly.    Sat for quite a while watching her go up and down the gully, then creep up to have a peek at the antelope.  The gully is a good hiding place for them…..the antelope can’t see them or pick up their scent in the wind/breeze.  She finally gave up and wandered off down the gully and out of sight.

Lions, possibly the pride from earlier, lazing along the river.  Sundowners a little ways away in a field with some pukus…..could hear the lions roaring!!  Just after sunset we found the lions again….one of the big males came up an laid right behind our jeep.

We’d moved up almost into some bushes so another jeep could get a look.  Once that lion laid down we had no where to go!!  With the help of the other jeep letting us know just how close we were to the lion, Malama somehow managed to finagle the jeep around so we could move on. The lion did not move an inch the entire time….he was having a bath!

Went back to where the leopard kill was in tree…..still there but no sign of them.  Back to the Nest around 7:30.  Ordered dinner for 8:30.  Told them to just bring all of it instead of making multiple trips.  Crayfish cocktail and a 1/2 order of the special today, fish pie!  All was excellent and still way too much food!

A swim, cards, journals, more elephant visitors……just another great day!

Tues Sept 17

Up early for our last game drive at Flatdogs…..going to miss this place!!

Lots of elephants, including a couple of young males having a fight!  Some having a drink, one on it’s knees!!  Elephants also lay down…..who knew!  Saw a couple having a rest under some trees.  We saw quite a few walking along with their trunks resting on their tusks!! A huge herd of cape buffalo…..had to have been hundreds of them.  No more cats though.

Back to breakfast around 10:30 then to the Nest to pack up and move on to our next camp.  So sorry to be leaving this place…..Cheri said they’d tried to book it for 2 more nights but it had already been booked so 3 nights would have to do.  A bit of a tease though as it’s going to be hard for any other place to live up to Flatdogs.  Accomos, food, animals, lovely staff….pretty hard to beat this.

Picked up and stopped at reception to check out.  Chatted with Ade and Jessica….not sure if they are the owners or managers, but lovely people.  Said our goodbyes and that we hoped to get back some day.

Our next and last camp is only an hour away so we had a chance to stop in town and visit a couple of the local artisan shops, one that specializes in textiles.  Bought a silkscreen print with lions on it and some little elephant Christmas ornaments for the kids.  Across the street to another shop called Baobob Ladies Craft Shop, bought Linds a bracelet.  Nice stuff.

Off the highway an onto another sometimes paved/sometimes bumpy, sandy, dusty road, 19km to Zikomo Camp but took almost an hour!  Not too much to see other than a few little homesteads along the way.   No electricity or water around here for these people.  Saw some carrying the buckets of water on their heads or some had two big containers strapped to their bikes.  Most of the way it was very, very dry and very scrubby bush with a few trees around the houses.  As we got a bit closer to camp it got a bit more foresty….a few antelope scattered about.

Arrived at Zikomo just around 1.  Met Victoria and David, the owners from California.    https://www.zikomosafari.com/  Cute place with a number of chalets and a campsite.  Only us today and an Aussie couple camping.  Got organized in our chalets, Cheri and I have number 6!  There is chicken wire of sorts on the outside of the tent netting…..Cheri immediately noticed this huge spider (a good 3″+ in diameter!) between the two….I tried poking at it with my finger, then thought better of that idea (poisonous???) and found a stick…..gave it a couple of pokes and it scuttled off…..somewhere!!  If the river was up, we’d be right on the bank, for now though it’s not much more than a little stream.  Lots of antelope out on the dry river bed and hippos and crocs wallowing in the water and along the shore.  Beautiful views…..hope I get a chance to sit on our little deck to admire it!

Had a nice little buffet lunch and sat around the bar/lounge until tea time and our evening game drive with our guide, Manny.  It is really hot here!!  Not much of a breeze either…..says it’s 36C and I don’t doubt that for a second!  Unfortunately the pool was not available….they had had a problem with some new chemical they used and had to drain it…..it had been rectified and they were now in the process of refilling it……a very, very slow process.  Pretty sure it’s not going to be ready for us to use at all.  Too bad because it would have been great to have a swim.

We’re on the other side of the Luangwa River now…..only a few miles really from Flatdogs, but different yet again!  Still in the park in an area called the Nsefu sector.  Huge herds of elephants here!!  Like 20+…all females….big, small and everything in between.  Found some crossing one of the little inlets.  Was just amazing watching them go down the steep embankment on one side and then up the other.  For such huge animals they’re pretty agile.

Beautiful sunset with the giraffes…..lots of them here, also in herds of at least half a dozen or more.  Sundowners along the river with the birds (lots of carmine bee eaters), crocs, hippos and elephants across the way.  Great night drive…..the usual nocturnal animals (shrews, mongoose) along with some hyenas, wild dogs and civets.

Back to camp for dinner.  Steak, which was more like a piece of roast beef, but good, and roasted potatoes.  All good and normal size portions!!  Chatted with the Aussies and Victoria for a bit, played cards and back to our chalets (with an escort…..bloody hippos right in camp!!) and to bed just after 10.  Still incredibly warm at this time of night.  We did put the fan on but it drove both of us crazy after 1/2 hour and it wasn’t really doing too much anyway.  Pulled back our curtains hoping for a bit of a breeze.

Chalets are a bit more rustic here…..outdoor bathroom with the roof only over the sink and with poor lighting at night (no light by the the sink).  Kind of fun though….leaves and gawd knows what else falls on your head when you’re on the toilet!

Fun day!

Wed Sept 18

Up at 5 for breakfast for our drive at 6.  It is served in the “boma” (seating area around a firepit along the river bank).  All nicely set up.  Lots of hippos and pukus here…..fun watching them in the morning.  Beautiful sunrise again.

Off we went….no canopy on our jeep this morning!!  Just outside the camp gate, right in the middle of the road, was a mom puku nursing her teeny little baby….probably only a few hours old….so cute!!  Animals have the right of way so we just sat and watched for a bit then slowly worked our way around her.  Took lots of tree pics today….incredibly knarly but way more green now after another week or so…..spring is arriving!  Very hot now by 8:30.  Many weaver bird nests in all the trees…..they make kind of nest condos….they make one first then add more “rooms” to the original one….they will reuse nests.

Found some vultures picking away at some bones…..had no idea just how big they were!  Hyenas not far from their den with the cubs/pups (?).  Back along the river to the the carmine bee eaters.  A small herd, or as Manny called them “a gang” of young male elephants.  A couple got into a bit of a scrap…..lots of noise and trunk butting!  Tons of cape buffalo….huge herd of probably a few hundred.  More painted dogs…..3 of them lazing in the shade (didn’t blame them….was HOT!)  Giraffes across the river….4 of them.

Had our tea along the river with the giraffes…..some crossed the river, which apparently can be pretty scary for them (crocs and hippos etc.).  More giraffes on our side of the river.  Lots of large elephant herds…..20 – 30 in a group across the river, some crossing too, and at least 20 – 30 on our side of the river, also crossing!  Busy morning.  Lots of pukus and impalas.  A couple of male pukus were having a serious fight and one of the elephants charged them and trumpeted…..he did it a couple of times…..they stopped for a second, had a look and were right back at it,  so he just gave up and moved on.  Was just amazing to see all these animals in one place!

Back to Zikomo for lunch.  Wraps and flatbread (v.g), pasta, salad and a loaf of bread shaped like a croc…cute and all very good.  Very, very hot today….38C.  Brutal in the uncovered jeep.  No pool…..still filling it.  They have boreholes here (and everywhere else we’ve been for that matter) for their water sources.  Supposedly it’s safe to drink….like spring water I guess….but we haven’t chanced it just in case.  Played cards, journals, snoozed and chatted with some new guests from the Netherlands…..they have been to this camp many times and at one time in their young lives (looked to be in their late 20’s/early 30’s) they managed camps in other places in Africa.

Tea time and then off on our very last game drive of the trip.  Seems incredible that we’ve been here 3 weeks.  We’ve seen so much……gorillas in Uganda,  been at 4 different game camps in Zambia, just amazing.

Drove out along the river…..I love the “hippo highways”, very clean trail made by mostly the hippos when they come up from the water to graze at night.  About 5 minutes into the drive and only a short distance from Zikomo we found a lone male lion lazing on the beach right at the waters edge.  Had a look around in the bushes on the bank for the rest of the pride but no luck.

Another beautiful sunset over the river.  Still very warm.  The trees at this time of evening are so beautiful…..more leaves on them now but still so knarly looking….some look pretty much dead but then you notice clusters of green here and there on what look like dried, bleached out branches.  Some of roots that run along the surface of the ground because it’s so hard and dry they can’t tap down.  Our last sundowner near the river…..wine and homemade chips (v.v.v.g.).  Just a beautiful evening.

Found a bunch on hyenas near their den….including a bunch of babies.  The usual nocturnal animals…..civets etc. some bushbabies, so Manny said, but all I could see were eyes in the spotlight.  The highlight though was the aardvark!!  Had hoped to see one but they’re very reclusive, so very happy to end on a high note.  No pics of him but watched him for quite a few minutes just wandering along the edge of some bushes.  Manny was pretty excited too……he said that was the first one he’d seen in 8 years!!  Said he was going to have a beer when we got back to celebrate!

Back to camp at 8 for our “braai”, which is an African BBQ, with the owners.  Tons of meat!  Chicken, beef, pork, a couple different kinds of sausage, all done on open wood fires.  Very tasty.  Lots of salads and veg too.  Collard greens braised with onions and mild red peppers…..so, so good!  It was us and the couple from the Netherlands.  Nice chatting with them and Victoria telling us how they ended up here and what a lot of work it is to set up a camp.    The table was set on a deck overhanging the river bank.  Could hear the hippos snorting close by.  They had a lion the night before last do a walk by while they were eating.

Had a couple of drinks in the bar before heading to our chalets.  Sleep in tomorrow!!  Still incredibly warm at 10, so sat outside for a bit.  Could hear a hippo breathing!!  But I couldn’t see him.  I turned the little light off on the deck and there he was 5ft away…..he made his way up the bank and could very easily have made a left turn right onto our deck…..luckily he didn’t and kept going.  He walked right thru the lounge/covered seating area and down the road towards the “gym”!

Tried the fan again but just gave up……curtains open just praying for a breeze!

Thurs Sept 19

Nice to have a sleep in this morning…..a real sleep in until 7!  Went and grabbed a cup of coffee at the boma and just sat and enjoyed the view from our deck.  Took our time heading to breakfast.  Not off to the airport until 2:30 so lots of time to rest, catch up on our journals, read etc.

Took a walk around the camp.  This place has such great potential!  Nice big garden…..beautiful vegetables, big fat tomatoes.  Also a big fence, with electrical something or others all around it to keep the animals out.  They are trying to become self-sustaining, except for meat of course.  It’s all operated by solar power.  Quite a few chalets…..some with a couple of bedrooms, family chalets and one room ones, like ours.

Quite a big camp site as well.  All along the river with animals roaming all over.  Victoria said it’s still all a work in progress to make improvements.  Great location except for the road in to the place but they’re happy with it and said it is what makes it appealing to many of their guests because it limits who travels on it.  There are a few other camps a bit further along but we didn’t see other jeeps out on our drives here.

Manny picked us up at 2:30 for the drive to the Mfuwe airport.  Had to stop on the road in for a herd of domestic cattle that had wandered off from their homestead….Manny let the owners know where they were…..apparently they can be fined and loose their cattle if the police catch them.

Stopped at Tribal Textiles. https://www.tribaltextiles.co.zm/  Beautiful stuff…..bought some pillow covers for the kids, one for myself and a couple of Christmas ornaments (pleated angels made from leftover bits of material!).  What a great place.  Outside in the parking lot were also some local artisans…..wood carvings, metal work, various type of jewelry…..all really nice stuff.  Picked up a little carved hippo and pretty wood bead bracelet.

Arrived at the airport early so off to the bar across the parking lot…..the gal at the check-in told us to come back when we saw the plane come in!!  Not a big airport at all….Manny had to stay with us until we were safely on the plane.  Asked him to join us but he had some buddies there so just hung around and chatted with them.  There is a soccer field, also across the parking lot….all the players pop in to the airport to use the bathrooms lol…..just not a big place.

Cheri was trying to reorganize her bags….was going to move something from her backpack into her suitcase.  She opened her backpack and out pops a spider!!  A huge one, maybe our friend from the first day!  Lots of screaming, people coming over to see what was going on (there were only 10 people, including employees).  Screams, and lots of laughing.  The spider flew under the vending machine, hopefully never to be seen by us again!!  Can’t even imagine what would of happened had she not found him until we were on the flight home or something!!

Flight was good.  Small 20 seater plane…..2/1 seat configuration.  Couldn’t stand up and had to leave our carry on in the basket thing at the back where we got on.  There was a  only a half wall separating the cockpit from the rest of the cabin…..and a steward who served drinks and chips!  One hour and we were back on the ground in Lusaka.  Just as we were about to get off the plane, all the oxygen masks popped out!!  Everyone had a bit of a laugh over that….even the pilot!

Matthews was waiting for us.  Dinner was at Leslie’s tonight.  Lovely home on her “plot”.  Sat outside around the firepit for drinks and appies.  Definitely chilly here compared to Luangwa!  Poor Leslie is still recovering from her bought of shingles.  Chatted about the trip…..she wanted any feedback, good or bad.  All good from my perspective.  Only issue would have been the no flightlights thing trying to navigate lumpy, bumpy terrain in the dark at Kafue River Lodge….otherwise everything was pretty spectacular to me….no complaints.  Dinner was pizza and salad…..very good (made by Matthews’ wife).

Stayed quite late….was 11 by the time Matthews dropped us off at Sarek b&b.  John, the owner, met us and let us know that we’d be his guests for dinner tomorrow night.  Had a bit of wine……only after we all slathered on the bug spray.  This is the only place that I’ve found the mosquitos really bad!

Fri Sept 20

Another sleep in morning.  Had a great sleep last night…..much cooler here.  Lloyd, John’s cook, brought us breakfast and John’s big dogs came to greet us…… a couple of Russian wolfhounds and 2 labs.  Very big and very friendly.

Matthews picked us up at 10 for our visit to the elephant orphanage.  Great drive thru a different part of Lusaka.  Lilayi Elephant Nursery was interesting.  Only 4 small ones there or at least that we saw.  They’re led by a handler to a central viewing area, where they are bottle fed.  A guy gave a chat about the place and how the babies are reintroduced to the wild eventually.  Interesting but all a little hokey.  No interaction with the elephants.

Lunch was at the Lilayi Resort……beautiful place! https://www.lilayi.com/  Big pool, nice bar, bungalows and they are also a safari camp.  Have all animals except big cats.  Lunch was fantastic.  Had the ribs and fries….Andrea had the prawns!  Tons of them and very good.  Beautiful grounds, was like sitting on the patio of golf course club house!   As with the entire trip all our food was included, so other than our wine it cost us nothing.

Great drive back to Sarek, with a quick stop to pick up some wine for dinner tonight.  Matthews found a great wine store.  Picked up a bottle or two of Zambian wine to take to Johns.  Was just around 3 so had lots of time to repack and relax before heading to Johns at 7:30.  The zebras came by…..both are pregnant.  He has an “ornamental” license for animals.

Our flight is at 2:30AM!!  So Matthews will pick us up around 11.  Glad we decided to keep this place for the night even though we’re not actually sleeping here.  Good to have somewhere to go especially when your flight leaves at such an ungawdly hour!

We saw John and Lloyd both take the trail thru the woods…..could we find it in the dark?  No….had to come back out and just about right up to our rooms to try to remember where we saw them coming from.  We could see lights thru the trees but the trail was not very distinguishable in the dark even with flashlights!  Had we been smarter, we would have done a trial run in the daylight!!  Ah well….   We did finally get there….keep to the right of the stables he said…..we couldn’t even see the stables until we had just about walked into them!!  We were greeted by the dogs…..lots of barking!  What a beautiful and fantastically eclectic home he has!!  Like “Out of Africa”!   Outside is a huge covered area…like a great big living room complete with couches, wing back chairs, big coffee table, lamps etc. and a huge dining area that can seat 20, chandeliers and all!  Inside is just as beautiful.

Sat around chatting for a while before dinner.  His wife was away on business unfortunately.  He is British and she is Swedish.  He came to Africa about 15 years ago to visit friends, that he’d met while working here, after his first marriage broke up, ended up staying, meeting his new wife and the rest is history.  He had an incredible career in engineering (?), working in at least 50 different countries and living in 8.  Makes my life seem so dull and boring!!

Dinner was inside at the dining room table that could seat 24!  Lloyd did the cooking.  Some sort of a beef stew, matoke, pumpkin, rice etc. all very good and very Indian-ish in taste.  Dessert was an excellent cake with whipped topping.  Sat around chatting until it was time for us to head back to be ready when Matthews arrived.  John made sure we were on the right path back and off we went.

Finished off our wine and waited for Matthews to take us to the airport.  Hard to believe we’ve spent 3 weeks here.  Time has really just flown by.  Very busy vacation but visiting Africa, the gorillas, the safaris and the camps, all were fantastic.  Truly the trip of a lifetime.  I really hope to get back here someday.

Can’t thank Leslie at Mama Tembo enough for the excellent job organizing this trip…..top notch and we were incredibly well looked after everywhere we went.     https://www.mttsafaris.com/

Next stop Amsterdam!