We arrived in Mfue the next day after spending a night in Lusaka. We were met by a guide whom would be driving us the 2 hours to Luangwa National Park where we would spend the next 6 days relaxing and seeing some real african wild life. We were really lucky as the Chichele Presidential Lodge was not fully booked and so were able to enjoy a game drive every morning and evening by ourselves. We had been concerned that the kids might get a bit noisy and the other guests might not enjoy their company on the drives, so we were thrilled for it to just be us.
The drive to the park was wonderful. It was great to be away from site and I was starting to relax. The last 6 months had been so hard on me emotionally and I had been so stressed all the time. I could finally feel the weight of Lumwana lifting.
Our first glimpse of wildlife was some giraffe. How I love these majestically tall and beautiful animals. When we reached the river crossing, we were delighted to see a great many hippo on the shoreline and in the water. Our ferry across consisted of a wooden platform and 2 extremely strong men using a hand pulley system to get us across. The strength of the African people never ceases to amaze me, not only their physical strength but their mental determination. Once across, we were in the park proper and so were on the look out for more animals or tracks. As we neared the lodge we came across a buffalo grazing nearby. The lodge was beautiful and quiet. We were shown to our rooms after a lovely refreshing drink and then relaxed until evening and our first drive.
I smothered the kids and I in mozzie spray and off we went. In hindsight I should have made sure Phil used it too, as it would have saved all the malaria issues later on. But I am so glad I made sure the kids were fully covered. The peacefulness was like no other. The only sounds were the bush, the car and you, nothing else. It really is a magical country. We saw elephant wandering back from the water holes and river, some incredibly messy birds nests, impala grazing with their beautiful stripped bottoms, monkeys chattering among the trees and a whole herd of zebra and a baby. I think my favourite african animal is the zebra. Their hide is just so magnificent, I love their stripes. We then came across a leopard lounging in a tree. He was obviously well satisfied as he did not mind us driving so close by. What a sight!
The sun then started to set and the temperature to drop, so we covered ourselves in the rugs and on we went. I spotted a serval, which was quite fortunate I was told as you don't see many wandering around and have to be lucky to see them. Then as the night grew darker we came across a hyena heading out for its nightly hunt. We arrived at the river and parked under a sausage tree. I love these trees and wish we could grow one back in Australia. They have seed pods that hang down that look just a like a giant sausage! We were served drinks whilst watching the last of the suns rays go down and listened to the hippo in the water below grunting. If you have never heard a hippo grunt, it is rather like a deep laugh and once one starts, they all go. It really is a wonderful sound. The kids imitate it quite well.
When we arrived back at the lodge, the fire was going in the fire pit and dinner was ready to be served outside under the stars. A magical end to a wonderful day and we still had more of the same to follow!
Each day passed in this way. Breakfast very early and then off for our morning drive. Back to the lodge for a few hours rest and swimming in the pool then lunch and off again for our evening drive with sundowners by the river. Then back to the lodge again for a drink around the fire pit and a delicious dinner before heading to bed. What a life! One could get use to it......
We saw some amazing things. Some truly spectacular birds of such gorgeous colour and plumage. We saw 3 lioness sleeping lazily under some trees. One had a porcupine quill sticking out of its neck. We then witnessed the skill of these lioness take down a buffalo. The older one showing the younger what to do to finish the kill. Lots of giraffe and their babies as well as elephants with theirs. I love the sound of an elephant trumpeting it's warning. Exciting and scary at the same time as you can only imagine the damage they would do if they charged! We saw a hyena and leopard in close proximity to each other. The leopard had taken a kill to its tree and the hyena was waiting patiently for the leopard to leave, so it could take what was left when it fell.
The kids loved looking for tracks or animal poo! A sure sign that an animal had passed by and they even got quite good at telling which animal had pooped! I also had some face paint with me, so often did their faces before going out on a drive. This caused some laughs among the other tourists and the kids were often photographed like this. After all, it is not everyday that Spiderman is seen in Luangwa.
We went back several times to the 'kill area' and it was fascinating watching the sequence of events. The buffalo returning to see their dead member, the vultures coming in and waiting in the trees to eat what was left, once the lioness' and gone. We never saw the lion, apparently he was away with another lioness somewhere, trying to increase the pride population. A shame as I would have loved to have seen him. But one cant complain when witnessing some truly amazing sights.
Another event that sticks out, is when we were returning from an evening drive. It was quite dark and a leopard was spotted by the road in full alert mode. We stopped and watched with our red night lights. All of a sudden the leopard ran and we heard a noise. I grabbed Laura thinking the leopard had jumped into the truck. Then our guide managed to find it in the light. The leopard was chasing after a wart hog. When we went back the next day, we realised there was a water drain going under the road and the leopard must have run under us to get to the wart hog. It really was a scary experience. Not too sure what I would have done if it had have jumped into the truck!
Unfortunately our time at Chichele was over and it was time to leave and so back onto the truck we jumped for our 2 hour return to the airport. This time I have to say the ride was not enjoyable. It was early in the morning and due to it being an open vehicle, the wind as we drove along was freezing! We shivered for 2 whole hours straight and felt frozen by the time we got there. The blankets did not even help at that early hour! However, we safely arrived at the airport and awaited our flight to Johannesburg, where we would then catch a plane to Reunion Island.
One more week and we would be home!
No comments:
Post a Comment