25th October 2013

This is still the dry season, before the winter rains, and everything turns green, rivers flood, and lagoons appear where it was open grassland. Ideal for wildlife sightings, before the foliage closes everything in and you can barely see more than a few meters.

It’s hot, and dry. Daytime reaches the low 40s. Sunrise at 5.30am; if you’re venturing out on safari, you want to make an early start, as the whole animal population gets going before the heat of the day sets in. For us this morning, our last at Kafunta Lodge, we set out on a driving safari into the bush. The small creatures are easy to overlook, and an experienced bush guide makes all the difference to seeing all, or missing most.

A red-cheeked cordon-bleu

At the other end of the size spectrum – Thornycroft’s giraffe!

A grey heron

Egyptian geese

Sacred Ibis

At this point, we’re beginning to think this is the ideal place for you, Mike!
Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters, who nest in riverbanks, burrowing 2 to 3 meters deep. And yes, each of them knows their own address.

Elephant families browse all day long.

Then, when we were least expecting it . . . the King of the Jungle . . . . taking a nap in the heat of the day. Nobody is going to bother him!

And not so far away, a group of Puku also enjoy a rest, secure in the knowledge that one predator is similarly engaged.

The hippos don’t really care, even about the crocs who they share the river with.

But these guys better beware when taking a drink from the lagoon . . . .

danger lurks right at the edge.

same goes for this guy, fishing from his dugout canoe in the river. Crocs everywhere.

23/24 October

Wow - what a day. A long one, a very long one. We left Enfield mid afternoon yesterday, Peter dropping us off at Terminal 5, for our BA from Heathrow to Lusaka, Zambia.

A nine and half hour flight, but overnight, so we all managed to get a little sleep, at least.
Arriving in Lusaka was a different world. Heavy rain, hot and humid. Clearing immigration was an agonizingly slow process, but was a good lesson in slowing down from the bustle of London.
Checked into our domestic flight to Mfuwe, which was very much like the trip from Toronto to Kingston. A small airplane, and a small destination airport.

But all in all, good flights overall, and no real hitch.
The drive from Mfuwe airport was a quick immersion into African village life along the road to Kafunta Lodge, located on the bank of the Luangwa River, just outside the national park.

But – no time to rest!
Lunch immediately on arrival in the main ‘lounge’, overlooking the river and wildlife as far as the eye can see.
Giraffes, hippos, elephants, warthogs, antelope, and oh, such a varieties of birds. All from the lounge!
A couple of hours for some unpacking and a brief nap, then off, on our very first safari – a three hour drive through the bush, with an eyepopping stop on the bank of the Luangwa River



to watch hippos, and elephants crossing.

Back to Kafunta Lodge after sundown for a further hour of night safari . . . by power flashlight. . to sight our first leopard, stalking it’s dinner (no, dinner got away).
But our dinner waiting for us on arrival back at the Lodge!

Time for some more family catch-up, at Jamie Italian, St Alban's with the Buckleys.

Europe and beyond . . . .

My annual trip to Rungis has coincided with our family dream to go ‘on safari’, and thus this year I don the guise of advance party. Perhaps the word party is a little over appropriate . . . .
Heading out a week or so before Mar and Jenn, off to the UK to take a few days to adjust to jet-lag, one of those little things in life I find less easy to cope with as the years roll by. The ‘girls’ will go through the same process later this week, all in preparation for the trip south. We want to be in top form for hippo and elephant watching.

Meanwhile, this last week has been full of pleasant surprises and catch-up.

A trip down to Cardiff from London last week, to spend the evening with Di, Lisa and Chris. Been awhile since we’ve seen each other. . . .

The trip also provided the opportunity of tracking down long lost relatives. Family genealogy has been one of my passions for a number of years, and a long lost aunt discovered led me to the door of her son – my cousin – in Portishead, just outside Bristol. An afternoon of chatting and comparing family past over cups of tea, and a photo of my aunt May and Charles Harding on their wedding day in 1930.

That was a real turn up for the books!

The week then preparing for the annual gathering of like minds in Rungis (Paris) for the Association Francaise des Collectionneurs de Baionnettes, a bunch of blokes from around the globe with a common interest in rusty steel.

Always a pleasure to meet up with old friends, trade yarns and perhaps discover that elusive piece missing from your collection. It also doesn’t hurt that Paris is a treat to visit. See the sights, visit a museum, and party just a little . . . .

2021