27 Oct 2013

Our last full day at Island Bush Camp. The time is already beginning to fly, as we get acclimatised---getting up and going to bed with the sun.

Waking to hippos playing in the river just below us seems so normal.

African buffalo . . .look like cattle to me . . . but totally wild, sometimes dangerous, and one of the ‘big five’ : lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. So named because in the early days of colonization, these were the five most dangerous animals to hunt, and bring home as trophies to hang on the wall. Nowadays, most hunt with cameras.

Could be somewhere in rural Ontario . . . except for the giraffe, and warthog!

Not the kind of guy you’d want to butt heads with.

The Bush Camp dining room, the Bush Camp crew who made our stay so pleasurable: the kitchen and chef Mathews, who catered to our needs and produced amazing meals, and Martin, who guided to sights and sounds we’re never likely to forget from this corner of Zambia.

26/27 October 2013

Moved from the comforts of Kafunta Lodge to the Island Bush Camp for three nights. Overlooking the Luangwa River, right now one of the few water sources for wildlife during the dry season.

Up with the sun, and out early into the bush on a walking safari, up close and personal, with out own park ranger, armed, just in case.

Plenty of animals, and birds. The African fish eagle, national bird of Zambia.

A hippo family we surprised, making a run for it!

Impala and a Golden Bridge Stork, all using the River.

Cicadas by the bucketload, all adding their tunes to the noise of the bush.

. . .and of course, giraffe and elephant.

Then back to camp by 9am, a long siesta in the heat of the day, and out on evening safari when the sun starts to sink and it cools off a bit. Baboons everywhere, and not to forget looking at trees, the sausage tree providing for all kinds of animals, as well as humans.

Down to the riverbed for a sundowner, while we watch the hippos and compare photo techniques.

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