Kapani Safari Lodge South Luangwa National Park

... is Africa, i love every minute of it.

Cheers miles

18/10/09

South Luangwa

0ks

I have never felt scared in africa but i did at 1.30 this morning Then again at 9 this morning

I was stuffed from riding the goat track yesterday. I woke up with this grinding sound next to the tent i was still half asleep. The grinding noise started to snort, I could see the shadow of a 2.5 tonne Hippo 1 meter away from my tent eating grass ...

... place.. green grass swimming pool with a view over looking the Luangwa River only higher up this time.. Even as I write this blog I can hear the Lions roar just across the river.. crazy..

The river is great for viewing the Hippo’s and an Elephant wandered by this arvo.. just to set the scene this afternoon was spent mainly in the pool (only because it was hot!!) with a beer watching a Hippo do Hippo things and monkeys doing goodness know what.. Oh I ...

... nearly 2 weeks!! lots of excursions to do and places to see hiw excting!!! we drove to Chipata for the first night location it was and already driving through the fields across the border the Zambians seem lovely people they wave at you and smile even the adults do, I haent had that since Uganda!! I think im gona like Zambia. The campsite called 'mamarulas’ ...

... farming of corn, cassava, tobacco, tapioca, bananas and fishing feeds the population as most of the people live in the country. The fields look tidy, as the people work their land by hand, weeding and hoeing, done by men and women. The Malawians are also very religious and every village has its churches of a variety of denominations, as 80 % are Christian and only 20% are Muslim. The mosques seem to be derelict and not maintained very much. The roads are excellent ...

... back into the bush, Most of the other trucks started and drove away, but we stayed hoping that he may return. The other jeep which stayed drove up the bank and we decided to follow. We were rewarded as there were more lions there - at least four females and a couple of cubs - bigger than the ones we saw the other day, but still with the 'ahhh' factor! We sat and watched them for ages but lions are so lazy - they just lie there and its almost an effort for them to open their ...

8.08am What an exciting morning already! I'm now sat with my bins on lion watch - we have just heard them and the alarm call of buck so we are hoping they will come down to drink. This is the most amazing campsite, we are literally on the bank of the river and have the most amazing view. The excitement began during the night when I heard hyena, lion and an elephant eating a tree very close by - the thing is I didn't realise just how close until I got up. Mike and Jenny actually ...

... at the hotel. We then went to one of the change bureau's to get Zambian Kwacha (a much better option then trying to change money with the Shark's at the border) and then we were off to Mfuwe.... The taxi driver took us to the bus station. He helped us to find us a minibus that would take us to the Malawi/ Zambia border. Unfortuentely, the minibus was almost empty and it took about an hour for it to fill up so that we could leave. With ...

There were loads of VSO volunteers at the lake for New Years, several with cars. One couple, with a car, were looking for 'hikers' to split petrol with them through Zambia and Namibia. Their Zambian schedule fitted perfectly with what we wanted to do - a brief stint in South Luangwa National Park, reputedly one of the best in ...

... would but I guess that is what happens in a developing country) because the lions came right to the car and were walking around it. They were close enough to pet (if you were stupid enough to do that). I can't believe the size of them and how powerful they were. You could actually see their muscles as they moved. It was so exhilarating to have them that close! We were very lucky to have seen all of this because another group that ...

... Lusaka airport is fairly basic, no check in counters... you go to the relevant airline office to get your boarding pass and then go through the security X-ray (one for baggage, one for people). I am on a charter flight so no baggage tags but I assume that you get those from the airport office as well for commercial flights. The X-ray machine usage is somewhat erratic..... a cleaner came through carrying his vacuum cleaner which set off all the alarms of course, but had to put his mop ...