At last, a day off. We have been at Wild Life Camp for 3 nights now and we are in a routine. Alarm at 5am, tumble out and have breakfast of cereal and tea then away on a safari for 4 hours at 6 after quickly cleaning up and locking everything away from the monkeys.
We stop at 9 am for a cuppa and a biscuit and are back at camp soon after 10 am. By that time it is way over 30 degrees and rising.
About 11.30 we eat are substantial brunch which Zandré prepares. Today hamburgers, yesterday flapjacks, day before sausages, eggs, bacon and beans. Cleaning up is slow due to the heat then we do chores, lie around the empty pool, drink beer and try to check our mail. This is punctuated by Luke warm showers.
By 3 pm it is pushing 40 degrees and 50 in our tents. All our ointments and cosmetics are leaking liquid and stuffed I am sure.
At 4 pm we are into the safari Land Rover again and off for another 4 hours game spotting. Day time animals, sundowners in some knockout spot serenaded by hippos then a couple of hours spotlighting for nocturnal animals. Back at camp exhausted at 8.30 then we prep dinner and Zandré whips up another gourmet meal and we drag ourselves up to clean up and fall into our tents and sleep til the alarm goes off again at 5 am and it all begins again!
Today we have no evening drive so we are all more relaxed.
Drinks are challenging for me not being much of an alcohol drinker. I am so sick of Luke warm water and have tried coke and ginger beer but too sweet. Afraid to try the gin cos I don't want a headache so I have been forced to drink beer!
Today I have had ice only to cool my water and stuff down my front.
This morning a man came on his bicycle with fresh veg to sell. He had biked about 7 kms and for $5 Zandré bought 3 bunches of silver beet, tomatos, spring onions and carrots and a lettuce. He told us that he lights a fire at 4 corners of his garden and sits up all night guarding it from the elephants. The elephants walk to the village at night to eat green mango and pumpkins.
In the morning women head off with axes in their hand also to collect firewood. In the afternoon we see them walking home with bundle of wood about 2 metres long on their heads. The men are sitting on the river bank fishing. That has its own risk with so many crocs and hippo.
The unemployment rate in Zambia is 80%!
The animals we see most are Impala and monkeys and baboons but numerous other species are abundant. Hippo and crocs are in every body of water and there are 20000 elephant in this park. If we ask the spitter to find a certain animal we are almost always lucky.
We saw 3 leopard last night, one feasting on a fresh baboon which was a bit horrid.
We have done 2 morning walking Safaris with a guide and an armed guard. Mostly being taught about tracking and feeding habits and some of the smaller animals and insects and the plants and trees.
Within 1 minute walk from our camp site their is a swampy water hole where hippo, elephant, giraffe and numerous birds hang out or pass through. Today we watched a group of elephant, some spraying themselves with mud to cool down and one feeding on the weeds, others drinking. They hang around for 20 minutes or so then silently go on their way. They are so light footed and quiet that you would not know if they were right behind you.
The giraffe are every bit as beautiful as expected and the hyena as horrid.
Lions are lazy as we know. The male we saw was on his back, legs in the air relaxing. The female was guarding her buffalo which was an easy kill as it had just become too old and hungry to move anymore. It was too big to drag into the shade and every time she went to the shade the vultures moved in.
The only well known animal we won't see is a rhino as they are very highly endangered and protected in fenced enclosures.
No flamingo in this area but lots of other amazing birds.
So hard to imagine how all these huge animals survive especially the vegetarians since vegetation is so sparse.