I'm off again....the bag is packed and weighs 14 kgs which is not bad for 10 nights and I've been collected at some ungodly hour for my flight at Cape Town International.....on my way to Lusaka, Zambia. The familiar little fizz of excitement in the pit of my stomach....new territory to explore.
At Lusaka, the Proflight representative is waiting airside to assist with immigration etc & all proceeds smoothly except one of the group has not made himself known to us. We eventually do track him down by process of elimination - I think he is going to be a problem child.....he hasn't bought US dollars before departure (as he was told to do) & now after scrambling around Lusaka Airport the smallest note he can lay his hands on is a 50 dollar note. TIP - when travelling you need lots of small denomination notes...USD 1, 5 & 10's mainly....the guys just don't have change for 50 USD when you are trying to pay for one departure tax costing USD 8....oh dear!!
En route to the Lower Zambezi I practice my aerial photography...little did I know that I'd get plenty of practice later in one of the most stunning locations...stay tuned - more on this later....our first glimpse of the mighty Zambezi River...
Our first pod of hippo and a couple of elephants cooling down in the midday heat..
The aircraft touches down at Royal airstrip and we all pile out...identify which luggage is to go in which vehicle...I really love that red sand - so different from the Western Cape that it always gives me that holiday feeling...
A 20 minute drive down to the river...let me tell you...it is HOT, HOT, HOT here at this time of the year...driving in an open vehicle feels like sitting in front of your fan assisted oven...the locals call October suicide month.....hmmmm!
It's a all relative but it feels slightly cooler on the water....Grant Cumings, our host & owner of Chiawa and Old Mondoro camps makes sure nobody dives in...probably not the best idea in a river teeming with crocs & hippo...but he's taking no chances..
It's so very beautiful here in the Lower Zambezi National Park with the escarpment in the background. The hippo's pop up for a closer look at the intruders in their territory..
And finally, home for the night.....Chiawa Camp....
Time for a quick drink and room orientation, before heading out on the first of many fantastic game drives.....a large pride of lion with active cubs and 2 leopards (amongst other things) to start us off and then hopping back on the boat for the transfer to dinner.....on a lantern lit island in the middle of the Zambezi..a magical end to our first day in Zambia....
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