Travels in Africa

Yes it is that time of year again where Jan and I are off on our travels. This year we will be in…… OK Africa as we live here but we will still manage a new country for us. Although we have both been to Zimbabwe several times, it has always just been to the tourist hot spot of Victoria Falls and no where else. This year we will be travelling around the national parks of Matusadona, Mana Pools, Chizarira and Hwange, all in the north in the company of Sarah, Tim, Jo and Shula, all friends from London. When they leave to fly back to UK, Jan and I will conmtinue south to look at Bulawayo, Great Zimbabwe ruins and the Eastern Highlands before we travel back to our home in Ndola, Zambia.

To start though we had a few days (9 in total) driving in the bush through Kafue National Park in Zambia. We have been here several times but we did find an area of the park we had yet to visit. Our first stop was McBrides camp in the North East area for one night. The area is good with elephant wandering through the camp and lions just outside. 

Elephants at McBrides camp

The next stop was just outside the park in the Mushingashi Conservancy at a campsite the McBrides have recently taken over. Delai Camp was in a beautiful spot on a small hill overlooking the Kafue River. At the moment it is a little run down as the previous owners had done very little for a few years and also the uncertainty as this Conservancy area has just been sold and they are waiting to see what happens. In Delai camp we actually stayed in one of the lodges overlooking the river. It really was beautiful with fantastic wildlife all around. 

Our camp at Delai

Our couple of days spent here was full of game drives and in the evenings sitting talking to Chris and Charlotte McBride along with Darrell Watt who has spent much of his recent life looking after this area. Chris McBride is a wealth of knowledge regarding the flora and fauna of this area and more especially the lion population. We went with him to see tow huge male lions late one afternoon. The pair were sleeping in the shade of a tree and refused to move. By the time they did move it was dark but we had the best experience that no camera could capture. 

Male lions resting

We have heard lions rouring many times and it alsways sends a shiver down your spine when you are sleeping in the bush. These roars have been some distance away so to find a pair of large males get up walk close to the car then both start full on roaring just yards away was very special.

Wattled Crane in the sunset

After leaving Chris and Charlotte McBride we returned to Mumbwa to refuel with diesel and other supplies as well as getting money. At this point we woiuld like to say how one person in an organisation can be so unhelpful but another the opposite. The ATM we used to get cash in Mumbwa decided to keep our bank card. It was also a holiday so the bank was closed so a call to Andrew in the UK meant we had the card stopped but he could not order us a new one. We had to call Nationwide from Zambia and as usual they have to go through security checks. Great we knew dates of birth and passwords but they ask for more. The first person wanted the following information. 1. A recent transaction where we had used the card. OK easy we said as we tend to draw money in amounts of Kw4000. Not good enough as they wanted it in UK £. Doesn’t help that the rate keeps changing at the moment. OK try again, 2. A shop and amount we had used the card. Again it was Shoprite and just over Kw1000 we remember. Can I have that in UK£ please. OK last go or you fail 3. What was the last credit amount you had. Unfortunately for us we had no idea as we had been in the bush for several days so we said it would have been one from our Letting Agents and we gave the name but had no idea on the actual amount so we failed and they would not talk to us. We rang again and got through to a different person and this time the security was all about us and things like overdraft arrangements etc and we passed immediately to order a new card. Yes we want security but as all our transactions out here are in Kwacha until we go online we cannot see what the exchange rate is each day as it is fluctuation so much. For example the lowest we have ever got is just over Kw10 - £1 and the best at over Kw21 - £1. At the moment is changing between around Kw12 up to Kw14 due to the exchange rates being unstable

Back to the trip now and after refuelling it was a drive down to Hook Bridge then on down the spinal road to Kasabushi camp. 

Obligatory Sundowner. Life is hard sometimes

View from the tent at Kasabushi in the early morning

When last here back in June I managed to come down with Malaria. (Not contracted here I hasten to add ass it takes around 14 days to show the symptoms after you have been infected with a mosquito bite) That last time here we saw very few animals around. We did catch a sighting or a pride of Lion that we had first seen back at Easter when we also called in here. This time though things were very different. We found the same pride of 2 adult females with 7 cubs between them. This time we followed them for a couple of days with great sighting as well as our first leopard in the area one night.

Young lion eating warthog

Part of the pride of 9 lion

Backlit lioness

Cub drinking at a pool

Motherly Love

After Kasabushi we continued on through the park to Hippo Bay where we camped on the side of Lake Itezi tezi and were last here exactly a year before. Again we found the local pride of lion quite easily one evening as they we soaking up the sunset. These were also females with cubs. The most exciting game experience was left right at the end and as we were packing up the camp. The car was half loaded and the tent have down when Jan noticed a pack of Wild Dogs running through the camp. After throwing everything of the car that had not been tied down we were quickly on their tails watching them scattering the local Puku population all over the area. Again it was great for photography.

Puku in the sunset

Impala alongside Lake Itezi Tezi

Fishing on the lake

Another sundowner, Boring

Guinea Fowl kicking up the dust

A Picture from my new toy now fully repaired after a crash on my first outing

Wild Dogs

Bit of a ragged ear this one

Looking for Puku

No. What makes you think I have just killed a Puku?

Wonky toothed pup

Tawny Eagle

Our final camp in Kafue NP was in the south at Nanzhilla Plains. We had also been at this camp a year ago and it is situated by a reed lined pool that attracts elephant, waterbuck and many other animals. Lion were heard in the night but not seen but what was seen and captured on a trail 

camera was a Honey Badger sniffing around the tent and chairs we had. Over the whole trip the days have been very warm with some of the nights very cold.

Antelope in the misty morning

Honey Badger outside our tent

A Lot of the area is burning in the heat

Driving through forest fires are quite common

A dry plant

We are now in Livingstone in the South of Zambia, just a few kilometres upstream of the world famous Victoria Falls. Sarah has arrived and the others, Tim, Jo and Shula leave UK tonight and arrive tomorrow. The second part of this year’s adventure will then begin as we have the trip around Zimbabwe to look forward to. We will be updating as and when we can so please keep tuned in.