Africa – 5th Sept 2008 – Day 3

Today started very early with all our alarms going off at 5am. We rushed down for a quick breakfast before getting the 5.30 taxi bus to Lusaka airport for our Royal Zambizi Charter flight to our next destination, the Royal Zambizi Lodge. However, once at the airport confusion set in. Our itinerary shower two companies flying us to the lodge. We ended up going to the Pro Flight office to be told we needed to be at the Airport Hangers!!

They arranged for us to be transferred by cab, but the cab took for ever to arrive and we constantly got the impression that we were not expected.

The 4x4 arrived and took us across the airport to the hanger. Again the lady in charge seemed surprised and did not have our onward flight details either. We met Jo, an English lady who later told us that she used to drive lorries around Heathrow for many years, before taking her flying exams and then getting a two year contract to fly small planes around Zambia. She had been in Zambia for just 5 months.

We boarded the thirty two year old plane and set off. The views were magnificent. After half an hour, we reached the valley where Jo circled twice to drop height. As she circled Fiona spotted four elephants below. The plane landed on a mud strip littered with animal dung.

There was no car to meet us. The man on the air strip, radioed the Lodge, who, yet again, were surprised we had arrived so early! They had expected us to be flying in later and with another air company.

It turns out that our itinerary was incorrect. We had used the wrong airline!! Jo had expected to fly out empty with supplies. Still we had landed and the weather was perfect.

Tracey met us in the land cruise. She is standing in for the owners who have taken a couple of weeks off.

This place is wonderful. Our room looks onto the Zambezi river and we have a tented luxury villa with it’s own plunge pool and huge bed. We had a late breakfast sitting on the main veranda. What a start. The staff are mega friendly.

After a full English breakfast, we unpacked, rested and then took a boat out fishing. We both caught two small fish which were then used to catch the much larger Tiger Fish. Al, who was here on his honeymoon, had caught a 16 pound fish that morning.

We drifted down the Zambezi, at one time we were surrounded by hippo who kept popping up from under the water. We both caught a tiger fish and both lost them when they got near to the boat, so returned empty handed.

After a quick cup of coffee and a piece of cake, we were off on an early evening drive with Al and Jo (from the Caman Islands), and Brian and Bacasa, our guides. We came across elephant, impala, water buck, hog, lion etc.

We stopped at a clearing for a G&T and to watch the sun go down behind the mountain. The drive back was mainly in the dark. The elusive leopard, remained elusive. We did see a lioness with a wound to her side who glided past us in the dark.

We arrived back later than planned, rushed into the shower and then waited for our guide to walk us back to the lodge centre. Due to the local, elephant, baboons and lions, you need a guide to walk you anywhere out of camp after dark!

We met Alexandra, a lady who is in Zambia for two years with VSO, during our evening meal. Afterwards, we had a quick drink around the fire, chatting with other guests. We both felt very tired, so we found our guide, walked back and fell into bed.

At 2AM, we both woke with a start! It sounded like something very large was in our room and, due to the generator being turned off, everything was pitch black. John needed to go to the little boys room but Fiona was not keen to be left on her own, having now convinced herself that she was about to be eaten by something very big, probably a lion.

John eventually lit the room by turning on the PC and then found a torch so he could go to the loo.

The noise outside the room continued and we drifted back off to sleep.