A Two Month Recap
We've had an exciting couple of months and there's no good excuse for not keeping this thing updated. Here's the play by play...
Bill and 2 Moms come to africa...
In early October, my brother bill, my mom (Karleen) and Michelle's mom (Eileen) came out for a visit. They spent a night on the plane and then a full day in London. On a bus tour they were able to see many of London's main attractions, visited an authentic London Pub, and everyone managed to sleep at some point during the day -from what I here. They jumped back on the plane and spent the night traveling to Lusaka. Bob was fashionably late in picking them up at the airport...they needed to get used to traveling in Africa (lots of waiting). We toured our house and work. Bill got a haircut from Noah, my barber and we quickly headed for Kafue National Park.
Last time we visited Kafue we had a run-in with a huge elephant and that was just 1-2 km off the tar road. This time we got to the park and drove 116 km off the tar road. The road felt more like choppy water. We endured it for 2 hours or so. Bill took enjoyment in finding the smoothest path down the deeply rutted road. Driving was the most enjoyable position in the vehicle I think. But when the tse tse flies invaded our a/c-less vehicle we were all equally punished. They were on Bill's face, in between my face and glasses, and everywhere else you can imagine...and biting. Before we reached the park we saw our first elephant...a huge one off in the distance. It was fun to see our moms' expressions...and bill's too... After thoroughly questioning the poor directions we made it to Hippo Lodge. The lodge sat on the kafue river deep in the park.
Stoney Lodge - You can see Bill in his loft bunk that overlooked the river. At 7 pm every night the hippos would come out of the water and eat through the night. At sunrise they would head back into the water. You could hear them walking by the house. The one piece of advice was "don't get in between the hippo and the water" - we all complied.
A natural hot spring that hippos hang out in...and sometimes kill eachother over.
Within the first 30 minutes of our first game drive we came upon this female lion. It was the first one that Michelle and I have seen during the day.
On the boat cruise that evening we saw our first elephants up close. This one got out of the water as we approached. He climbed on to higher ground, looked down and roared at us as we drove past. In some parts of the park the elephants might be used to boat traffic. They didn't seem too crazy about us though.
There were hippos all over the river. And some were just near where we fished. We had two great guides on the boat that helped as we pulled fish out of the water for about 2 hours. None were very big but we caught appoximately 20-25 fish. It was enough for a big fish dinner for us and the guides.
One unlucky fish gets caught on a hook...then sits in the bottom of the boat for awhile before finally getting thown to a fish eagle. Rough day. The fish eagle was pretty impressive. They sit high in the trees and, well, fish. Sometimes they get free handouts
Bill and 2 Moms come to africa...
In early October, my brother bill, my mom (Karleen) and Michelle's mom (Eileen) came out for a visit. They spent a night on the plane and then a full day in London. On a bus tour they were able to see many of London's main attractions, visited an authentic London Pub, and everyone managed to sleep at some point during the day -from what I here. They jumped back on the plane and spent the night traveling to Lusaka. Bob was fashionably late in picking them up at the airport...they needed to get used to traveling in Africa (lots of waiting). We toured our house and work. Bill got a haircut from Noah, my barber and we quickly headed for Kafue National Park.
Last time we visited Kafue we had a run-in with a huge elephant and that was just 1-2 km off the tar road. This time we got to the park and drove 116 km off the tar road. The road felt more like choppy water. We endured it for 2 hours or so. Bill took enjoyment in finding the smoothest path down the deeply rutted road. Driving was the most enjoyable position in the vehicle I think. But when the tse tse flies invaded our a/c-less vehicle we were all equally punished. They were on Bill's face, in between my face and glasses, and everywhere else you can imagine...and biting. Before we reached the park we saw our first elephant...a huge one off in the distance. It was fun to see our moms' expressions...and bill's too... After thoroughly questioning the poor directions we made it to Hippo Lodge. The lodge sat on the kafue river deep in the park.
Stoney Lodge - You can see Bill in his loft bunk that overlooked the river. At 7 pm every night the hippos would come out of the water and eat through the night. At sunrise they would head back into the water. You could hear them walking by the house. The one piece of advice was "don't get in between the hippo and the water" - we all complied.
A natural hot spring that hippos hang out in...and sometimes kill eachother over.
Within the first 30 minutes of our first game drive we came upon this female lion. It was the first one that Michelle and I have seen during the day.
On the boat cruise that evening we saw our first elephants up close. This one got out of the water as we approached. He climbed on to higher ground, looked down and roared at us as we drove past. In some parts of the park the elephants might be used to boat traffic. They didn't seem too crazy about us though.
There were hippos all over the river. And some were just near where we fished. We had two great guides on the boat that helped as we pulled fish out of the water for about 2 hours. None were very big but we caught appoximately 20-25 fish. It was enough for a big fish dinner for us and the guides.
One unlucky fish gets caught on a hook...then sits in the bottom of the boat for awhile before finally getting thown to a fish eagle. Rough day. The fish eagle was pretty impressive. They sit high in the trees and, well, fish. Sometimes they get free handouts
posted by Michelle and Bob - Zambia @ 2:43 PM
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