ZAMBIA
After a flight of just over an hour and a half from Johannesburg on South African Airways, we land in Lusaka, Zambia. The midday heat is palpable as we walk across the tarmac to board our tiny Proflight Zambia flight to the Lower Zambezi region.
As we approach our destination from the sky, a range of hills makes its appearance on the one side, while the Zambezi River snakes below us like a giant dark blue and black python.
At just over 4 000 square kilometres, the Lower Zambezi National Park stretches in a narrow swathe from the Chongwe River in the west to the Luangwa River in the east. The park is home to all of the major species in the valley, with excellent sightings of elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard a regular occurrence.
After a smooth landing, our guide George drives us the 20 minutes or so to Chongwe River Camp. On arrival, our hosts Sisi and Flossie start a trend of warm hospitality we were to see for the rest of our stay in Zambia. Our suite is mesmerising and after a light lunch, George takes us on a canoe ride, where we see cavorting monkeys, elephants, crocodiles, hippos and about 30 species of birds.
We retire to the fireside after dinner as the crimson moon, huge and languid, peers slowly above the river like a blood red balloon and then rises into full bloom.
Much later, I creep into my enormous bed with its percale linen duvet and I dream of Africa.
I wake up with the mystic river as my view from the bed and jump out, refreshed and as eager as a child to experience the next adventure. After brunch, we laze around in the main area of the camp for the afternoon( where high tea is served and Wi-Fi is available) before setting off on a boat cruise again. George slowly navigates his way around dozens of hippos in the river. Suddenly, I hear a wave crashing behind me and I turn just in time to see the massive jaws of a furious, four-tonne hippo giving chase metres behind us. George puts the boat into warp speed.“ It’ s a bad-tempered one, that,” he chuckles as we try to dislodge our white knuckles from the railings, gasping for breath.
The night drive after dinner presents a tremendous black sky adorned with a billion stars, vast and unending. The Milky Way is clearly visible, flowing through the dark firmament like silky vanilla magma. The bush teems with animals big and small and we spot hippos, buffaloes, elephants and a rarely seen porcupine.
Too soon, we have to leave the Chongwe team and board Proflight back to Lusaka the next afternoon. From here, it’ s on into the deep, wild heart of Zambia – the South Luangwa National Park. It is one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world and not without reason. The concentration of animals around the Luangwa River and its oxbow lagoons is among the most prolific in Africa.
The Luangwa River is the most intact major river system in Africa and the lifeblood of this 9 059 square kilometre park. There are 60 animal species and over 400 bird species. The only notable exception is the rhino, poached to extinction.
We arrive at Mchenja Bush Camp as the sun throws long shadows across the pristine bush. The camp sits beneath a grove of ebony trees on the banks of the Luangwa River. It is one of the most isolated and far-flung camps in the valley.
The haunting cry of a fish eagle breaks the dawn the next morning. I open the flap door onto my deck and the
34 Travel Update | issue 9