Well, hello there. I hope you are fabulously well and rested after the weekend. Here in the Luangwa winter has suddenly arrived and within the last 10 days we have gone from hot and humid to really rather chilly. In the mornings the impala and baboons can be found soaking up the sun to warm up and the guides warm up around the fire before heading out for their game drives.
There has certainly been no rest for the maintenance team as we are steaming along with our attempts to be able to drive up to Tena Tena and Nsefu; as with the extraordinary water levels the Kawaluzi which is usually crossable after a few sandbags are popped in has now become a fully-fledged river and the pontoon has had to be put in. Moses was sitting in his tractor watching impatiently as he was waiting to cross with the tractor and Harrow to be able to start putting in all the roads. Bertram is not in the winning side for roads this year as Fourways crossroads gully is still a meter deep in water, something that we have never experienced before, so all the Tena Tena roads will be out while we wait for the water to disappear. Meanwhile the Nsefu team head to Fourways every day to check the levels in the hopes that we can start getting the trucks and bulky supplies into camp for them to start with the more extensive side of camp building.
The wildlife up in the Nsefu sector as always continues to deliver and Tena Tena has a big male lion who walks through most nights. One of the hyena pups from last year has also learnt that if he sneaks into camp after lunch there is a chance of some left-over scraps of nshima and if he is really lucky some relish to accompany it. And a couple of afternoons ago Bertram was in the shower when a leopard came stalking past in broad daylight. He did, needless to say, feel a little vulnerable as the grass wall of his bathroom felt all of a sudden rather insecure!
In other “in camp” sightings, Luangwa River Camp have a wonderful family of porcupine that the guests have stumbled across a couple of times in the evenings when walking back to their rooms. And a resident hippo who without fail and much to Daudi’s frustration comes and munches on his lawn in front of camp.
At Nkwali the elephants have started coming back so we can no longer wander around without paying attention, but it is always such a treat to sit on the loungers by the pool watching them coming down to the lagoon to drink.
As if all of this isn’t enough, we have been inundated with fabulous sightings of everything from beautiful displays from ground hornbills to lion cubs playfully irritating their parents as they try to rest and wild dogs hunting impala and both impala and dogs running straight towards the car.
It’s been quite a week and we cannot wait to hear more stories of the goings on across the camps and parks. I for one am chomping at the bit to get up to Tena Tena and Nsefu so may well find a way to head up there this week, so lots more news to come.
In the meantime, I hope that you have a fabulous week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one-another.
