Well, hello there. I hope that you are fabulously well and have had yet another wonderful weekend. Here in the Luangwa, it must be said that we are thoroughly enjoying some slightly cooler days and nights – now when I say cool, I mean specifically for us so with temperatures of around the 20°C range, which after the last few months is a very welcome relief.
As a tropical cyclone has been in the Mozambique channel there has been quite a lot of cloud cover pushed our way which has been great for game drives as the guests have been able to stay out longer but not so great for watching the partial lunar eclipse on Friday when 5 minutes before it was due to happen the moon slipped behind an enormous bank of clouds!
Spirits have however remained undampened by this and the game viewing has been absolutely fabulous. The lions have once again been camped out opposite Nkwali giving pretty consistent sightings for the last few days and the leopards have as always been aplenty with our regular leopard opposite Nkwali as well as Lucy and her cubs at the main gate (Watch here). The Nkwali guests even saw a second pride of lions in the main area with a buffalo kill, so there was plenty of action.
Whilst the predators have obviously kept everyone smiling, let us not forget all the other wildlife that fills the game drives. A big kudu bull peeking out through the green foliage, zebra rolling around on the ground, elephants walking through shoulder high grass happy as can be, munching away as they go. And journeys of giraffe 16 strong taking a gentle stroll looking down on everyone they pass.
Let us also not forget Luangwa Safari House after 2 incredibly hectic months we have opened the doors once more with the team of artisans being kicked out the house just a few hours before the guests arrived. A couple of last-minute panics from the team but they have done a sterling job (Watch here). Tisie and her team probably mopped the floor 6 times a day over the last week to get it back up to its usual shiny self and it was not unusual to hear me shouting at people to either walk around the house or take their shoes off. Everyone chipped in with Lottie the storeman spray painting some of the doors, the tailor was non-stop mending shade nets for the changes to various doors and the electrician was thrilled at the fact that I power hosed down the floor in the main area whilst he frantically ran around trying to keep various cables dry and out of my way.
There were the obvious occasional glitches like for example discovering that somehow someone had found the dining room table and cut it up to make a lovely new door for the junior staff mess room! But where is the fun if these sorts of things don’t happen. Although I feel certain that Mabvuto would have gladly done without me asking him to cut me some planks from a piece of leadwood to have the unpleasant surprise of some concrete in the middle. One new chain later and a different piece of leadwood all was sorted, and I got my planks…
With the guests arriving to warm smiles and cool flannels, they were none the wiser of the last-minute panics. The team did a fabulous job looking after them and whilst out in the park with Kanga they were also treated to countless wonderful sightings including lion, leopard, hyena and even Jackal which is extremely exciting.
Once again, another action-packed week is behind us, and I am sure this week will prove just as exciting so let me get on with the day to see what awaits and I look forward to updating you next.
For now, though I shall bid you a very fond farewell and hope that you have a wonderful week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another.
