Posts Tagged ‘zambia’

Walking Safaris – Zambia

April 9th, 2011, posted in travel, Wildlife

Walking safaris are a personal favourite. Nothing beats being on foot in the bush. Apart from sitting at the camp or lodge and listening to the sound of the African bush, walking is the only other time you as a visitor get to be actively listening for bird song, frog calls, branches breaking or grunts. There is a constant adrenalin rush, there is always something new to discover and a far richer experience to take home than what a game drive can offer.

I have an adventurous family and my Aunt and Uncle though smitten with Africa’s wildlife, still want a bit of luxury, privacy and good food. They too enjoy wild walking trails and since I am the one making suggestions as to where they should travel to next, I had to also find a suitable lodge that catered for their interests in all ways.

I found a venue in South Luangwa, Zambia.

Puku

$550 per person per night for 3 nights inclusive of 2 walks per day, three meals a day, soft drinks, local wines and local spirits, national park fees and a laundry service.

For wildlife enthusiasts wanting to see more than the normal plains game, there are Puku, Thorncroft’s giraffe, Cookson’s Wildebeest and Crawshay’s Zebra. Since there is a concentration of wildlife in the South Luangwa National Park, there are also predators in the form of lion, leopard, crocodile and on the rare occasion – wild dog.

The game trails often lead guests to places with far-reaching views and finding some of the 400 species of birds will prove to be a lot easier along the river banks or islands that are reached by canoe.

For a bit of a colonial treat, trailists are accompanied by a tea bearer!

You’ll have plenty sightings of hippo and elephant and you’ll be on foot most of the time, so your experience will be as close to an authentic safari as you will ever get.

Cooksons Wildebeest

Crawshays Zebra

Thorncrofts Giraffe

The crazy-awesome Lower Zambezi

July 30th, 2010, posted in travel

It’s crazy-awesome staying in the Lower Zambezi Valley, I’m guaranteed of hearing Elephants every day and seeing Hippo at least once every 24 hours! I get to see vervet monkeys, samango monkeys and chacma baboons almost every day and I gaze out onto the Zambezi River every meal time.

The best part about my work is that I get to learn from the local Zambians whilst I assist them to improve their learned skills and natural talents! It’s all just a life we live that forms a part of our skills transfer programme.

The interesting part about spending time at Mvuu Lodge whilst we assist the staff working here, is meeting such a variety of people, those wanting to camp, those wanting to self-cater and those wanted to live the good life and stay in the tents with ensuite bathrooms and have meals prepared for them!

I’ve been surprised at the number of foreign travelers who simply hire a 4X4 vehicles in Lusaka and get going, arriving here without a booking and spending 3-4 nights exploring the Zambezi river, the surrounding Game management area and the Lower Zambezi National Park. It seems even the first-time-to-Africa German tourists get the hang of driving in four-wheel drive pretty quickly out here, patiently waiting for elephants who seem to wonder into the road and taking countless photographs of the numerous butterflies flying around at the moment.

I’ll wonder to the deck in a few minutes, have a cup of Zambian coffee and rest my soul before welcoming our next group of campers due in an hours time…

Mvuu – our new home

July 11th, 2010, posted in travel

We have only been here at Mvuu Lodge for a week and already it has crept into our hearts! The river is still full at the moment and early in the mornings and late in the afternoons it has a calming effect even though it is flowing at 12km/hour!!!

The Zambian people are very friendly and we look forward to meeting and working along side them in the days to come…

We have learnt not only to shine our torch along the path but all around as hippo and elephant tend to roam in between the lodgings at night and although we have not yet seen the hyena, she and her cub have left tracks as evidence of a visit.

So far I’ve heard lion, hyena, baboon and owls at night, but Pieter has heard the low rumble of elephants and the grunt of a leopard!!

Here’s a pic of what I see whilst downloading e-mails and updating bushtrail blogs!!!

The Zambezi River, filling its banks near Mvuu, Lower Zambezi

 
 
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