We've learned to pack light! |
Ready to go |
Dinner in Toronto during our journey |
SO glad we used our miles for business class! |
Lunch in London, with Ludovica (whom we met last year in Namibia) |
Had to stop in at 221b Baker Street! |
Scrabble at Heathrow, with vodka and chocolate |
TOO much vodka, perhaps? |
Our BA plane after landing at Lusaka |
Breakfast in Lusaka on the airport terrace |
Our plane to the Lower Zambezi |
Royal airstrip! |
An orphaned baboon!! at Conservation Lower Zambezi |
Boat ride to our first safari camp |
Chiawa Camp, the first camp in the Lower Zambezi National Park |
With a gorgeous main room, or chitenge |
Welcome drink in the sitenge |
Our lovely tent |
Luxurious, in fact! |
SO nice to have an outdoor shower again!! |
Nice bathroom under the trees |
Relaxing after a great shower |
While Jim works on photo printing |
Our first sundowners ... Amarula, of course! |
Sunset over Chirapira Mountain |
Mozambique nightjar |
Leopard |
Lion, a.k.a. "Douglas" |
Our first sunrise over the Zambezi |
The colors are incredible |
Breakfast at sunrise |
View of Chirapira Mountain |
My favorite: baobabs!! |
A steep part of our drive |
Lunch on the boat |
Complete with our own cook and waiter |
And champagne, to celebrate Jim's 50th! |
Gotta get some good photos |
Little croc by the river bank |
Elie comes to visit our camp |
Shaking the ears during a mud bath |
Red-throated twinspot (male and female) |
Vervet monkey posing |
Sundowners again! |
Lionesses playing |
Such a beautiful animal |
Rough housing! |
Getting a drink of water |
Morning coffee |
A great way to make toast |
Our morning circle on the riverbank |
Yum! |
Our guide Joe, describing procedures for a walking safari |
And, we're off into the bush! |
It's always about DUNG! (which is fascinating, actually) |
The handsome safari-goer, listening intently |
Baobab |
Getting photos INSIDE the baobab (they are all hollow!) |
Slit-faced bats, inside the baobab |
Ballet lesson? |
Single file, following the guys with rifles |
Hippo grazing next to our tent |
Lilac breasted roller, landing |
A rumor went around camp, that there was a woman running around in her bathrobe with a camera in hand ... |
On our evening safari boat ride |
Great white egret |
Great white egret |
Hippo leaping (for joy?) |
Amarula again! |
The staff, at our dinner on the riverbank |
The happy couple |
Elies! |
Reaching for goodies |
Wild dog (unusual sighting!) |
Elie walking by our tent's porch |
Saying "goodbye" to Chiawa, with our new bracelets |
Arriving at Chonge River Camp, and having a Mosi (great Zambian beer) |
And the elies come RIGHT into camp |
Pushing against the tree to shake the acacia pods down |
Close encounter |
Elie trunk (Jim's artistic flair) |
The eye of the elephant |
Elies having a close encounter with each other |
LOVE the elies! |
Our tent at Chongwe |
Comfy bed |
Nice outdoor bathrooms |
Shower in the wild! |
Our honeymoon tent has a wonderful bathtub |
The loo |
Looking right out on the Chongwe River |
Bathroom goodies |
Silky, Chongwe's tame impala |
She even "lets" people pet her! |
And feed her tea bags! |
The dining table at Chongwe |
Lesser masked weaver |
Marshmallows? (hyena scat, white from bone) |
Jim out on safari |
Tea break |
Elies in the river! |
Guinea fowl getting a drink |
Nice red cliffs |
Big baobab |
Stately kudu |
Visit to the CLZ (Conservation Lower Zambezi) |
A wonderful set of school buildings |
Complete with dormitories for the kids |
Our illustrious tea server! |
Proud guys at their posts |
Guard at the entrance to the Lower Zambezi National Park |
Zebra! |
Kudu on a termite mound |
Egyptian geese pair |
Lionesses and cubs ... |
Enjoying a bit of warthog! |
Carrying a leg ... |
And munching a leg! |
A bit of fighting over the good parts |
Break time again |
Jim breaks open a huge seed pod (that came out of some elie dung) |
Canoe ride down the channel |
Peaceful ... |
Even more peaceful at siesta time |
Baobab, with Cynthia for scale |
Really like those baobabs! |
Buffalo with egrets on board |
More baby elies |
Hyena |
Side-striped jackal |
The safari gang |
A surprise brunch in the bush |
A lovely time! |
And a lovely outdoor shower! |
Jim's solar battery charger in action |
The elie climbs up on the bank |
And gets VERY close! |
Black egret, fishing (with yellow-billed stork) |
Goliath heron |
Pile of hippos |
Saddle-billed stork |
What a nice evening safari |
Worth taking photos! |
Another perfect sunset |
Ready for dinner |
Red banks of the Zambezi |
Fishing during our canoe ride to Sausage Tree Camp |
Hippo stares as we pass |
Our room at Sausage Tree Camp |
With a sumptous bed |
And another marvelous outdoor bathroom |
Even more romantic at night! |
Richman and Moses, our guides |
Baboon finding a yummy dinner |
Looking a bit bored |
Mutual grooming |
On a safari drive |
Welcome back to camp with cool towels |
Nice deck for relaxing |
Lunch is served! |
Another staff member posing |
Mother and child |
The "King" doesn't always look kingly |
But when he CALLS ... it's primal and awesome |
Giant eagle owl |
Jim's tsetse bite causes a BIT of swelling! |
Nice tsetse bites on Cynthia, too |
Lunch IN the river |
Collecting sand for our sand display at home |
This is the life! |
NO ... THIS is the life! |
Ian's plane from CLZ flies overhead, looking for a lion that got snared (wish we could help) |
Baby buffalo |
Amarula with Moses |
Our cook, Honore (trained in Paris!) and Roger |
Cynthia, learning to be a guide |
Our tent at our next camp, Old Mondoro Bush Camp |
Open and comfy |
Simple thatch construction |
Getting our shower bucket filled with hot water |
Setting up the solar panels again |
The sitenge at Mondoro |
Very simple and open |
With a loo by the side of the river! |
Brunch is served |
Posing on the boat |
Our great staff!! |
Amarula sundowners once more |
With another gorgeous sunset |
And the moon is getting full |
Moon |
Guinea fowl |
Baboon resting his hand |
Mother and child |
African wildcat, snoozing in the daylight |
Hammerkop |
Zooming past mahogany trees (browsed by kudu) |
Saddle-billed stork |
Taking flight! |
The runway at Jeki International Airport |
Laundry day |
Lilac breasted roller on termite mound |
Buffalo herd in the dying daylight |
Fiery-necked nightjar |
Porcupine |
Dinner with Rulof and Helen, on the banks of the Zambezi |
LION tracks!! |
Following tracks ... |
Mother and child |
Out for a safari stroll |
Stalking the bull elie |
Jim playing with spiders |
Bright yellow blossoms on the "scrambled egg" bush |
Immature goliath heron |
We love our guinea feathers on our hats |
If it's not dung, it's termites! |
Dung-covered forest floor |
Bones scattered about |
Dwarf mongoose |
Mongoose checking around |
Carmine bee eaters - gorgeous! |
An elie comes to say "goodbye" |
Final sundowners |
Full moon on our last night ... showing the rabbit, Kalulu |
Leaving Jeki |
Arriving back home ... what a fantastic trip! |