Tag: lion

We were up before dawn, 4:15 am to be exact, to start the last leg of our trip from Botswana to Zambia! Here’s the route:

1. 15 minute drive (via bus) to the border, dipping our shoes/tires (being cautious about Foot-and-Mouth disease). Exit Botswana and enter Zambia.

2. Drive another 30 minutes to Livingstone, Zambia and take a 40 minute flight from Livingstone International Airport to Lusaka (the capitol).

3. Wait an hour

4. Take another 40 minute flight from Lusaka to Mfuwe.

5. Finally, a 40 minute drive to the Mfuwe Lodge located within the South Luangwa National Park.

Some facts about Zambia-

*The country is really doing well! Lots of farmers migrated from Zimbabwe to Zambia and farming has boomed!

*Zambia’s official language is English, which is used in education and business. The main local languages are Bemba, Nyanja / Chewa, Tonga, and Lozi.

*The currency is the Zambian Kwacha

*We are staying at the South Luangwa National Park, which is 9,050 sq km in size.

*Our lodge is the Mfuwe Lodge (part of the Bush Camp Company) and it’s simply incredible. The people are amazing! They knew our names within the hour. There are no fences around the property so the animals can roam freely. At night, we need a watchman to take us to our room. We are NOT allowed to leave our rooms at night alone as we could find ourselves face-to-face with a lion or another predator. There are no phones and no WiFi in the rooms. All 18 rooms are named after an animal found in the park. I can stand on my balcony and admire the hippos, listen to the lions roar, and hear the elephants trumpet throughout the night. There is air conditioning but there are also fans and screens. Sleeping last night was extremely pleasant!

We had our first game drive from 4-7 with our local guides, Alec and Francis. Because the sun sets at around 5:30 ish, our drive included a night time viewing after sunset for those nocturnal animals! (One of the guides had a spotlight to look for those nocturnal animals. No light is shone on the non-nocturnal animals and very briefly on the nocturnal ones).

Highlights:

We took a sundowner 1/2 way though, had some refreshments, and watched the sun set over the South Luangwa River while the hippos grunted and moaned (sounds like a cow’s moo). They do this when they’re marking their territory.