We woke to the sounds of baboons and birds chirping in the trees and then our fellow campers, I wonder if they are on honeymoon. The camp sites are not on top of each other but each is hewn into the bush, giving the feeling of being alone and private. Canvas tents don’t keep in sound like walls do, coupled with the fact that sound carries in the bush, makes us aware that we need to be fairly quite in order to be considerate to our neighbours.
The morning went by quickly, catching up on washing, even Princess Kirst decided she needed to do some, heaven forbid, hand washing. The monkeys are still proving to be a constant irritation and we have to make sure no food at all is left out. The problem arises when you are trying to make a meal and have a few items of food out. I was so irritated when, after having bought our first avos in ages, they stole one from right under our noses.
After lunch, we went across to the deck area and the joke of the day – we were walking along the narrow path on the banks of the Zambezi, Kirst leading the pack, when Robs said, “Kirsty snake” (there wasn’t one) but Kirst went ape and flew past us and up the bank. Got to love Robs, she has such a wicked sense of humour and even Kirst had a laugh at herself.
With order restored we headed up to the deck to play Scrabble, home rules clearly applying and being changed constantly – so no one won but Robs is convinced she did. During this time, a herd of ellie wandered into the garden and started stripping the trees. A few came within 10m of the deck; it is such an unbelievable feeling to be so close to these amazing giants.
At 3:30 we set off on a sunset boat trip – motoring our way up the current of the Zambezi. The Mana Pools area of Zimbabwe was on our left and the mountains of the Zambezi escarpment were on our right. There are plenty of ellie on the banks and the highlight was watching three cross to the water from one island to another. Clearly one animal that is not on the endangered list in Africa is the hippo and we saw hundreds of them; some on the banks, pods on the islands and a many more swimming in the river. There are apparently around a 100 hippo on every 1km of the river in the park areas. In one area, there is a pod of 500 hippos. The sun shining off the Zambezi escarpment was beautiful and then we were treated to the most magical sunset, as the sun sunk behind the mountains, casting its last rays on the rippling water. With G & T’s to finish off a perfect day, we turned round and let the current drift us back to camp.
Dinner was a rowdy affair, no not the honeymooners, the elephants. They shared our dinner area in the camp site, browsing on the trees next to us. At times I got concerned that they were far to close but they seemed unconcerned with us. Bush holidays, back in South Africa, will never be the same.
Sunset
No comments:
Post a Comment