Sensational South Luangwa

Sunday morning we packed our bags and headed to the airport for our next adventure, a safari in the South Luangwa. We headed to the airport and jumped on one of the teeny tiny Proflight prop planes and were on our way to Mfuwe. When we arrived, the first thing that I noticed was that this was the smallest airport I had seen in my life, and as we walked off of the tarmac I read, “Mfuwe International Airport.” How is this possibly an international airport? We were greeted by Shaddy, who would be our tour guide for the next 4 days, and were on our way to Kapani Lodge, a luxurious safari experience that is part of Norman Carr safaris. As we drove by the small villages we enjoyed the lush greenery and hot, sticky weather that seemed a stark contrast from the cooler, rainier weather in Lusaka that we had left.

Upon arriving at Kapani, we were greeted by some cold drinks and were escorted to our rooms, which were absolutely wonderful. We each enjoyed a spacious log cabin to our ourselves, complete with two comfy beds surrounded with a canopy of mosquito netting, several chairs and a couch for lounging, a stocked mini bar, snacks and a coffee maker, what a treat! Also, since we arrived during the middle of the rainy season and it is a less popular time to go on safari, we had the resort to ourselves. We immediately headed out for our first game drive in our uncovered Toyota Land Cruiser. (Although we would have liked to go on a walking safari, since it is the rainy season it is not safe because the bush is too thick. More on this later.)

As we entered the South Luangwa Park (and Ron serenading us with “oh weem oh wey oh weem oh wey… in the jungle the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight” which was one of the many songs that we sang, much to the dismay of our tour guide) and crossed the river we were greeted by several families of baboons who were jumping around the gate and it seemed, posing for our cameras. Many of their young had just been born, and the mothers protectively scooped up their young and carried them on their bellies as they scooted away. As soon as we entered, we began to notice the immense variety of wildlife. The South Luangwa, especially near the front gates, is full of elephants and hippos. We immediately saw elephants in the distance and Shaddy stopped the car so that we could take some photos. Over the course of the next few days, we saw so many elephants and hippos that we didn’t stop any more to look. “Oh just another elephant” we said. How quickly we adapted to our new environment, it seems surreal to think back on it now. We asked Shaddy about the locals who walk the streets and he said that it happens occasionally that the elephants or hippos will trample humans because they are startled. It amazed us that the locals would walk by nonchalantly with buckets of water on their heads or carrying a pile of firewood. Even the kids seemed unfazed, what a place to grow up!

That night at dinner, as I was reflecting upon our first game drive, I was amazed that we were able to see so many animals that I had only read about in books or seen in movies. I kept thinking that this seems like a cross between Jurassic Park and The Lion King. We were completely putting our lives in the hands of our (very capable) tour guide. As a matter of fact, Shaddy was able to answer our every question about eating habits of wildlife, identifying birds by their call, insects, reptiles, and the landscape. He was an amazing wealth of knowledge and we learned that becoming a guide is quite a grueling experience that takes several years of training and education. Apparently Shaddy has been doing this for 12 years and is one of the most seasoned guides.

One of the employees shared a story with us when Shaddy was leading a walking tour, Shaddy led the way while the rest of the group followed in a single-file fashion with the armed ‘scout’ following behind. Shaddy said, “stop” and the group stopped in place and stood there for a long 5 minutes. All of a sudden, they heard the jarring sound of jaws crushing bone. As the team began to walk again (trembling I’m sure), they turned the corner to see a pride of lions killing a hippo. Although we were not fortunate enough to see a kill, we were on the prowl to see a leopard (the only animal we weren’t lucky enough to find) and instead found an empala (cousin of the antelope) that it had killed, propped neatly on the branch of a tree for a snack later. The leopard itself seemed to be hiding, although I have to say that I was a bit relieved. The guys, on the other hand, probably would have walked into the bush themselves to get the picture. We were told that we were by no means allowed to get out of the vehicle (unless we were stopped in a clearing for a snack break). With all of the standing water around, it was possible to step on a crocodile (who camouflaged themselves quite well) or an offending snake. One night when we stopped to admire the sunset Ron ventured out and got a bit too close to a buffalo, who looked annoyed and for a moment we were not sure if he was going to charge towards us. Luckily, he walked away and seemed unconcerned. Ron likes to say that he scared away the buffalo, but we all know the truth.

On safari, the best times to see the animals is at sunrise and sunset, so we would be awoken every morning by the “night guards” at 5:30 and lathered up with DEET and sunscreen before heading out at 6am. Mid-morning we would stop to stretch our legs in a clearing and enjoy a snack and tea. We would be out until about 11am, and then return for brunch and an afternoon of relaxing and rest by the pool. We really lucked out with good weather (despite it being the rainy season) so we were able to lounge and enjoy the nice weather. At 3:30, they would bang the drums to announce mid-afternoon tea and snacks before we headed out at 4pm for our afternoon game drive. We would be out until about 8, at which point we would return for a delicious 3-course dinner and then retire early, when we would be escorted back to our rooms by the night guards. We were warned not to leave our rooms without the night guards, since animals frequented the grounds at night and sure enough, the first night an elephant wandered through the grounds. As I lay in bed the first night staring at my whirring ceiling fan and wondering how mosquitoes still made their way into my mosquito-netting covered bed, I stayed awake listening to the eerie sounds of the bush. Although I could not place the sounds, I learned the next morning that the loud sounds included hippos (they seemed to be the loudest), elephants, and hyenas (of which make the strangest sound, it sounds almost human). Neither Ron nor I slept well that first night, but eventually got used to the strange sounds and by the second night either we had adjusted or sheer exhaustion took over because we were able to sleep much better.

To us, the lions looked quite lazy. We were driving along the road the first evening and came across a pride of 7 female lions lounging in the middle of the road. They didn’t seem to be bothered by us, and yawned lazily as though bored. We thought, maybe the male lion is out hunting, he must be fierce. Apparently not (or not when he’s just eaten?), as we learned later when we came across the male lion asleep (he looked dead, but he opened one eye when he heard us approach, and then closed it again, what a life!). Later that day we saw him on the other side of the road in the shade, we were amazed that we were able to get so close (about 1 meter away!) and he was not fazed by us. As a matter of fact, most of the animals just stood there and were bored with us. The only exception was the elephant, who when we got too close (especially with the baby elephants around) they would flap their ears, roar, and look as though they were going to charge the car. The first time this happened, our group huddled together in fear, and then sighed in relief as the elephant quickly turned on its heel (or as quickly as a 3-ton giant can do) and trotted away in the other direction.

Among the many animals that we saw included puku, empala and bush backs (sp?) (all relatives of the antelope), elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, geckos, baboons, monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, wild boars, wild dogs, and birds to numerous to mention. On our way to the airport yesterday we stopped at Tribal Textiles, which is a company that provides sustainable work for the locals. They hand make beautiful tapestries, pillow cases, napkins, placemates, table runners, and other various crafts. I was happy to purchase a few items and help to support the local Zambians.

As we boarded our flight (and left 45 minutes early, that for sure would not happen in the States!) I was happy to have enjoyed such an amazing journey. I have so many wonderful memories from Zambia and here is my top 5 list of things that I will miss:

5. “Zambian time” – always a relaxed atmosphere, no one is in a rush
4. Having our own “personal driver”
3. Being able to buy fresh produce or other souvenirs at discounted prices while at a stoplight. It gives a whole new meaning to “one stop shopping”
2. Warm weather
1. The kind & generous people that we have met

And here are the top 5 things that we have missed the most while living in Lusaka:

5. Sidewalks
4. Drinkable tap water
3. Showers without lizards crawling on our feet
2. High-speed internet
1. Our friends & family

Hope that everyone enjoyed hearing about our travels, we have really enjoyed keeping a blog and documenting our adventures. We'll send you all a link to our (many many) photos when we return to the States. Thank you!

Ronny G's final blog

So this is probably the last post till I get back to the US

So we just got back from Safari and just wanted to state some highlights:

Well I wanted to take a photo of this buffalo. He stood up as if he were about to attack, but I stood my ground! The big buffalo is no match for strong Ron!

Other highlights included the continuous noise every day by the hyenas and hippos that just continued to sing while I was trying to get some shut eye

We were lucky enough to be greeted every time we went on a game drive by a swiss girl, who always said “Wow, you saw lions”, “Wow”, “hello” blah blah blah. She annoyed me so much!
So then after a couple of days and a repetitious adventure jingles were going left right and centre. We got to see Pumba and Simba (from the lion king). Chris Rock from Madacscar, and other animals.

After a couple of days we got to meet another person in the lodge, that was a German lady, who for some reason decided that selling her car would be worthwhile in order to travel to South Luangwa for her 2nd time (I don’t this she has all of her marbles).
She was so fashionable, she had white/grey hair but at the front she wanted to dye her hair blue and wanted to match her eye brows with the same colour. Wow, what style, she is well ahead of the rest of the world. You never know, maybe one day this fashion will move to the US and even Australia.

Another interesting thing to see was this elephant, but this elephant was bigger than the others and I don’t mean in weight. This elephant had 5 legs!!!! Well the 5th leg was between his 2 back legs and I am sure he would make the other elephants in the jungle jealous. I also think that for some reason, he would be a lady elephant man, catching all the female elephants. What a stud!
What else, I was so upset that I could not run in the jungle. The guides were saying that it is too dangerous, but seriously, not running almost killed me.

My teammates made fun of me. You see being in the bush, I thought one should use the “facilities” of the bush. So, I went every so often to the real toilet, a tree or a plant. My pioneering led the guide to do the same. I think the team discovered what a small bladder I have. (I guess what is small is made up by a big……….hmmmm.. talking about the 5th legged elephant)

My regret was not to bring a football to kick, there was so much open spaces that it would have been fun to play, and if monkeys or elephants or zebras or even lions wanted to join us, I would not object (after all, they are bigger than me)

So, we were treated like kings here. Because we are Mazungos (white people), many assumed us to be rich. And looking at the villages in Mfuwe (near South Luangwa) and Lusaka, it breaks my heart to see how they live, knowing that I have it better. I hope that eventually Zambia will become a more sustainable country with people living more Western lives. Overall, the people here are very friendly and want a snack to eat. Many are very laid back, which means things don’t always run on time, and things occur later.

Overall, the clinics, the falls, the safari/jungle, the villages have been an eye opening experience. Africa has been a great experience. While Lusaka is not the most happening place in the world, Zambia is fascinating and I am glad my team and I decided to undertake this journey. Anyway, the team was great, the project was a success and now it is time to Diedre (to go in Nyanja).
Now I am leaving the heat after being away from the cold for 6 weeks, and while I am looking forward to fast internet, drinkable tap water etc, I am dreading the Boston cold.
I will always remember this African experience!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Last Sunday, still sad because Beth had left us, we started the trip that we were waiting since we got here: The safari!! The place: South Luangwa National Park, a 9,000 km2 park located in the eastern region of the country, near the border to Mozambique, and with the Luangwa river (subsidiary of the “Mighty Zambezi”) as the water source giving life to an incredible variety of fauna and flora.

Many people recommend visiting the park during the dry season, specially because the animals are easily spotted in those areas where there is some water remaining, so one can find hundreds on each herd. The rainy season (no doubt for us that we are in the rainy season) brings dense bushes and water everywhere, so it is more difficult to find the animals. Fortunately, the rain took a break during our visit to the park, and we had a gorgeous weather, with some clouds but with very little rain, that allowed us to enjoy some sun and a wonderful starry night that I hadn’t seen for many years.

Our trip began with the news that our flight in gold class (no idea what that means) will take only an hour rather the 2 hours that our reservation stated. The reason, the flight leaving Lusaka can be either to Mfuwe via Chipata or to Chipata via Mfuwe, depending on who knows whom makes the last minute decision. Fortunately, our host has a vast experience in this unpredictable schedule and was ready to pick us up at the Mfuwe International Airport (really impressive that this tiny airport can hold international flights!!).

The trip from the airport to the lodge was quite of an experience. This 30 km approximately route has a really busy transit, not from cars but from bicycles and pedestrians that move from one village to another for many different reasons, but the most important is to get some water that can’t get from the nearby rivers as they are infested with crocodiles. (Will try to upload some pictures if our connectivity allows us).

Once we arrived to the Kapani lodge, our home for three days, we rapidly threw our light packing in our rooms and with no rest we headed to our first encounter with the wildlife. Obviously we were so excited that every animal we saw received the full attention of our cameras, no matter how bad our photos were. Elephants, hippos and baboons were the first (and most common) targets of our trip. By the second day we were so used to their presence even bother to stop and look at them.

After a break in an open space where we waited for a sunset accompanied by some Mosi (the local beer) we started the search of the nightlife in the wild. Apparently the park turns into a very active place during the night, especially because predators come into scene to get some food. Unfortunately, the only animals that we were able to see were the other visitors of the park unsuccessfully trying to catch with a small array of light what is going on behind the dense bushes in the immensity of the jungle.

Once we got back to the camp we quickly learned a local and centenary tradition in the region: the sound of the drums announces that the food is ready. One note regarding the drums: The person playing them didn’t seem to be very enthusiastic in his job, producing just a vague, uncoordinated sound, that makes me think that if the local people depended on someone like him to know when the food was ready, they definitely would starved to death!

The night came with the advice of not leaving the room because wild animals usually walk around the camp at night time. What we first thought as an exaggeration was confirmed the following morning when the Shady (our guide) showed us the footsteps of an elephant that has passed by the front of my room. The night was accompanied by a variety of sounds (a weird band formed by hippos, hyenas, baboons, and others) that prevented some of us (not me particularly) from having a deep sleep, so after our doors were knocked at 5.30 am, Ron and Heather showed up with clear signs of being sleep deprived.

By our second day we realized that every trip will be more of the same: Lots of elephants, hippos resting in the water, baboons waiting for us in the park entrance, impalas everywhere and some new animals. Little by little the we were checking all the boxes with giraffes, buffalos, hyenas, wild dogs, lions (very cute cat when it is quietly resting by the side of the road, but I ask myself if it wasn’t drugged and placed in that strategic location so that everyone would be able to watch him, something that definitely would suspect if the park were located in the US!!). The only animal that we couldn’t cross from our list was the leopard, although we were able to see one of its prays, an impala killed a couple of hours ago that was hanging in a tree.


Another curious experience was our way back from the park to our lodge. The road, with many animals around, brought us a group of approximately 15 women carrying over her heads piles of wood that were twice their height. We crossed along with these women every noon and they didn’t seem to be scared at all from the elephants grazing a couple meters from them. Shady told us that time to time elephants attack people, specially bikers that get scared and from some reason the wheels make the elephants crazy and they start stepping over everything that moves. Another reason for not going running in the area!

The rest of the trip continued with the same rhythm, a little bit monotonous I would say. In our last night we had the opportunity to see the sunset over the Luangwa River (not a 100% clear sky, but fair enough). Our trip back to the airport brought us again the image of the people coming and going along the road. A little stop in a shop for local fabrics, everything has its price marked, so no bargaining this time ☹.

When we got to the airport we learnt why they recommend you to arrive there an hour in advance. It is neither because going through “security” will take you a lot nor because there will many people for checking (although checking in six people in our outbound flight took more than 25 minutes). Once we got our boarding card (not a printed boarding pass but just a card that we had to return 2 meters away from where we received it) we found out that our flight was leaving 45 minutes EARLIER than what was expected. Zambia keeps surprising us everyday!!

Team Awesome, Minus 1

It was a sad morning – as we waved goodbye to Beth we realized that our African adventure is soon coming to an end. Beth is heading up to Nairobi today to start her Kenyan biking adventure, while Ron, Fernando and I are heading to South Luangwa tomorrow for our safari. I was reading on-line yesterday that there are 50 hippos in every square kilometer of the Luangwa River, and since it is the rainy season this is the best time of the year to bird-watch. We promise to blog when we return, and hopefully upload a picture or two. The modem-only internet here is quite temperamental, which means downloading or uploading photos takes several hours, and uploading video is completely impossible. We promise to upload our photos when we return to the States, collectively we have accumulated quite a collection of them.

After seeing Beth off this morning, I dragged the boys to Kabwata Cultural Center to pick up souvenirs. The cultural center is set in a dirt field, with thatched roof huts housing wares that include teakwood tongs, marble sculptures, handmade bags and purses, earrings, and many other handicrafts. We were greeted by shouts of “madame, please come here… I give you good deal… First customer of the day.” We were quickly swarmed by all of the locals selling their wares and eager to “make us good deal.” I had plenty of practice negotiating as I picked up some souvenirs for friends and a few trinkets for myself. As I walked into the “womens’ tent” my heart went out to this group of women who had such an amazing assortment of ornate crafts and who encircled me to tell me what I should buy. I would have bought twice as much, if only I had enough room in my bag…

So now we’re back at home, enjoying the sun (finally, it hasn’t rained yet today!) and hoping for good weather on safari. Check back on Wednesday for our next update!

A Bittersweet Final Day

As we are reaching the end of our project, we decided to bid farewell to our client by taking them to dinner on Thursday. They recommended a German restaurant called Garret’s, which they promised was the best dining in Lusaka. When we got there, we were not disappointed with the selection of foods that they offered from traditional German fare of schnitzel to a few curries and various other options. We started with some bread and hummus (quite tasty, something we were all craving, and T promised us that they occasionally have it at Shop Rite but we have scoured high and low and have yet to see it). We enjoyed a relaxing dinner and then we proceeded to make the mistake of ordering dessert. Some advice to anyone traveling in Lusaka: DO NOT ORDER TIRAMISU. The tiramisu tasted like they either used spoiled cream, or sour cream. We think that they could use some advice from our Italian friends. But all in all, still a delicious meal and a great way to end the week!

So quickly Friday has arrived, we are amazed that it is already the end of our project! During lunch today we took a walk to one of the local villages where people turned to stop and stare, as Ron and were on the prowl for some tasty produce. A woman came up to us and shook our hands and said “I’m hungry, I’m hungry, please I want some rape” (which is a local green leafy vegetable, looks like kale, although we haven’t tried it yet) and it was selling for only 500K ($.10) so Ron gave her the money to which she graciously accepted and thanked us profusely. We continued our walk, walked by a school where we saw the kids dressed smartly in their green and yellow uniforms. There were a group of older girls walking behind us who kept saying “mzungu” and laughing, until we turned around and smiled and waved, to which they giggled even louder. As we returned back to the office (our conference room) I realized that this is the last time that we would smell roasting corn wafting from the kitchen around lunchtime or purchase our beloved mangoes and bananas from the lady at the stand down the street.

Our final presentation was received by a room full of nods and smiles. We’re hoping that we met their expectations; we definitely enjoyed the past 3 weeks and have learned so much about healthcare in Africa and the challenges with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. At dinner on Thursday, our client said that when the health clinic nearby first opened its doors a few years ago, people were being brought in wheelbarrows because they were too sick to walk. Today, the patients walk in and receive their medications; it is amazing what a difference the local organizations have made to the lives of the Zambian people. This whole experience has been eye-opening and we are grateful to have met such generous, kind people who have welcomed us to their country.

Lusaka in Pictures

Heather and Fernando outside of our house, #28 of no-name road in Lusaka.

A Team on a Mission

Last night, we were in search of the best pizza place in town. Since the inauguration coverage started at 7pm here, we initially decided that we would order our $5 pizza special from Debonair’s and enjoy watching from our living room couch, but read online that Debonair’s pizza is quite disappointing. Therefore, we decided to grab a quick dinner out (still had our hearts set on pizza though) and then head home to watch the coverage on tv. Since we were also running out of water at home and desperately needed a wine bottle opener (ok, some of us were more desperate than others, and tried to open the wine bottle with various dull knives in the house, but don’t worry, there were no injuries as a result), we decided to head to Arcades where we could stop by Spar, one of the large South African chain grocery stores in Lusaka. On our way there, our cab driver started talking about Obama and was asking us what we thought about him. It has been amazing to see how in Zambia (and we hear most of Africa) the citizens are so proud to see an African-American president of the US.

At Arcades, we had several dinner choices, including Rhapsody’s (where we have become frequent guests), The Ocean Basket (which Ron nixed, he’s not a seafood fan), Arabian Nights (a bit pricey) and the infamous Subway. We finally settled on an inexpensive Italian restaurant since they served a wide variety of pizzas. We ordered dinner and a basket of bread (for Ron, our anti-Atkins teammate). The server took our orders, and we were leisurely enjoying our glasses of wine and good conversation. (We have learned here that most everything runs on “Zambian time.” This means that a 9am meeting might start at 9:03, 9:33, or 11:33. There’s not much of a rush for anything, and the same goes for dinner.) So after “a while” our server returned and said, “We have a problem with the basket of bread. We do not have any bread” which caused us to immediately burst out laughing, for several reasons. #1: There is a grocery store at the other end of the strip mall, where I’m sure that they have ingredients such as flour and yeast. #2: Isn’t bread made out of the same ingredients as pizza dough? #3: We were the only people at the restaurant. Anyways, we finally received our pizzas (and Ron received his spaghetti Bolognese, in line with his anti-Atkins diet) and everything was quite delicious.

In other news, the rainy season is officially in full swing. It has literally rained here for the past 5 days. Now I know that all of you surviving the -50,000 degree temperatures and 12 feet of snow are thinking, “we have no pity, it is freakin’ cold here and we have been shoveling for the past 3 weeks” well, I don’t blame you for hating us. But you must also keep in mind that there are no “sidewalks” here, and so the ground becomes a muddy mess everywhere we go. I am amazed that people make it to work without ruining their suits. When we first arrived we were wondering why the locals carry umbrellas everywhere they go, and now we totally understand. We’re just hoping that it clears up before we leave for safari this weekend!

We have a car wash right outside of our workplace:

Here's the fruit stand that we stop by each day during our lunch break: