Most of the canoe trips start
and end at Lake Kariba, so I made my way there and spent a night
in a rondawel at the shores of the lake. At night the hippos
would graze on the lawns - so I stayed indoors and read a book.
Next day we were off in a truck on our great adventure - it
began with crossing the Kafue River on a hand-drawn pont (ferry)
en route to Kiambi, our base camp.
After a hearty breakfast we climbed into our
canoes and headed for Kualefu (the 'Far-away Place') - 90
km's downstream. It was a 3 day trip along the shores of the
Lower Zambezi National Park A strong headwind during the first
few hours made my shoulders and arms protest, but after wonderful
lunch on the river bank under a shady tree and a quick massage
I was encouraged to carry on. Luckily the wind subsided and
it was easy going from then on.
Gently floating down the river we saw lots of
birds - just the thing for me! The Fish Eagle is the national
bird of Zambia and according to our guide, Dickson it calls
every hour from dawn to dusk. There is nothing quite like
sitting in the front of a canoe on a huge expanse of water
and watching the eagles swoop down to catch their dinner -
just a few meters away from us...
There were lots and lots elephants frolicking
in the water and the odd buck and buffalo came down to drink.
We even saw a lioness having a nap and of course we made a
wide berth around all those hippos. Once though a hippo surfaced
quite close to our canoe. I don't know who was more surprised,
but when the hippo gave a mock-charge we suddenly learnt that
canoes could do low-level flying too! The adrenaline rush
propelled us into some really quick paddling.
We had real washrooms at most campsites, but
on one occasion we where taken to a sand bank in the middle
of the river for a swim and bath. Morat and Dickson held onto
the boat and kept an eye out for crocs while the other guides,
Iton and Peter prepared a scrumptious dinner over the fire.
The best thing about this trip was the feeling
that we were the only people in this wonderful world of water
and wildlife. Saying good-bye to such a beautiful country
was not easy…
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