Weeks 2 and 3 in Zambia :)

3 weeks of my African Adventure have passed and I am feeling so settled here J

So, what have I been up to? Lions, lions and more lions!

Week 2 we all went out to the Ngolide Lodge in Livingstone and had the most amazing Indian meal I think I’ve ever had. Yep, Indian in the middle of Livingstone! Big Indian community here and in fact, the whole LE site is owned by a lovely Indian family. After our fantastic meal, a few of us decided to go for a few drinkies in town – an experience! Lots of fun dancing in the newly nicknamed ‘Bingo Bongo’ club!

Spent lots of time getting to know the vollys and really get on well with them all. My address book is getting bigger, with new friends in Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Australia and Zambia!

Livingstone town itself is not huge, but there are some nice places to eat out and to have a drink. The ‘Shoprite’ store is a big supermarket and can get most things here. Although brand named things are quite pricey, local produce is reasonable. I cannot get my head round this currency though. Zambian Kwacha. About 5000ZMK = 1 USD! So we have so many notes floating round in our wallets thinking we are millionaires! Found a wad of 50 ZMK notes the other day…total added up to about 1 dollar 20 cents! Changing money is a bit of a mission with lots of forms to fill in but after about an hour – job done haha!!

Elephant Research is also one of my favourites which is where we go out on the back of a vehicle for a few hours with head researcher Jacqui and try and track down the elephants in the national park. No elephants yet as some have crosses to Zimbabwe and Botswana and our afternoons seemed to turn into a game drive along the Zambezi! Saw giraffe, zebra, waterbuck, wildebeest, impala, hippo, crocodiles and monitor lizard!

2nd weekend off and myself, and 3 others (Seb, Sabrina and Henni) went exploring the Victoria Falls from the Zambian side. Incredible once again and I even though I had seen it before from Zimbabwe, it was still absolutely mind blowing. We were able to get a lot closer from this side and walked over a bridge (getting soaked) which is about 250m along the front of the falls. Then we found a path that took us to the top edge of the falls, just before it drops off and we paddled our feet in the Zambezi as we sat on the big rocks in the sun for an hour. No crocs down there, but lots of little fish wanting a nibble!

Then we went to the curio market and got ourselves some bargains! I told myself I didn’t need any more artifacts to bring home, but that idea was soon out the window!

From the Falls, we crossed through to the Zambezi Sun Hotel for lunch and an afternoon of relaxation! Lunch and drinks probably about 15USD so not too bad. Then the clouds parted and out came the sun for a good couple of hours. 40+ degrees I rekon! So the only sensible thing to do seemed to have a cocktail to cool down!! The Hotel is lovely, with Zebra and Impala just wandering around the grounds!  Then it was back to base for dinner and a wander down to Thorntree Lodge for a beer watching the hippos at sunset.

Week 3 started again with lots of lion time J One of our 13 month olds made her first kill this week and sent us all running through the bush following them on a hunt – exciting stuff!

Quite a lot of time spent up at Dambwa Forest with the big guys which I love and Tswana is fast becoming a favourite of mine – not sure how Id get her back home though?!

Had news last week that V had been kicked in the face by another mare at home and had chipped her jaw bone! Bless her…but thankfully Dr. Lars was on the case with my roomie and the QPA girls looking after her for me – can’t thank them enough as I was feeling so guilty that Im on the other side of the world! Latest news is that she’s recovering really well J

Everything is very chilled here and ‘African Time’ is often slower than Portuguese time!

The food here is fantastic and I haven’t had a single meal twice. Our chefs are amazing and cater for fussy no meat, no beans me unbelievably!!

I’m going to Victoria Falls (where I was in September)  to do some work with the cubs over that side on the 19^th of Feb. Staying for 6 nights so needless to say I’m super excited to see them and everyone over there again.

For now, Im enjoying my day off sat in the garden watching Cara’s dogs attempt to take on the baboons…

Until next week J xx

Will try and add pics on here soon - net connection doesn't seem to like pictures!

Zambia Week 1

 19.01.2011

Yebo to all from Zambia!

Well after a one week, already so much to write about! This side is very different to Vic Falls, but amazing none the less. The people here are great and my Lion Manager Cara is awesome. After a quiet first week with the volunteers, we are now a fully stocked site and last night we had our first Zambian night out. Dinner with everyone at a gorgeous lodge in town then off for some drinks TIA style!

I landed on Tuesday morning (12 Jan) in sweltering heat to a very green Africa – a big change from the dry brown and yellow back in September. After a few adjustment days to the new site and routine, all is fantastic.

The site here is huge! I am staying in the staff section in a gorgeous thatch roofed cottage in the area they call ‘Bristol’. Have my own room with the bathroom and showers outside. Brushing your teeth outside at night and hearing the hippos nearby is pretty amazing. Not so much when you run into one…

We have 2 sets of walking ‘cubs’ here, the R’s (Rufiji, Rwanda and Ruma – 18mts old) and the 2 B’s (Bemba and Bisa ‘ 14mts old) and they are just gorgeous and Bemba is coming home with me in my case. Then out at the Dambwa site (release site for stage 2 which is enourmous) there are the 12 big lions. Subi and Nyika (breeding lionesses at 4 yrs old) then Toka and Zulu (BIG boys…) and then the lovely 8 girls (Temi, Tswana – who may also come home in my case – Rundi, Rusha, Kela, Kwandi, Loma and Leya) These girls are getting huge now – we cant go in with any of the 12 as they are preparing for stage 2 and plus just to say hi, they really would just flatten you when greeting you!

Last week, we spent an evening down at the Zambezi River (about a one minute walk away) watching out for hippos and crocodiles as the sun went down.

My first weekend off in Africa on Saturday and where did I go? – Victoria Falls! Had a brilliant weekend over that side with the old crew from September and the lions I walked with last time, including the 3 C’s who at 7 months old are going to be occupying a separate case for me to bring me. Hopefully going to be spending a bit of a longer stint over that side next month to do some work with those cubs and some research for the programme on those lions with their researcher, Wesley. It will be a bit quieter over there volunteer wise, but as I am a total cub hogger, lots of lion time for me J

As it’s the rainy season over here, lunch times (thankfully) are pretty wet for about an hour but apart from the first 2 days, we’ve managed to stay pretty dry! When the sun comes out it is stifling and in the 30+ degree temperatures.

I’m sure I have forgotten to write up so much, but will keep updating when I can!

Until next time, African Emski is signing off – SIYABANGENA!