Like Kelsi wrote yesterday, we had an amazing adventure at the game park, and the time passed way too quickly! The trip didn't have a promising start, however. Torrential rains hit our windshield as we drove from Lusaka to Kafue, and the four of us were not feeling too optimistic. Thankfully, when we rolled into camp, the rains allowed us a brief respite as we set up our tents. Better yet, the weather cleared up significantly that evening, and we had two beautiful days on Wednesday and Thursday to view the game.
Rain storms over the past two weeks led to tall grass, which was unfortunately an excellent camouflage for the animals we so desperately wanted to spot. Although the animals were few and far between, we saw everything that we had hoped to see: lions, elephants, zebras, warthogs, impalas and other antelopes, many monkeys and baboons, as well as glimpses of hippos and crocodiles. (The only thing missing was giraffes; we learned that they don't live in Kafue because of the lack of acacia trees.)
The beautiful baobab tree. And who knows how many animals are hidden in that grass? :)
Three years ago, my sister Erika taught English here as well, and she also went with Susan to Kafue. Thankfully, our trip was a little less eventful than theirs...their car got stuck on a muddy road while they were on a game drive, and they weren't discovered until the next morning. (Read her blog post about the event here: http://laetezambianadventure.blogspot.com/2012/05/camping-in-kafue-wild-dogs-lions-and-19.html)They spent nineteen hours in lion territory, but they lived to tell the tale. As much as Kelsi begged to be stranded (mostly jokingly), Susan was very cautious not to drive anywhere too rough this time around.
Believe it or not, the road leading to our campsite was by far the worst we encountered. Susan expressed her concern about getting stuck to one of the workers, and he happened to be one of the people who found Susan, Erika, and the other two girls after nineteen hours in the mud three years prior. We had a good laugh about that, and then he expressed his faith in Susan that she would make it through the muddy gulleys just fine. (Which we did - although we had some close calls!)
Wednesday was our most exciting day. After a couple of hours and some elephant and zebra sightings, we saw three animals walking our way on the dirt road. We assumed they were monkeys or impalas - the animals we sighted most often. All of a sudden Kelsi cried, "Those are lions!" We frantically shushed each other as we rolled forward cautiously and confirmed Kelsi's declaration. Three female lions were walking along the road! We followed for them as long as we could, inching closer and closer until they disappeared for good into the thick grass.
Not a great picture, but you can see the three lions if you look closely!
As we continued our drive, we were still gushing about how happy we were that we got to see lions when I did a double take. "Lion!" We abruptly put the car into reverse as I pointed excitedly to the lion perched in a tree. Although leopards love sitting in the branches, it is really unusual for lions to do the same. (I think that God sent the lion up there as a small gift for us since the grass was too high to see the lion otherwise. :) ) Upon closer inspection with Sue's binoculars, we realized that the lion had three small cubs with her! We watched the mom balance awkwardly on the too-small branch as her babies crawled around or straddled the branches for a cat nap. It felt surreal to be a stone's throw away from the majestic creatures, and we were extremely fortunate to see them!
We also had an encounter with a large bull elephant on Wednesday morning. As we drove up to him, we all rolled down our windows and started to take pictures. All of a sudden, though, the elephant started waving his ears and aggressively approaching us. Susan quickly put the car into reverse and gave the elephant his distance; elephants can be dangerous if they feel threatened! We backed up for at least a half mile with Mr. Elephant following the whole way. Finally he stopped trying to intimidate us and went off the road. We quickly drove past him, happy that we "won" the battle against the elephant.
What a bully!
One of the nicer elephants.
Kelsi and I had a blast camping with Molly and Susan this week. Besides getting to see the animals, we had a lot of fun talking by the fire, playing cards, looking at the stars, and roasting marshmallows. The trip brought back great memories for both of us of sleeping in tents and summer nights.
Our former selves never dreamed that we would have seen the animals we saw this week outside of a zoo. We are so grateful for the experience, and our memories of the past few days will last a lifetime!
God's blessings and good night!
P.S. We are over halfway done with our time in Africa....how is that possible??
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