- Lagoons, Luxury and
Elephant Shaped Soap
- Fears, Feasts and Mud
Fights
- Insects, Sex and Sachets of
Gin
- On the Move, On the Stove
and On the Hunt
- Lie-ins,
Lounging Leopards and Laws of the Jungle
- Dung, Dust and a Midnight
Snack
- Wading, Wobbling
and Fond Farewells
- Candles, Crocs
and Customised Showers
- Picnics, Puppies and Crocodile Cookies
- Sausage Fruit, Socks and a Lifetime of Memories
Candles, Crocs and Customised Showers
After our farewell drinks of the night before, it was lovely to lie
in that morning, enjoying the sounds of the birds and monkeys in the
trees outside. After a final breakfast, we said goodbye to Keennan,
James and Catherine and headed off with Andy to drive to
Kuyenda. The
now usual herds of zebra, impala and puku lined our way and for the
first time we saw a large family of kudu twitching their satellite-dish
ears in alarm at our approach. We stopped for drinks and snacks by the
river and watched a heaving mass of hippos yawning and squabbling below
us. And after another short drive, the thatched rondavels of Kuyenda
were before us with Babette enthusiastically waving as we drove into
camp.
Andy introduced us all to Babette, a warm and elegant American and then
to Phil Berry, the very epitome of an English country gent. minus the
tweeds. Without further ado, Babette produced the inevitable facecloths
and cold drinks and then whisked us off to our new chalets. Kuyenda is
the most traditional of the four Bushcamps with paraffin lamps and
candles instead of electricity. And, although the loos flush and the
taps in the sink never fail to gush forth when required, a shower needs
to be pre-ordered to give Davey, the waterboy, time to get the water
heated to the requested temperature. And yet, this in itself is a kind
of luxury - rather reminiscent of getting your bath drawn by an
eighteenth-century maid in a Jane Austen novel! Since Davey is adept at
producing exactly the temperature you ask for (hot, tepid, medium - he
got it right every time!), a few minutes wait seem well spent to me.
That evening Phil took us on a drive to see the local lion pride as he
thought it was likely that they would be hunting that evening - clearly
Phil is a bit of a Dr. Doolittle in his spare time because he was spot
on! We drew up to a herd of bushbuck, Phil suddenly slammed on the
brakes. "There" he said, pointing into the undergrowth. "And there too,
look". I looked but couldn't see a thing, and then, completely out of
nowhere, two lionesses came hurtling out into view towards us and the
herd. One of them made an almighty leap and raked her claws across the
rump of one of the antelope which tried to race round and rejoin the
herd but the other lioness headed it back into the jaws of the first
which were ready and waiting. The buck struggled but the lioness had a
firm grip on its throat and by the time the other hunter joined in, it
was thank you and goodnight for the poor bushbuck. Wow!
No Attenborough documentary can possibly prepare you for the speed and
power of these animals but even so, I found myself wishing we could have
watched an action replay as the rest of the pride, led by a
magnificently-maned male, strolled across for supper. Phil edged the
vehicle closer until we were within a few metres of the animals and the
sounds of crunching and slurping filled the air. Suddenly another noise
disturbed us and, to everyone's' surprise, including the lions, an
enormous crocodile emerged open-mouthed from the undergrowth and waddled
his way towards the kill. You'd think a pack of lions could deal with
one croc, but this one was a monster and after several minutes hissing
and snapping the lions reluctantly let him take a share and retire to
the bush in peace. Even Phil was surprised at watching this encounter -
the nearest water is several kilometres away so heaven only knows where
the croc had come from in order to steal his supper!
By this time we were all feeling hungry ourselves so we left the lions
to their meal and headed back for our own. Tomorrow we were to go on an
all-day picnic in search of wild dogs - one of the rarest creatures in
the valley, but Phil knew where their den was hidden and promised to
take us to have a look. So, having pre-booked our shower-water and
carrying a lamp, we headed for the comforts of our chalets and a
dreamless sleep.
[continued...Picnics, Puppies and Crocodile Cookies]
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