- Magic is a Real Thing
- Kakuli, The White Buffalo
- A
Midnight Maestro
- This Land of Dreams
- The Big Picture
Magic is a Real Thing
Since I was a boy, I have always had a fantasy that magic is a real
thing.
Not man magic like that of illusion used by circus entertainers or the
media, but a tangible magic, a natural magic. World magic.
 My
magic has always blossomed with the rising of the sun and moon, it
whistles with the wind and thunders with the skies.
My magic maintains the balance of harmony, the harmony so necessary in
the survival of our world.
The magic I talk of is ancient. It is sacred and it is pure. Now, I am
content. For I have found that magic.
I have found a place so seeped in magic that I fear for sanity once I
return to my concrete world of highways and skyscrapers. I fear I have
caught a disease. A contagious disease…..A disease so common it is
almost epidemic.
I have caught the disease that is Africa. Wild savage Africa. I find my
magic in North Eastern Zambia, in a place called Luangwa Valley.
I embarked upon a trip so authentic that I never dreamed of the
fantastic sense of peace that would follow me as I travel. I wanted a
safari. I wanted to see a lion hunt and hear his roar echo across the
sky. I wanted to know what makes him king of the jungle and why his name
seeps into so much legend and folklore. I wanted an Elephant without a
trainer, a giraffe without a cage, a buffalo without a mount. I wanted a
taste of Africa……………..And Zambia gave it to me!
Last year I met Andy on a small stall representing Zambia at the World
travel market in London.
Andy owns a series of bush camps along the southern edge of the Luangwa
River in the Luangwa National Park. Called appropriately “The Bush Camp
Company”, Andy offers the African explorer a taste of exclusive Africa.
His four camps are designed to accommodate every individual taste and
the reason I allowed myself to sign up was not only the fame of the
Luangwa Park, but also Andy’s assurance that each camp I stayed in would
offer me a complete different experience. The idea of a unique Safari
had me hooked and as I sit here now I can only describe my mood as
elated.
 Currently
I am sprawled across the decking of my chalet at Chindeni camp. It is
early morning and as I write this and the only companions I have are a
troop of yellow Baboons coming down from the safety of a night in the
trees and a myriad of birds chorusing the new dawn.
The camp is spectacular. Sited on the apex of an ox bow lagoon, shaded
by ancient ebony trees and framed by a range of hills known as the
“Chindeni Hills” this place can only be described as holy.
The sun is slowly rising over the rugged line of the hills and the
lagoon is reflecting that unique vibrant orange color endemic to both
African sunrise and sunset. The air is crisply cool and the beauty of
this morning truly inspiring. Elation is definitely the mood of the day!
The ebony trees standing so proud above me have stood here for close to
a thousand years and I am awed to think of how many countless sunrises
they have witnessed over this picture. Gnarled branches reach out across
the water as if grasping at the new sun, reaching for the life that
sustains them. Where once the mighty Luangwa river flowed so many years
ago the ox bow lagoon really finishes the portrait that makes this site
as old as the Chindeni hills that frame it.
[continued...Kakuli, The White
Buffalo] |
