Zambia February 2012

My first 2012 trip was to Zambia in February where I stayed at the oh-so-colonial River Club - a hark back to the days when cucumber sandwiches were served on grassy lawns at teatime (they still are) and G&Ts were sipped on the terrace at any time (they still are). Rated as one of the top lodges in Zambia, it lines the banks of the great Zambezi River where crocodiles bask on sunny banks and hippos chortle and blow.
The sound of the mighty falls - Mosi-Oa-Tunya, ‘the smoke that thunders’ - roars continuously 18km downstream.
I did my own basking in a Victorian claw foot bath in Cornwallis Harris chalet that overlooks the swirling waters. Harris was a famous early 1880s explorer, hunter and painter who was the first to record the Sable antelope, one of which he shipped back to England to dazzle the public. At dawn Trumpeter hornbills bray, and a tumultuous dawn chorus of dozens of birds competes with the crashing waters of the Falls.

Then it was on to Wilderness Safaris’ Toko Leya Camp 12km downstream from one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
I stay in a safari tent overlooking the Zambezi with even more vocal hippos and their backing chorus of frogs and birds.
The river here is smooth and silky, but picks up momentum as boatman and bird expert Histen and I chug in our small boat towards the Falls. Now there are tumultuous patches of white water, eddies and swirls, as the river continues its long journey to the Indian ocean.
Hippos open their jaws in a fearsome territorial display, a malachite kingfisher watches us from a low overhanging branch, a flock of snowy white cattle egret begins to roost for the night as the sun dips beneath the watery horizon. The Vic Falls is preparing for night.
Later, after dinner, a Pel’s Fishing Owl screeches like a soul in torment, a baboon barks, a robin finishes its evening melody. Stars pierce the dark canopy of the sky, guinea fowls clatter softly to each other. The moon rises. Ah, Africa!
And if you want to get active, try any number of adventure activities from white water rafting, bungee jumping, abseiling and helicopter and micro light flips over the Falls, to tiger fishing and jet skiing.
www.theriverclubafrica.com
www.wilderness-safaris.com
And I’ve still to tell you about my visits to the lovely little Mpumalanga village of Wakkerstroom, Pilanesberg National Park and two gorgeous beach lodges in Mozambique…
 

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