Waterberry to Kafunta Lodge

We had to leave Waterberry Lodge at 10:30am to get to Livingstone for our flight to Lusaka and on to Mfuwe, so we decided to get up for the 6:30am bird walk and very good it was too.  The first lodge had given us little booklets of birds and mammals in the area and Ian has become quite zealous in ticking them off.  He’s also very good at remembering them when it comes to identifying my photos, although, as I find birds particularly hard, I haven’t taken very many.  I decided not to take the camera on this occasion as the light levels would be low and the birds just silhouettes in trees - bit of a mistake really as there were quite a few ground feeders I could have photographed.

The flight to Lusaka was on the smallest plane we’ve ever been on, just 21 seats and a propeller job, so all our luggage was religiously weighed when we checked in.  We knew in advance of the 5kg each hand luggage limit so had practised at home the best way of getting all essential photographic and computer equipment in our bag.  By shoving several lenses into pockets and hanging a camera around my neck, we scraped in at 9.6kg.  We were the last to board and pleased to be as there were no overhead lockers; all bags being chucked in one cupboard at the back of the plane, and being last ours was on top.  We were worried about those behind us getting off first and our bag being buried under a weighty mound, but when we explained our concerns to the stewardess she kindly got our bag out first.

The wait at Lusaka was only about 1 ½ hours and this time the plane was considerably larger and there was no problem with the bag; I think Pro Flight tailor the plane to suit the bookings.  

Another advantage of the bigger plane was a 40 mins journey instead of the estimated 1hr 10mins so we got to Mfuwe earlier than expected.  A driver from Kafunta Lodge was waiting to meet us and in a rather battered old minibus drove us the 20kms to the lodge, half of the journey on a tarmac road and the remainder on dirt tracks.

But what a place!!!!!!!!!!!!

Situated overlooking the Luangwa River flood plain it is absolute paradise and our chalet was amazing.

Wood construction with thatched roof, the sleeping area was huge, the bathroom vast and on top of that we had an upstairs balcony open to the elements with a bed so we could sleep outside if we wanted.  Oh, and a deck with table/chairs and a swing hammock.

It was around 6ish when we arrived and the rest of the camp were out on afternoon safari, so we enjoyed a bit of a rest, drink and relax until dinner.  Whereas at Muchenje we’d all sat at one/two big tables, this is slightly more formal and each 6 in a truck are seated on one table with their driver/guide acting as table host.   It was nice to meet the people we were going to spend the next day with; veteran safari-ists Keith and Julie from Somerset and Marcus and Kristen from Switzerland both very interesting pairs.

It's considerably hotter here than it was in either Chobe or Livingstone and, for me, the sight of the waiters wearing black and white seems quite incongruous.  Dinner wasn’t particular to my taste but nevertheless it was beautifully cooked and presented.

Being situated in the National Park, the chance of wild animals walking into camp is very real and more so after dark so we had to be escorted to our chalet by an armed guard and we were given strict instructions not to leave it during the night; in an emergency we should blow a whistle.