Sometimes I hesitate to really call these newsletters as it tends to just be an image based re-cap of the month. Anything newsworthy for sure is always included I suppose though. Mostly we just try to show what the month at the lodge has looked like through pictures and a few words. Apart from the obviously super late ones (like last month!) we do try to keep it pretty up to date. Personally if I go onto a website of a person or organisation and see that they have a ‘blog’ section then I generally always click on it. If it hasn’t been updated for a month or two then I assume they are really busy or possibly even contract it out but for whatever reason things are a bit behind. But if I see that it hasn’t been touched for over a year or so then I have to really wonder what is going on.
So with that said let us jump straight into April.
Clear skies and a new moon at the beginning of the month give us an incentive to get out for some astro photography. The most surprising thing though was that the camera was picking up the glow from extremely distant bush fires. At the beginning of April! This just shows how dry conditions really are.
Our old series III (AKA the Mpamba rock bus – as that is all that it does!) saw plenty action. Including a terrifying warp speed drive with Julia and Lynda. Well actually it was probably about 20km/hr.
Warp speed with the landrover ladies.
And then of course the inevitable happened. Just as we approached the Easter weekend the weather changed dramatically. Big rain clouds started gathering… after about 6 weeks or so with no rains. It was more than welcome, but far too late for local farmers.
Old landy in the rain
For some reason we went through a spell of seeing tortoises constantly. The drive up to the rock with the land rover ladies (to drop off the vehicle and cooler box for guests on a walk) netted two:
Why did the tortoise cross the road?
To get to his pal on the other side?
We also had some beautiful game drives through the month. The grass continues of course to be very very high but at least for elephant spotting its not an issue!
The Kafue head shake….
Beautiful male waterbuck
The impalas being in rutting season makes for some very nice sightings. Its really fascinating to watch the herds and the older males trying to dominate them and chase of the younger males.
Young male impala. Interesting to note the damage/wear to the tips of his horns.
We also came across a terrapin very far from water but moving very purposefully to a large pool on shishamba loop.
And the ever appealing banded mongoose.
As the Easter weekend neared we were watching the weather forecast closely! On the morning of Good Friday we decided to hedge our bets and out came the old emergency “big group/wedding party/full house in the rains” tent fly sheet. As you can see it was probably a wise decision:
Party time….
Fortunately the skies cleared that evening and for the rest of the holiday weekend we were lucky. This picture shows it clearly – we were surrounded by storms but none actually got us.
Last of the rains?
Easter itself was a big success. Mostly repeat guests in camp and Julia’s egg decorating and hunting (and eating) was enjoyed by everyone.
Royce with one of the dozens and dozens of coloured eggs.
Julia spent literally hours with some of the visiting children painting eggs and hanging them. In fact repeat guests who were with us before Easter (but had been with us at Easter last year) had emailed to ask if egg painting was an option even before Easter. The answer of course was yes.
So we leave you there. We were also updating a lot of guest information material – basically all the folders that we put in every tent which tells guests everything they could possibly need to know during their stay (well, almost everything…). One of the information panels in the brochure contains guidance on tipping. We decided to illustrate the information with a picture of Joel and Victor. Partly inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark (sans the face melting Nazis) and partly by the mysterious briefcase belonging to Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction.
Raiders of the Lost Tip Box?