Protea Lodge

After golf there was an opportunity to visit the Protea Safari Lodge. Located about 40 kms north of Lusaka, the lodge is surrounded by a small game park. Over coffee and a meal we watched a bushbuck and kudu graze while a couple of waterbucks lazed.

After lunch a short game drive took us to the lion enclosure where we stayed for a little while and watched as the lions did their stuff - principally just lying around in the bush.

Our journey then took us past some hartebeest and a few other deer varieties.

One lonely male elephant was also in the park....this once gentle elephant is now a touchy teenager and we needed to keep our distance.

The only other animal we saw on the drive was a lone tsessebe - and that was hidden away in the scrub. Couldn't see much at all, be he was there!

Back at the lodge at the end of the drive the female kudu was happily grazing on the grass and shrubs around the the dining area.

It was amazing to see this large and elegant member of the antelope family at close range.

What a day...and what a way to spend our last full day in Zambia.

Chobe - Game Park Experience

Another international border was crossed on our way to the game park at Chobe in Botswana. This time the border was a river, and we crossed in a speedboat. Trucks and cars had to cross by ferry - and the 100 or so semi-trailers lined up at the crossing point provided a guard of honour as we drove towards the river.

By 9.45 am we were on a boat cruise down the Chobe river, a tributary of the Zambesi. For the next three hours we spotted elephants, water buffalo, impala, hippopotamii, fish eagles, birds, crocodiles, as well as other birds of animals that approached the water.

Back to the resort for lunch, and then for the game drive in the afternoon.

Between the lodge and the land entrance to the park we had to stop and wait for a herd of elephants to cross the highway. There were no signs to warn us...but we did see them coming.

Once in the park we spotted warthogs (delightful looking creatures), impala, elephants, water buffalo, elephants, giraffe, elephants, blue crested roller birds, elephants, mongoose, elephants, kudu, elephants, sable antelope, elephants and some more elephants. We also spotted some more giraffes, a few monkeys, and a dung beetle happily working its way through the stuff left behind by the elephants. It was not the only thing picking through the piles of poop either.

Late in the afternoon about five safari vehicles converged on a lion and lioness. With tourists gawking and cameras clicking the lion was not especially amused, but didn't seem annoyed either. His attention was on the lioness. They had no privacy, and she sought escape. The lion was not going to let her out of his sight. He followed her, and the vehicles tried to follow them both. The animals won in the end, finding a spot further from the track where the vehicles would not go. We were unable to determine if the lion had his way with the female, or if she kept resisting his advances.

Whether the lion was satisfied or not we were. Our day at Chobe had been money well spent - and provided us with memories and images that are unforgettable.