As I left home and headed off to Zambia, I felt bad not being with my family on Thanksgiving Day, even though this is the year that my children all go to the other side of the family. I would not be able to spend the day with Bob, and knew it would just be another day of PB &J! Boy was I wrong, that isn’t even close to the day that I experienced today. Soon after I arrived Stephanie began talking about what we would do special before we left for home, she has been here since October 1 and so she in the countdown phase, I haven’t hit that yet, cause I just arrived. Well, she began with wanting to ride an elephant. Catherine had told her of a place where we could go to ride elephants. Oh boy, not sure I have ever had a desire to ride an elephant, but I am game for just about anything, so I told her to check it out. She went online and found out it was no longer available near Lusaka. She also checked on a few other places she found on the internet, but most were quite a distance from Lusaka. Humm….what should we do, we had both been to Chaminuka before, but it was a pleasurable experience each time and it is just over an hour away, not really that distance, but the last 25km are poor, poor dirt roads. So we travel very slowly.
As we sat and cut potholders on Wednesday, the sun had come out, and we were enjoying seeing something besides rain. We got to thinking, if we waited until the end of our trip (which is what we usually have done, it is supposed to be raining 24/7. We got out our schedule, the days that work best are Mondays and Thursdays, because that is when the counselors have other programs and don’t come to the GEMS Service Center. We are really are busy on weekends visiting clubs and worshipping. So….seeing the weather on my yahoo page said it was to be sunny on Thursday (today) we thought lets go on a day when it is to be nice weather. We checked with Siwali and he said it would be good for him to drive us. Steph called and inquired of prices and events, game drives, horseback game drives, boat cruises and it was just as expensive to do all three, as it was to do just a game drive and lunch. I wasn’t so sure about the horseback riding, but that was Stephs replacement for not being able to ride an elephant. I thought an elephant or a horse, I’ll take the horse, it has to have been 25 years or more since I was on a horse, but once again, I’m game for just about anything, so why not! We gave Siwali money for gas before he knocked off on Wednesday afternoon, (another long story about fuel shortages, sometimes early in the day there just isn’t any gas, and you get in lines at the fueling stations and wait.) We told him we would like to leave at 7 hours in the morning. I was concerned that after the recent rains the roads would be worse than before, but not so they were much better than our previous trips.
Oh boy, here goes nothing. I am praying this horse likes me and is very gentle! We are given helmets to wear??? Oh dear, why are helmets necessary? OK, you can do this, the guide helps me to mount and says “you are experienced, you have ridden before?” I say “Yes” with not much confidence. My horse is named Beauty! We stand and wait, for the guide to help Steph mount, and off we go. There are no saddle horns to hang on to, just hold the front of the saddle. Oh boy! Here goes nothing! As we are beginning, the guide asks questions, like where are you from and what brings you to Zambia. I share with him about GEMS and we ride on. He looks back and asks how I am doing, I reply “Fine.” Then he asks how I learned to ride horses. I explain that my brother has always had horses, but I am sure I haven’t been on a horse in maybe 25 years. He says I am doing well. Then he asks Steph the same questions. We ride on, very nice gentle horses and a great guide. We see many birds close up; we see more of the kudos and impalas, and monkeys. We ride for an hour before returning to the lodge. It was good, and I would do it again, really quiet and peaceful as you try to take in all of God’s beautiful creation.
Then we are served soft drinks with ice, and are told lunch will be at 13 hours. We are seated at a table for two, and smell the outdoor grilles preparing our feast. The food was simply delicious and we tried several new things, eggplant, fried and in a sauce, many different vegetables. There was a great pasta dish, potatoes, a rice dish, salads and our choices of meat were pork ribs, chicken and impala. The impala was very good, so tender and very tasty. There were desserts and multiple types of cheese from their very own cheese factory.
They were very gracious and served Siwali lunch also. He smiled at us as he filled his plate and headed to a private dining room with other Chaminuka staff.
After lunch we went for our boat cruise. Steph was slightly disappointed that we had not seen the elephants close up. She asked the guide if there was any chance we would see elephants on the boat cruise. He said he was sure we would, because it was a very warm day and they like to come to the lake and cool down at mid day! Hooray! She was beaming! We drive to the boat launch, and as we are driving up, I see the elephants across the lake, Steph squeals with delight. We motor across to be in the water, in our fiberglass boat. The guide brings us very close to where they are eating the trees at the water’s edge. Our guide is very cautious, he brings us quite close, but as soon as the elephants start to move, we back away. He tells us elephants are very good swimmers, and could swim the length of the lake without any problem. Then as the elephant continues to eat we move in closer and back away. We stop at a little island, but it is really a termite hill and we take pictures of us with the elephants in the back ground. Steph does her usual jumping theme. I just stand and pose, that is good for me, my feet firmly planted on the ground.
The elephant’s start their trek back along the water’s edge, we motor along and continue to take multiple photos. Soon, we are motoring around the lake and seeing lots of birds, and fowl that live in the area around the lake.
We return to the lodge and find Siwali napping, after his hearty lunch. He is excited at all we’ve seen. We begin our drive out the long Chaminuka driveway, as we are rounding one of the curves, there are the elephants again. We are very close, Steph asks Siwali to stop so we can get MORE pictures. Now we are really close. The elephants have keepers who walk with them all around the game area. This is because the elephants cause so much damage and are so destructive to the vegetation. The keepers only allow them to eat in certain areas, as they reach up with their trunks and just break off branches that are the size of my arm. Chew them up and grab another one. So here we are climbing out of the car, snapping pictures. The keeper says come over here, close and see the elephant. So we go really close and he takes our pictures and then I call to Siwali and ask him if he would like his picture with an elephant, he smiles and says “Oh, yes, Madam!” I take several snaps of him and the elephant. We climb into the car rejoicing at how good God is to give us this extra opportunity to see these magnificent creatures.
On the remainder of the drive out we see so many more animals, all of the different kinds of deer and antelope. Siwali just oohs and ahs, each time we see more. We also see a large black mamba snake; it is dead in the road. But Steph takes many more snaps of it for her brother Darrin.
What an amazing day! God allowed for us to enjoy. How we reveled in His creation, both the land and animals. The beautiful clear blue sky, gentle breeze and good food. This will be a Thanksgiving I will never forget!
1 comment:
Oh my goodness! Amazing!! I can't even imagine taking all that in in one day!! I'm sure you will remember this Thanksgiving Day forever!! I love following your journey. Take care of your hands!! Love ya!!
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