Kapishya Hot Springs and Shiwa Ngandu

In the words of Confucious (I Think) 'Every great journey starts with one small step'.This long weekend started with a massive long drive up the Great North Road further into the northern wilderness than any of us had ever been...As you can imagine we felt like stretching our legs when we got there.This is Molly and Heather at the start of our little walk to a waterfall nearby the Lodge at Kapishya.

First rule of Bushcraft, wear a sensible hat and look like you know where you are going.

This is actually on the way home, we never found the waterfall and like Livingstone looking for the source of the Nile we were probably never anywhere near it!


Luckily the hot springs were only a few paces away from our chalet so we found them without any bother.

Molly reading a steamy novel in a fascinating natural bath tub.

Apparantly there are monkeys in Japan that spend all winter in some similar hot springs, I don't blame them.

Breakfast on a coal powered oven, was cooked at a leisurely pace.

..and as we waited for the bacon we could drink cups of coffee by the river.

This is the misty river seen from the balcony of our chalet in the early morning.

Shiwa Ngandu is an old house built by an eccentric Englishman in the twenties. It is still haunted by 2 fashion models who are often spotted by the crumbling arch.

Molly and Lawrence on the lawn outside the house. The guide started with the Chapel, Molly thought he said champagne and got very excited!

After such a lush long weekend Molly and Lawrence just had to jump and skip all the way back down to the car and then sit in it for 10 hours to get home.

Morning Glory

We have taken to uncharacteristic early morning strolls to catch the gorgeous sun rises on the farm.

Many towns in Zambia seem to be inspired by the wild west. This is Serenje where some girl scouts were on the march.

The next morning found us in a tree hide, 18 metres up a mahogany tree in Kasanka National Park. Molly was scared of the rickety ladder but she scampered up after hearing some animal rustling in a nearby bush.

Kasanka is famous for bats, elephants, hippos... but most were dressed as puku on the day we went- these lovely looking bambis

We did catch a fat croc having a morning yawn

Marley, our cool guide, let us play with his gun.

Shortly afterwards we braved the bureaucratic jungle of getting married- this is the registry office. Behind the nice lady is a photo of a huge naked white woman on all fours.

Lions, Lawrence and lolling about

Wintertime in Zambia means a trip to the zoo for Molly and Lawrence, which is a bit daft in the land of safaris. But they have a very nice botanical garden for us to pose in...

We saw a warthog doing what warthogs do best?

This monkey is crying out for a spank

And a hungry lioness savaging a bit of something/someone

We checked out ‘Lilyai Lodge’ near Lusaka which is beautiful- we had a coffee and fantasised about being able to afford to stay here.

Then we went to our own farm ‘swimming pool’ on a lazy Sunday afternoon
And got another amazing sunset to finish off a pretty good weekend (except for England NOT winning against USA...)

Larking about the Farm

Hello again...have you noticed that we seem to have quite a lot of time to do this Blog? Zambia certainly allows one time for reflection/navel gazing!
More adventures to report on the farm- we have a resident owl, despite Lawrence’s heroic attempts with netting in the garage. We have found a hammock – twinned with the afternoon ritual of rose wine, Molly thinks she might have African sleeping sickness...

But then she thinks she might have Bilharzia, as we brave the lake now and again. We have taken to bringing children with us, so in the case of a croc attack, we might not be the first to go.

Whilst in the lake last weekend a small boy on the opposite bank serenaded us with some amazing moves whilst his mum went fishing with a mosquito net.

Evening sunset walks are out of this world, the only stress being trying to find the dogs as they disappear into the wild bush, returning with a proud look, but no plunder. How do you teach a dog to ‘heel’? or even to respond to their name? Answers on a postcard please...

Siavonga and the Kariba Dam

Lawrence, Molly and Raj travelled to the largest manmade dam in the world when it was made in 1960- others have since eclipsed it but who cares? We stayed in Herman the German's lodge

Where they had some lovely sunsets and such high waters that you could never be sure a croc was not lurking right by your chalet door....

We gatecrashed the 50th anniversary bash for the creation of the dam- these ex pats celebrate like it's 1955... along with various Chiefs and deputy ministers who made speeches dotted with enthusiastic yells of Hail Jehovah!

Then Lawrence decided things on the blog needed some artistic expertise- starting with doctoring the photos of fireworks from above party- these were let off about 3 feet from where we were eating on the night, so the idea of fireworks exploding all over moll's face is not actually so surreal...

This one is dedicated to Miss Anna Brech...

'Sleepy Hollow' eat your heart out- Southern Province where we were is Baobab tree land
We went to a crocodile farm where even one this size can eat your arm off- such skill!

But Lawrence felt manly enough to brave out the croc infested cafe down the road...do you think he looks a tad uncomfortable..?

Peering over the dam wall- 80 ft drop with 3 massive dam gates gushing water from a mighty river...

Like this...

and this

On the way home we bought matching dog baskets to appease the abandoned dogs. This is a rare shot of Gwapo when he is not attempting to mount the neighbour's dog.

Winter is about to set in here in Zambia- freezing cold nights but clear blue skies during the day. So enjoy summertime back in UK, folks!