At Ndungu, our bush camp-site, there was not another human being in sight or earshot. We set our tent on a 20-foot back overlooking a potential ow-bow lake beside the meandering Zambezi, Our nearest companions were a hippo family which wallowed and bellowed in a pool twenty yards away.
By day, we contemplated the rugged hills that rose sharply on the Zambian riverside opposite. A few thatched huts were the only indication of human presence. It was wonderful to sit quietly on an unspoiled patch of Africa with only wild animals for company.
At night, we slept fitfully on the hard ground as the nocturnal noises crescendoed around us. The hippo emerged to graze and the groaning of a lion drew so close that it seemed only metres for where our hearts pounded inside the flimsy tent. The consumptive cough of male impalas warned the master of a nearby herd that there was eager competition about. It is said that a male impala can service six hinds in a single night! Later, elephants came to drink. Their black hulks silhouetted against the moonlit water as they splashed contentedly from sandbank to sandbank.
From the book Freedom of the Skies
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Glimpses of the journey:
- Around the world
- Crossing the Atlantic
- Saint Louis, Senegal
- Bubaque, Guinea-Bissau
- Timbuktu, Mali
- Cottar’s Camp, Kenya
- Virungas National Park, Congo
- Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
- Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Lumbo, Mozambique
- Antananarivo Madagascar
- Adis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Misfat, Oman
- Jaipur, India
- Himalayas, Nepal
- Mae Hong Son, Thailand
- Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia
- Borobodur, Java, Indonesia
- Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya
- Gimbat, Australia
- Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands
- Hurricane in Apia, Western Samoa
- Anaa, Tuamotu, Polynesia
- Easter Island, Chile
- Crossing the Andes, Chile-Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
