To Zambia With Love: First Family Road Trip

We just got back from our first road trip as a family to the Kafue National Park. It’s about a 3 hour drive from Lusaka along a very straight road directly west. The drive was nostalgic for me as we listened to and sang along with Paul Simon’s Graceland which brought me back to Albright family road trips as a child. The farther we got from Lusaka the farther away the stress of court dates and police reports seemed. For me, it was a much needed break from worrying. For Markus, it was his first safari experience and he was not disappointed. Here is one of the conversations from our drive into the park:

Erin: Honey, what’s that big lump on the road up ahead?

Markus: I don’t know.

Erin: Oh, my God! It’s a huge lion.

Markus: What should I do?

Erin: Just wait, he’ll move eventually.

Hello, Mr. Lion. Thanks for sharing the road with us.

The lion did eventually move after taking his time stretching and slowly meandering off the road. We also came across a herd of elephants as we drove towards the lodge. The scenery was absolutely breath taking. It’s the rainy season here so everything is very green and lush looking. The plains are a blanket of long grasses, the trees are green with leaves, and the rivers are full. A very different view than what my mom and I experienced when we were in the South Luangwa Park in October at the end of the dry season. The Kafue park is huge. It’s the size of Belgium and home to an amazing number of species.

I just want to break out into Lion King songs when I look at this photo.

When we checked into the Mukambi Safari Lodge, we had a similar safety warning to the one they give at Flatdogs – watch out for hippos, lions, elephants, etc. After our encounter with the lion and elephants on the way in, you didn’t have to tell us twice to watch out. Our amazing tent (very loose definition of a tent in my opinion) was very romantic, although, some of the romance was lost with the 9-month old traveling with us. Although I’m getting really tired of mosquito nets, the way they had them hung looked like a gauzy canopy over the bed. There was also a bath on the deck which overlooked the river. Absolutely beautiful. We were sad that we missed seeing the lodge’s resident hippo, Basil. Apparently, in the winter months, he comes up from the river and lies in the lobby during the day and then goes back to the water at night. The staff set up a fence around him during the day so that he can be safely observed. Another one of those, “only in Africa” experiences that I’m sorry we missed.

Our "tent".

Isaac and I enjoying the view from the bath.

As I did with my mom at Flatdogs, Markus and I switched off on the activities so that one of us could stay back with Isaac. Although we did get to do a family sunset boat trip together along the Kafue river. If the boat trip had ended after the planned 1.5-2 hours, we would have been laughing. It’s good that Isaac quickly endeared himself to the other couples on the boat as he wasn’t a happy camper for the last half hour of the ride back to the lodge. Lesson learned – Isaac will not fall asleep anywhere but his bed at night.

My men.

Markus had some fantastic experiences on his safari drives. He also got to go fishing with a guide which was an experience to remember. Not often do you get to fish along side hippos and crocs. At the lodge, Isaac and Markus had a run in with some warthogs who live under the lodge. They were sitting on a swing by the river and the mama warthog and her three babies ran out from under lodge only to be confronted by Isaac and Markus on the swing. There was a tense one minute stare down in which Markus wasn’t sure what was going to happen before the warthogs high-tailed it out of there. They literally run away with their tails in the air – it’s quite funny.

The look on this guy's face says, "Don't mess with me", but it's a little difficult to take him seriously with a cute bird on his back.

I had some interesting safari experiences as well. I got to observe two crested cranes mating. This involved a lot of wing flapping and bobbing up and down. At first, the guide thought that the male had rejected the female. Then he noted that the male was making a call to the female to indicate that there was some food where he was at. The female came over and the male jumped her. Apparently, there are expectations that come with dinner even in the animal world. The second really memorable experience came on our night drive. We were driving through a field and our vehicle got stuck in the mud. With everyone pushing and after several failed attempts, we were finally able to push the car free. There were jokes all around – where were the elephants and water buffalos when you needed them to help push, glad the lions didn’t show up at that moment – we would have been easy pickings. With everyone covered in mud, it was a real bonding experience under the African night sky.

Cranes putting the moves on.

How do you like my bobbing?

Puku and water bucks

Kudu

Under African skies

On the drive back to Lusaka, I was dreading the return to the frustration and stress of arranging our final court date. Sometimes songs come on at the perfect moment. We were listening to one of Isaac’s children’s albums when a cover of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds started playing. It was a perfect message in that moment:

Rise up this mornin',
Smile with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Each by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', "This is my message to you-ou-ou: "
Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right! "

Bob Marley

In my heart of hearts, I know that everything will work out okay. I just have to be patient as we make our way towards the home stretch.