Kafue National Park
Day 6, 7 & 8 - 15th – 17th June
2019
Initially the road from Mongu to Kaoma was good but
deteriorated drastically. The potholes
were so bad that every opportunity you got to drive on dirt next to the tar was
taken. Seven hours to do 330 km’s –
welcome to Africa…… The last section through
the Kafue National Park was great, delivering the biggest herd of Roan Antelope
we’d ever seen, Puku, Impala and a number of warthogs.
We would not have made Kasabushi (a Lodge in the park) by
nightfall, so we stuck to Plan A and spent a night at Roy’s Camp, just over
Hook Bridge, on a game management area on the banks of the Kafue River.
We had heard so much about what a nuisance the Tsetse flies
were in the Kafue area, but were pleasantly surprised that there was not a fly
in the camp. The night skies brought lion roars and hippo
shenanigans echoing across the water all night – really exciting! The next morning, Mark, the camp manager,
told us that the lion had come through the camp in the very early hours. We were also told that the Tsetse flies liked
certain trees, but there were none of those on this side of the river.
Upon entering the Kafue National Park on the opposite side
of the river, it was “Welcome to Tsetse fly country”. Our
treat on route to Kasabushi Lodge was a White-Headed Vulture. At the entrance to the Lodge, there is a
spray can of Doom which you need to spray your car with before entering the
grounds. This, while been eaten alive by
the Tsetse flies 😊.
Kasabushi is really a special place in the Kafue – its name
meaning “Otter” in the local language.
Andy and Libby, the owners, were extremely hospitable and Boyd, who
helped in the campsite, had prepared a feast of a fire just waiting to be lit
at our campsite. We spent the afternoon at the Round House,
looking for otters and the elusive Pels Owl, but to no avail.
Above is the view from our campsite at Kasabushi. Peter couldn't wait to throw a line, and was rewarded with two bream.
We don’t realise how spoilt we are by having the likes of
Umfolozi Game Reserve up the road from where we live, and the Kruger National
Park. Both, for us, have always
delivered great sightings and we were expecting the same of the Kafue National
Park. Game in the Kafue was scarce, and
that that there was, was very skittish. On the second day in the Park we saw elephant,
warthogs, puku, impala, kudu. We were
also disappointed with the lack of birds – the few that we saw were so skittish
we didn’t have a chance to identify them.
After our game drive Peter and I spent the afternoon at the
Round House where we were held hostage by two elephants not even 10 metres away
for an hour and a half. Peter
immediately grabbed his camera when they arrived, but I threatened him with his
life if he took a photo of the ellie – all we needed was the click of a camera
to bring them charging down on us!
Day 9 – 19th June 2019
We left Kasabushi at 06h30 as it only gets light at around
that time. Our next stop was Forest Inn
on the road to Mkushi and we only arrived there at 18h00. A long, long day on the road. We did stop at Fig Tree Café for an hour for “lunch”
at 15h00. We’re bushed from the long
day, and are now going to bed.
Next stop is Mutinondo Wilderness Camp.
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