As
it turned out, my midnight elephant experience had been shared by
Reuben and Clare who were equally excited by the night's events. The
mangled tree lay between our cabins, completely demolished with huge
strips of bark and wood hanging off at all angles. According to
Catherine, we had been almost certainly been visited by Big John who
is a frequent visitor to Bilimungwe and who had given us an awesome
demonstration of strength and power.
Our morning walk took
us back to the river again, a little further upstream this time. As
the river was so shallow and the water shone clearly on the sandy
bed, Keennan judged it safe enough to take off our shoes and wade
across. Even at 7.30am the sun was hot and the paddle came as a
welcome, refreshing change. In the distance a couple of elephants
were enjoying their morning bath as we followed Keennan across to
the far bank where James (who had gone on ahead) stood guard whilst
we dried our feet. All of a sudden, something whipped out of the
side of the bank and sped off across the river. Keennan launched
himself full-length into the water and came up spluttering, laughing
and clutching what appeared to be a small crocodile. Closer
inspection (plus Keennan informing us!) revealed that it was, in
fact, a huge monitor lizard, over 4 foot long with a magnificent
spiky tail which kept trying to lash itself around Keennan's hand.
As it calmed down we were able to look at it more closely and take
pictures before Keennan gently lowered his hands into the water and
allowed it to head off downstream.
After that bit of
excitement the walk continued more peacefully. We took it in turns
to 'guess the animal' from the signs that Keennan pointed out to us
and I was very proud when I identified zebra tracks and two of them
promptly appeared from the other side of the plain! As we turned for
home, Keennan took us past a patch of quicksand. I was expecting to
see a heaving, evil-smelling swamp like in a horror movie, but in
fact it looked like ordinary earth that just wobbled when you put
your foot on it. Keennan, James and Andy had had to use a vehicle to
haul a fully-grown giraffe out the week before and I was glad to be
following a guide rather than wandering around on my own.
When we returned to
camp, Andy had arrived to bring Catherine some supplies and to see
how we were. He was duly impressed by our close leopard encounter
and last night's meeting with Big John and tried (unsuccessfully)
not to laugh when Shana and I dragged him off to demonstrate our
dung-identifying skills!
This was to be our last
evening with Keennan and James and it felt as if we were losing old
friends. They had been the perfect guides and hosts - friendly,
informative, amusing and totally rock-solid in their care and
attention to us all. Over a delicious casserole, we raised a series
of toasts to them both - toasts that got less serious the more we
drank. Our transfer to Kuyenda was by vehicle, leaving at 11
tomorrow so we stayed up until the small hours drinking beers,
swapping stories, watching the stars and listening to the leopards
coughing in the distance. It felt like the end of our holiday and
yet, in some ways, the real adventure was still to come as we moved
to Kuyenda, to Phil Berry, one of the greatest guides in Southern
Africa, and to the final stage of our Luangwa Encounter.
.
