October 19, 2004

Well we finally made it to camp on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. We've been here for about a week now. It was quite an adventure just getting here.

As you know, we were in Lusaka for about 5 days while the staff made re supply and got folks fixed up with long term visas, etc. We kept busy playing pool at the Camp Eureka bar and going on game walks. I gave a couple of Zambian girls swimming lessons one afternoon and we risked life and limb erecting 30' tree stumps in a local zoo's Vervet monkey enclosure. We were building them a jungle gym. No monkeys in with us.

They fed us well and hot showers never felt so good. Eureka Camp is a small game park that has antelope (puku, waterback and elenol), 3 giraffes, and 6 zebras. So a game walk means going down to the waterhole around dusk with a Mosi (local beer) and catching the poor giraffe in an awkward position slurping down a few gulps of tadpole water. OK. So enough fun in the big city of Lusaka, the capitol of Zambia.

We set off for Nsumbu National Park Monday morning at 0230 AM. Good God! Yes. Took a taxi to the bustling (dodgy - translation rough and tumble) station. We were trying for good seats in the front but they were already taken when we boarded the bus at 0345. So all 15 of us made it to the back and took our seats amongst the mattresses and extra luggage pile in the aisleway. The seats were extremely narrow and after a 14 1/2 hour bus ride, we tumbled out into the dark right into the dirt streets of Mpulungu. We were greeted by the local inn keeper and we stumbled up and down the rocky road until we passed through a thatched fence and into a mango orchard. A thatched round daval (hat) with brown beer bottles imbedded into cement for light, was our home for the night. The hostel had cold showeres and flushing toilets, so we were all happy. After dinner of roasted beef/maybe more like goat, potatoes, a tomato/eggplant type of veggie and rowdy card game, we all collapsed.

The next morning arrangements were made for a captain, crew and the renting of a 40 foot plank fishing boat to take us west across the lake to a base camp on the lake shore in Nshumba N.P. Our boat was a bright canary yellow and after swimming over tires, fishing nets, rope, dock tie downs, we finally boarded our vessel. She had no boat house, no captains deck, no cover. So we lathered on the sun screen and settled in for the 5 hour tour. We perched like birds off the boat's outer ribbing structure and walked to be fed strawberry biscuits which are cookies. Our plank boat took on a great deal of H2O, so our crew member had to be diligent with his yellow bucket bailing. We grew pink from the sun and the locals burned the underbrush along the shores in preparation of the rainy season. We arrived at camp around 5pm and were greeted by our game officer, an M-16 over his shoulder and several guys employed by Green Force. They helped us unload and we jumped into calf-deep warm water. Our camp is fenced in by chest high bamboo fencing about 50 foot wide and 150 feet long. We have a thatched roof kitchen, a fire pit, wash stand on one end and the long drop with thatched roofs. With a wash up area at the other end. We are camped under 3 large spreading mahogony trees which are currently bare of leaves. Imagine a long dining table in the middle with hard benches. They hurt my bum. And tents lining the perimeter. We have a covered, low lying open sided hut to hang out in during peak hot hours. A beach lies below where we swim, play cricket, wash clothes, fetch water and spy hippos.

Camp life is simple and revolves around setting up traps, conducting butterfly catches, surveys, game viewing, drinks, and walking off transects counting game species. Conversation revolves around food, food and more food. We have only been here for a week and we already are having cravings. Our day starts around 0530 and we rotate jobs and times off for swimming in the lake in the croc free area. Yes folks. We have fresh water crocs in this area and the hippos snort and bark at us from the far sand pit when they come up for air.

All is well. The bugs bite but the mosquitoes are not bad. Getting a great tan and living the vegetarian life style. Sleeping deeply unless an elephant rumbles/trumpets in the middle of the night crashing down to the lakeshore.

Cheers,

Cindy & Leah

Below is a hand drawn map of camp:

click on image for larger view