Close Encounters with Wild Africa Mid April

We are finally back on the blogsite! After moving into town last month, our internet connection has been a bit slower than what it was when we lived a half hour away from town. Anyway, it seems like I may be able to start updating our blog today.

This takes us back to mid-April when we drove the almost 5 hours to Lusaka (capital of Zambia) during the mid-term break at Central Africa Baptist College. We stayed at a nice place that also has a game preserve offering safari drives in order to see the wild animals. We did go on the game drive, but discovered that April is not the best time to do so. The grass is so abundant that the animals do not have to congregate near watersources in order to find food. And the grass is so tall that the animals very effectively hide from view. We did see a few animals on our drive.

The kids enjoyed the playground and we were able to watch some wild animals which made themselves at home on the manicured lawns. The kids actually were able to get close enough to touch one eland. John had previously encountered it, so we knew it was tame. After a little while with the kids, the eland calmly protested and its head met Joshua and pushed him backwards onto the ground. Joshua did not suffer any injuries and the eland continued grazing on the grass.

We had a close and friendly encounter with an elephant. John and the kids all got to sit on it when it was brought near the lodging area! When we were on our game drive, we met up with the same elephant and we were able to feed it. The kids enjoyed putting pellets into the elephant's trunk.

We also had a close encounter with a rock python. Two rock pythons live in a snake pit. With the help of staff, we were allowed to touch and even hold one of these reptiles. Caleb was our only brave child who held it. The other two did touch, but then kept their distance. Sophie and John also held the python. A group of Zambian guests at the lodge were less keen on handling the snake. We were humored when several of them (including grown men) screamed and ran across the parking lot.

We saw a monitor lizard in a swampy area just off the roadway on our way into Lusaka town one day. It is in the center of the picture. We were able to do some shopping in Lusaka where goods are cheaper than in Kitwe. We even found small packages of M&Ms for just over 50 cents a bag! They were our treasure from the trip.