South Luangwa

Chapter Fifteen

Zambia is the only country in Africa where I did not volunteer. I needed to get to Namibia and Zambia was the country I had to cross. I made the most of Zambia though; I did my only safari while in Africa and also experienced Victoria Falls.

Book Lodging in Advance for Lusaka

After spending three days on the Tazara train, I had intended to take a night of rest in Lusaka before heading to Chipata. I walked around Lusaka and couldn’t find any local guesthouses. I stopped and asked many people if they knew of any and they suggested that I book something online. Lusaka is a big city with hotels and hostels but you need to get pretty far in the outskirts to find the places where the locals sleep.

Bus to Chipata

Eventually I just gave up and decided to continue on to Chipata that same day.
I went to the bus stop and a man standing outside the gate asked where I was going. I told him and he lead me to a bus. I bought the ticket from a different man behind a podium, but the man that originally lead me there stuck around. He looked at my bag and told me I would have to pay him for the bag. I looked at the guy selling the ticket and he neither confirmed nor denied this. A Zambian riding the bus but clearly friends with them jumped into the conversation and said I should pay the guy that lead me to the podium, but I should pay a smaller amount than he was asking for. I explained that the bus was already very expensive, $18 so how could the bag fee not be included? They told me I would be paying for this side man to place my bag in the luggage area. I told them I could place it myself, which is exactly what I did.

Money Schemes

Afterwards I asked where the toilets were and the guy that lead me to the bus then volunteered to show me the toilet. When I returned to the bus and took my seat this same guy showed up asking for money. I refused to pay him and he started yelling at me. He originally asked for 5 Kwacha but now he was asking for 20. Finally, I agreed to give him five. I only had a ten on me. I asked him if he would give me five back and he agreed. The moment I handed him the ten he gave it to his buddy who then ran off the bus and the main guy blocked my way. I stood up and shoved my body into him in order to get to the friend running away with my money. The guy that I shoved laughed and somehow I ended up getting my change back.

I was so aggravated. I hate yelling and I’m never violent but these guys were trying to rob me. Later, I took the bus back from Chipata to Lusaka and the man that sold me the ticket explained not to listen to anyone that tries to charge you for a bag. They do not work for the company.

South Luangwa

When I reached Chipata I was able to find a guest house right inside the bus stop parking area. It cost $5 a night which was the best price I found in all of Zambia. A few days later I took a bus to South Luangwa. I was dropped off in the village outside the park and from there I took a short taxi drive to Marula Lodge.

As we were heading there the taxi driver pointed out baboons on the road and two elephants in the distance. My heart raced with excitement. I’d been in Africa for four months and this was my first time seeing elephants.

Safari through Marula Lodge

It was the slow season at Marula Lodge so there were only two of us in the dorm room. I stayed in the dorm for $10 a night. Each game drive was $40 and there was an additional fee of $25 for a 24 hour park entrance fee. Since I was already paying the park entrance fee, I decided to do a morning and a night game drive. This meant that I got eight hours in the park, and two nights of lodging for $125. Marula Lodge does a package where you can get all of your meals made for you for a reasonable price but they also have a kitchen that you have full access to, so I made my own meals and saved.

Besides seeing wildlife on the game drives, Marula Lodge is located right on the Luangwa river and Hippos come out of the river and walk around the lodge at night. If you’re going anywhere after dark you have to flag down a security guard and he will escort you. You don’t want to frighten a hippo and have it charge you!

There are swinging chairs and benches right by the river and lots of vervet monkeys like to hangout there. Baboons and impalas also roam the lodge grounds. I hadn’t gone on the safari yet and I had already seen so many wild animals.

That first night I was sitting in the dining room area with the other guests and the owners of the lodge when the owner sat up straight and alert, having heard something in the distance. He went to investigate and came back telling us a hippo tripped on a line fastening a tent awning. He then asked me if I wanted to see a hippo and I eagerly agreed. We snuck around a building and watched as six feet away a hippo was eating. These creatures are so enormous! Also the sound you hear them make from the river is hilarious. They sound like an old man cackling.

Day Safari

The next morning I woke up early to go on my sunrise safari. It was January 29th which just so happened to be my one year anniversary of travel! What a perfect way to celebrate. I was the only person at the lodge wanting a safari that day so I got the jeep to myself. I’m grateful that the owners of Marula Lodge still organized the game drives for just one person. My guide was extremely knowledgeable on the animals. I told him the animals that I wanted to see the most and he made sure that we found almost all of them. The only creature missing was a giraffe, but luckily I would see loads of them in Namibia.

I’ve made an ​Africa highlight video​ and the majority of the video is footage of these majestic creatures so you should definitely check that out. I was most excited to see the lions. Lions are the king of the jungle, something to be feared and respected. Well the lions we found were napping and couldn’t be bothered to wake up as the jeep parked near them-not very frightening. The Zebras were stunning. The Wild Dogs were smelly and slept after a night of hunting. I saw lots of elephants, peacefully eating and flapping their ears. We didn’t spot a leopard but it wasn’t one of the creatures I was particularly excited to see so I didn’t mind. Apparently they are the hardest creature to locate.

Night Safari

That evening I went on a night drive. During the first few hours I regretted paying $40 more for an additional drive. We just saw the same animals we saw during the day. If you want to do two drives you should do them at two different parks so you can see a range of different things. However, we soon came across a lioness stalking an impala. The jeep waited as she crept closer, eventually charging after him. The engine roared to life and we followed. The lioness ducked behind some bushes and when we got to the other side she was carrying the impala with a snapped neck. We then parked and watched as she devoured the creature. Typically this kind of thing would be hard for me to watch but it was pretty cool to watch nature taking its course. This was going to happen regardless of my being there and what a humbling experience to get to watch the circle of life.

Back to Lusaka

The next day I left Marula Lodge and spent another night at that $5 guest house in Chipata. From there I went to Lusaka and this time I was prepared. I had booked a bed in a dorm called John’s Place. It was $10 a night which was expensive for Africa but they did have fast and free wifi. Plus I was the only guest so I got the dorm room to myself. The next day I took a bus to Livingstone, on my way to see Victoria Falls.