In the Land of Giants
On Monday, we flew to Changa Safari Camp located in Matusandona National Park. We left Harare in the afternoon and were told that we were chartering a 13-seat Cessna owned by an arms dealer who has obtained much of his wealth illegally: what could possibly go wrong? What was the cargo? Perhaps weapons in route to Syria, or ivory headed to China, we will never know. All it took to get on the plane was our hand-written name on a piece of notebook paper, no passports, no photo identification, no boarding passes, no paper trail-just the way we like to operate.
Our destination was a dirt runway on a small peninsula at the edge of Lake Kirba, the largest man-made lake in the world. The runway had been closed for the 3 days prior to our arrival because of a rain storm that had washed out the landing strip. We looked at each other excitedly as we skipped down the uneven runway, dodging rocks and other debris, before coming to a rest at lake’s edge. We tumbled out of the small plane and sprinted to an awaiting jeep before the lions could react to our innocuous presence.
This place is magical. In route to the Changa Safari Camp we were greeted by sprinting impalas, trumpeting elephants, and the haunting scream of African fish eagles. The bush camp is primitive elegance. Canvas-tent cabins are connected by zig-zagging plank boardwalks. Each bungalow is positioned in the bush, but steps from the lake, and has electricity, running water, flushing toilets, a shower and soaking tub, and views to die for. We checked in and were handed a whistle. This whistle is to be used in the case of a crises, anytime night or day.
After quickly unpacking, we were treated to a sunset game drive along the shores of Lake Kariba. We saw numerous elephants, hippos, and impalas. This place rivals the Garden of Eden. At sunset, our guide stopped the jeep near a herd of elephants and pulled a table out where we enjoyed a brief snack before heading back to camp for dinner.
The food at Changa has been delightful. Everything is fresh, local, and loaded with flavor. After Dinner, we went to bed. At around mid-night a powerful thunder, lightning, and wind storm roared through the camp. All of the windows on our hut were rolled up, so we enjoyed the show. We didn’t realize until about 5:00 a.m. that the door to our house had blown wide open. Camp security later told us that lions had been padding around our cabin during that same time. Fortunately, the lions don’t typically go into the huts because they find the quarters a bit too constricting.
Joseph, one of our campmates, had a rough night. A close encounter with a bull elephant left him skittish. He wore his whistle around his neck all night and slept with his lights on. The lizards scampering around his hut did little to comfort him. In the early hours of the morning, wrapped in blankets, he could take no more. He had accepted the time of his departure from this life and forcefully blew into his whistle with his last hope being that help would save him. Unfortunately, his whistle failed, and he was forced to tremble in the shadows of the long night. We have been enjoying Joseph’s animated retelling of last throughout day.
As a side note, in the excitement of de-boarding the plane and loading the jeep, Dad had missed placed his cell phone, my book, and both of our passports. Fortunately, all had been located by early morning, thanks to the camp managers.
In the morning, Malawi shandies in hand, we enjoyed a brilliant breakfast and left the camp by boat to fish for bream, tilapia, and tiger fish. We fished for several hours near a group of hippos. Our brave guide kept having to jump into the crocodile infested waters to retrieve our snagged fishing tackle from nearby bushes and snags. Nevertheless, we caught about 25 fish and plan to eat them tonight for dinner.
