DRIVING AND OVERNIGHT CAMPING SAFARI

When we entered the park, we had to give all our passports to the driver who had to check us in and we also had to be checked back out. This is to ensure no one gets left inside the park and everyone is accounted for. Once inside the park, no one is allowed to get out of vehicles except in the few designated spots, and even the vehicles have to stay on the marked roads. This is to ensure the park belongs to the animals and human interference is minimal. The driving safari was incredible immediately as we literally ran into a herd of elephants crossing the road right beside our jeep. We drove down by the river and there were elephants everywhere. There are approximately 50 000 elephants in the park and they come to the river about 2pm until dusk then head back inland up to 20 km overnight while the predators are out. The hippo and water buffalo patterns are similar while the cats sleep all day and come down to the river early morning and hunt in the evening. We were so privileged to view over 18 lions on our visit in the park, and at one point an entire pride crossed right in front of our jeep with cubs and all. It was breathtaking, and I did have a few moments of "what if" as a big one was looking me right in the eyes!!! After the game drive we were driven into our campsite which was a designated spot inside the park. The park has no fences so the animals are free to roam wherever they please. This was not very assuring as we all got into our tents for sleep that night! Before that we enjoyed a nice camp meal around a fire and looked up at the stars which were incredible due to the lack of artificial light anywhere within close proximity. When we finally did nervously get into our tents, (after a briefing on what to do if we hear or run into an animal while getting up to go to the "long drop") it was with fear and hesitation. We heard lions roaring and hippos deeply grunting as Jane and I huddled as close as we could to each other. In the middle of the night when we did have to go to the bathroom, we stood guard for each other and shined our lights in every direction and scuttled back into our tents as fast as we could!!! At 5am we got our wake up call and everyone was back in the open air jeeps by 6am. It was freezing cold as we toured around, and it didn't take long to spot more lions heading inland for cover from the blazing sun of the day. We had another incredible drive viewing every kind of wildlife you can imagine: zebras, 5 different kinds of antelope, water buffalo, elephants, crocodiles, lions, giraffes, warthogs, badgers, incredible birds ….. just fantastic. At 11 am we came back to camp to have lunch and pack up. I had an outdoor shower which was refreshing, and we drove back out of the park and back to the ferry. When we were going through the town on the way back to the ferry, our driver told us that the animals often wander into the town, and just last week a villager was killed by an elephant as he tried to walk through some brush after getting some groceries. Wow! We made the ferry ride and drive back to Jolly Boys and everyone was very worn out. We also had to prepare to leave at 4am for our long drive back up to Ndola. We were all in bed pretty early tonight.