Another trip to the park.

[OnlyMark]

Mrs M, bless her little cotton socks, had an idea.
I had been on the receiving end of some of her ideas over the years and I could see this one would fall on me to sort out. You see, she is the ideas person in our relationship whereas I am the one who gets lumped with it to follow through. She comes up with the thought and I end up making it into reality. She thinks, I do. It is up to me to make it come true.
This situation started in earnest with her idea of buying and doing up a house in Spain. Although an exaggeration, the impression I get is that it took her maybe six seconds to come with the thought and took me six years to get it done.

This latest idea began with me opening my big mouth and wondering why a lot of the people she worked with always seemed to be off on training courses for one thing and another and seemingly a lot of money being spent on "consultants" being flown in to just give a half day course on something I thought people should know anyway. Or a subject with a title that I couldn't work out what on earth it was supposed to be on about, e.g. "Coping with modular paradigm shifts", or, "Quality management processing".
I wondered aloud what courses people like the company drivers went on, or the cleaning staff etc, knowing full well they didn't. They did their jobs and that was it.

Her mind chewed on this for all of a nanosecond, as I'm convinced it is made up of quantum entangled particles, and came up with an idea. She had joined various threads, that of what little skill I might possess, a random thought of something she'd heard of but didn't know precisely what it was, the solution to getting various staff members involved who normally wouldn't be, and giving "added value" to their positions. Plus showing they were appreciated.
I'd have just given them extra time off or something, but she had a better idea.
It's like when our kids were little. My idea of fun for them was for us to go and kick a football around, have a picnic, build a den in the woods and so on. Hers was to buy an educational board game for rainy days. This is how we differed, yet were complimentary with each other.

Hence the "Defensive Driving: Theory and Practical" presentation was born. Mainly for the company drivers but any other staff who felt they needed it. Compulsory for the drivers, optional for anyone else.
It also included a free lunch (though, yes, no lunch is really free), which was a motivator, and on completion you get a certificate, presented by me (not exactly a motivator) which remains on your work file.
As many as wanted/needed could sit in on the classroom stuff for a couple of hours but then a maximum of three would be put in a car with me to do the practical stuff for the next couple of hours. Taking it in turn to drive while I harangued them for their pathetic dangerous actions whilst giving them the benefit of my extensive and exceptional experience and knowledge.
I hoped the second part would be like that but Mrs M said I couldn't shout at them nor be an arrogant smart-arse.
It rather cramped my style, but I put up with the restrictions for the sake of company harmony.

I have done so far one presentation and two practical sessions. Who knew Powerpoint was such a devilish computer programme for the uninitiated, non-office going person like me? In my working life I have spent at a maximum, five months doing office work.
I fear though, after I was informed of how many drivers/others have to or want to do this, that it will be an ongoing saga. Especially as there are outlying offices around the country to sort out as well. One of them is where Mrs M and I were recently and this gave me the opportunity to slip back to South Luangwa National Park.
The whole purpose of the previous paragraphs was just to lead you gently into, with a bit of luck, appreciating the following report and photos and risking life and limb to bring it to you.

We set off on a sunny day and passes though some typical African countryside -




The wet season has recently finished and the rivers and streams are just tidying up and transporting the last of the water, though many will remain and not dry up completely, but are getting lower –

[OnlyMark]

We had an overnight stop in a nonentity of a town on the way and eventually arrived at the park, or rather just outside it, mid-afternoon the following day.
We would only be there a couple of nights, as that is all we had time for over the weekend, but I decided to try a different place to stay than previously. The choice was somewhat limited but there are half a dozen places we could stay that were just outside the park boundary.
The question may be why stay outside rather than inside?
Mainly because we prefer to come and go as we please, we want to eat what we want, when we want and don't want to pay for the full board option, which is the usual thing for lodges inside. Few, if any, will do "room only" though I do admit those inside are plush and luxurious and are quite a unique experience.

The border is the river and even so, it can form little obstacle to some of the game which can drift over to the non-park side as they please.
Two such were these who we noticed on the way to the camp and were just mooching around nearby –




After checking in and then walking to our accommodation I noticed on the track some fresh elephant poop. Obviously they were around somewhere. When it is dark you are not allowed to walk in the camp without one of the guards for safety reasons –




A walk back to the bar and restaurant gave me the opportunity to take a couple of shots –










A view across to the edge of the park –

[OnlyMark]

Something smaller than the big game but in its way, no less interesting -




Still a nuisance, these are –




We relaxed as the sun went down -




The restaurant and bar –








We sat for some time by the river until it became dark and after a meal, retired for the night –

[OnlyMark]

You never get complete silence whilst it is dark, we could still hear the hippos in the river chatting to each other, making a noise like a deep throated laugh as though one of them had just told a particularly funny joke causing several more to burst out in appreciation, munching sounds from somewhere nearby, either an elephant or another hippo, insect calls and the scrabble of something small over the top of the tent fabric. Reptile or rodent, could be either.

As I opened the tent the next morning I spotted over the river someone else going for breakfast –




We entered the park, me hoping the car didn't have a dickyfit like it did last time, and went for a cruise around. As before, upon paying the entrance fee, I asked the man if there had been any sightings that morning. He told me of a couple of things but gave vague and confusing directions as to their rough location. I trusted to luck and a sense of direction to get me close at least and then see what happens.
A number of things were spotted on the drive round, many not being too bothered at all by us passing slowly by, though the hippos seemed to be enjoying a game of hide and seek –








A small family of elephants kept a close eye on us as they had a couple of youngsters –

[OnlyMark]

We had the windows down, which had the disadvantage of allowing the few tsetse flies we came across to gain access to my obviously sweet smell and I suffered over the day half a dozen bites. Unfortunately they are very persistent, little seems to be completely effective to dissuade them though there is advice regarding clothing colours and type of repellent and so forth, but it can be a bit of a lottery. They will bite through most clothing and though for example, jeans are advised, I know they will bite through them as well if they want. I don't think they have got the memo.

The worst thing is when you consistently get a bad reaction to them.
That'll be me.
Once in Uganda I had severely swollen arms and legs and had to take various medications for a week or so. This time I had just six bites (two body, two leg and two arm) but again, swelling and itching lasts until today after five days, but it is getting better. It is the only thing that I know of that gets a reaction from me.

The advantage of having the windows down is that you can smell things.
Once you have smelt a large dead body you can recognise it anywhere. Human like I have experience of, or otherwise as well.
You can't miss it, and we didn't.
I followed as best as I could the smell, turning this way and that until I could zero in on it after nearly half an hour.
Aha! What have we here, resting in the shade -




That'll be the source of the smell then –

[OnlyMark]

Over a period of time I gradually worked my way round the spot where they were resting, bellies no doubt full to bursting and panting away, too full to move after Elsa's equivalent of that after Christmas Dinner feeling –
















After quite a while we moved on to leave them to it.

[OnlyMark]

As expected though, most things we saw were just glimpsed for a few seconds or were that well hidden it wasn't worth trying to capture them on film. No matter also the thought that we didn't want to spend all our time looking through a camera lens. Some of the photos were taken with my proper camera, some with an iPad, so there is a variation in quality. I don't have a zoom lens either so anything too far away or too small wasn't snapped -








Our plan was to spend most of the morning there and then have a late lunch back at the camp and veg out around the pool. One good thing about the camp was that at 3.30pm they laid on tea and cake. We certainly had to be back for that anyway. I felt it was obligatory and would be rude to miss it, after they'd gone to all that trouble in any case.

Coming back over the river, out of the park, there is then a dry river bed for when the river floods. Spotted walking out of the park and in the direction of the camps. May even be part of the same family as before, but I don't think so. I didn't stop to ask them -






However, later in the afternoon at the camp, we had visitors –

[OnlyMark]

Another night was spent in the serenity, apart from those bloody primates causing a nuisance again and the next day I had to give my presentation and stuff back in the town. So we headed back home a day or so later.
In the town though I had an hour or so to myself and was driving around trying to find a decent restaurant for us to eat at that night. Failed miserably by the way, we ended up eating in the hotel, but nevertheless, I found some street food. Something that had been glaringly missing in my explorations. They just don't really do it. I didn't have my camera with me so you'll have to use your imagination.
Imagine a small hand cart carrying a metal sheet with a depression hammered into it. Underneath is a wood fire heating oil in the dip.

Cut potatoes are formed into chips (fries) and fried until done. These are then set to the side.
You can eat bags of varying sizes of these, prices ranging from two to five kwacha ($0.20 - $0.50).
But, the pièce de résistance is what I had, priced also at 5 Kwacha.
Two eggs are broken into a small plastic bag, like a small sandwich bag. A few chips are added. This is then all mixed up to form a chip omelette. The killer was then the plastic bag and its contents were placed in the hot oil for a few minutes and cooked long enough for the eggs to set.
Why on earth the bag didn't just melt I have no idea.
Plus, the chemicals from it being infused into the egg/chip mixture as it was fried are something I don't really want to know about.

After being done and the bag scraped away, it was served on a plate with some salt and a little cut raw white cabbage.
It tasted good and was filling, but I'm not going to make a habit of it for sure.

A quick glimpse of part of a street market on the way back –




See the buckets of sweet potatoes? They are $3.00 each for the whole bucket full. The ladies were quite happy we stopped and bought a bucket and were even more happy when I greeted them and said thank you and good bye in their own language. The baby played it cool though –




That's it for now.
I'll see what happens next.

[auntieannie]

this to accompany the OP.



you did see this, Mark, did you? fun report with beautiful pic as we're getting used to from you, Mark. Thank you!

[OnlyMark]

Fitting music Annie.

Zambia has just come to a standstill. It matters not that it is the U20 team, the plain fact is that they have just beaten Germany in the Under 20 football World Cup. They will progress now to the quarter finals where they will play France or Italy.
The adult team is the current African champions.
I was out shopping when I wondered why it was all quite on the roads. I found out when I nipped into the supermarket and found every single worker, plus all the customers, huddled around a television.

[shrjeff]

reminds me of when we were in china in 2001 and it was announced that beijing won the rights to host the olympics...

[Voy]

thanks Mark - and please keep up the trips, so we can enjoy the reports ( even if not always with a lovely music track supplied !)

[Scrubb]

Thanks, Mark - enjoyed very much, as always. We must get back to sub-saharan Africa. Maybe later this year!

[tzarine]

love the photos, mark

[sophie]

Great Pictures, Mark. May you go on to give many defensive driving seminars with such trips being the reward/bait!

[OnlyMark]

Funnily enough, I've got four more scheduled for the week after next.

Thanks all for your kind words.

[auntieannie]

yippie!

[slowcoach]

May 31, 2017 11:31:36 GMT 2 OnlyMark said:

Over a period of time I gradually worked my way round the spot where they were resting, bellies no doubt full to bursting and panting away, too full to move after Elsa's equivalent of that after Christmas Dinner feeling –





After quite a while we moved on to leave them to it.

How did you get this eye level close-up?