Lord of the Flies

Kafue National Park
Zambia
March 26th, 2009

Our next destination was Kafue, a National Park about 150kms from Victoria Falls. Following our trusted Tracks 4 Africa GPS, we made steady progress on potholed roads which then lead us to a very remote dirt road. We kept checking our route as this particular path was single lane and passed small village after small village. Yep, we were right on track. Steadily steaming along at about 20kms an hour we loved seeing what normal life would be for a rural Zambian. Small huts dotted the roadside along with cyclists. We saw a man riding his bicycle with a live chicken under his arm ready for dinner. We saw a young man with a homemade wooden guitar strumming along with his mates. And we saw loads of children running and playing eager to wave to us. Brilliant.

Time ticked on and we had to set up camp. Judging by the amount of traffic we encountered (none) we pitched the tent right on the road. Hearing the nearby villagers chatting along we wondered if we would have an audience. Inside the tent we planned our escape- waking up at five and packing up just before sunrise. Satisfied with our plans we settled in to reading our books. About half an hour later we heard two bicycles coming down the path. Looking at each other listening and unsure about what to do, we heard the bicycles stop suddenly and the two men chatting animatedly to each other most likely about their near miss of running straight into the back of the vehicle.

The next morning we followed our plan and packed up the tent promptly. High fiving our foresight we were well chuffed. Just before we left, two children came walking past. Expecting them to be interested in us we wondered what they would do. Well, they didn’t do much just walked past as if they see white people camping on their road everyday.

We entered the park early, at about seven in the morning. The scenery was beautiful with thick trees, tall elephant grass and leafy bushes. The most amazing thing was the lake in the park. It was stunning. Crystal clear blue water with huge boulders dotted along the shore set the tone for a peaceful afternoon lunch. We later discovered another part of the lake with dead trees patterning the water. Again it was beautiful. We set up camp there and enjoyed the sunset. Hearing hippos grunting as we slept was the perfect lullaby.

The most memorable moment for this trip was our introduction to the tshe fly. Mother f***er. The flies look peaceful enough, somewhat like a large housefly. The exception is though that they bite, and that bite hurts like hell. Anytime the window or door was open for even a minute they would flock in. Their entrance was followed by either Karel or I (whoever was in the passenger seat) stalking each and every one of them. We stopped counting at how many we killed after several hundred. The scary part about it is that once you have smashed one (sorry for the gory details but the satisfaction about killing one is immense) you see how much blood they have sucked from you.