Day 1 -Lusaka

 It’s quite chilly here  in Lusaka, but sunny at the same time. Then it gradually warmed up to my kind of temperature (the 80’s).

Today we headed out to Lilayi, about 45 minutes drive outside Lusaka city, 

This is somewhere Wendy says she likes to hide out at when she needs some ‘quiet time,’ great food and an inspiring work environment 

Lilayi Lodge is a lovely game-reserve/hotel, on 650 acres of land where antelopes, giraffes, zebras etc roam and hundreds of birds prosper in a safe environment.

Beautiful little cottages hidden among the trees

The neat cottages have roofs made from a type of dried grass which is prolific all over Zambia. We have been seeing these really delightful roofs everywhere we go in both Zambia and Botswana, and they are on buildings that range from commercial to residential.

This roof did suffer fire damage but was neatly repaired 

They are extremely attractive and neat, but I thought they might not be too strong. I was however told they can withstand hurricanes but fire is the danger.

I never went inside any of the cottages, but they appear charming from the outside. 

For outdoor lovers, there are three trails of varying lengths, 3k, 5k and 10 k.

While Wendy worked, we decided to take on the 3k challenge to see what animals were around. But alas, none were in sight.

We saw and heard dozens of birds engaged in singing and play and saw lots of animal hoof marks and dung, but not one in sight.

In fact, by the time we realized that we had missed the turning point for the 3k trail and we’re on the 10k one, the only moving creature were encountered was this one below.  Don’t know exactly what it was but had to take a picture of it😂.

Don’t know exactly what it is but it was a bit aggressive.

The lunch sure compensated for the lack of animals though.

I was tempted to try the crocodile Thermidor which Wendy recommend (had sweet and sour croc one before and it was delicious) but when I heard they had pork, there was no competition 😊. And boy was that crispy pork delicious.

Another section of Lilayi

As I keep saying, Zambia reminds so much of home (just on a much more humongous scale) and on the drive to and from Lilayi, there were hundreds of vendors lining the street sides with every fruit and vegetables you could imagine,. 

I got one of the sweetest melons ever🍉 from them (although the raw peanuts I bought on the first day, were reaped before they were full.)

Yup, loving this place more and more each day.❤️