Shai Hill Reserve

 I have never been interested in rock climbing but today got my first lesson and it was quite exhilarating.

This was at the Shai Hill Reserve which is located on Krobo land. ( I am now a proud member of the Krobo tribe.)

It's the top of this rising formed from ingenious rocks, that the girls were taken.

And I would do it again.

Getting a helping hand up

We should have visited the reserve last week but had to cancel due to rains. 

This is an historic site, as in the olden days, this was where Krobo girls underwent their puberty ritual. 

The puberty ritual lasted six months and involved training the young girls to become responsible women who understand their bodies, learn how to mill grain for the household, prepare nutritious meals for their children and treat simple illnesses using herbal medicine.

The board describes what illnesses this tree treats.

The circle in the rocks are made when rock is rubbed against rock to mill the grain.

During the six months that the girls are undergoing their puberty ritual, they are under the care of some mothers and Queen Mothers.

At nights, they slept in this cave.

Although this area has Serval Cats, they are nocturnal so we saw none. These are really tiny cats.

A stuffed Serval Cat

Because the grass was so high after the long rains, although antelopes abound, we barely saw some horns as they were laying in the high grass.

The grass is so high, all we could see of this antelope was it's horn!

Baboons abound.

They are everywhere, they rummage through garbage, steal from people in the area and even eat the poor little blue monkeys.

These tiny monkeys run away the minute they hear any noise because of the wicked baboons.

This means 'welcome in the Krobo language.

A few zebras are on the reserve. They were imported from South Africa.

The museum at the reserve

The guide had to chase away this baboon that turned over the garbage.

I had always heard that some of  our patois words came from the Twi language in Ghana but I have yet to hear a familiar word! However today I saw some small birds that we call Grass Quit and was told they are Chi Chi in Korbo.

 Maybe that has something to do with our mento song called "Chi Chi bud oh".

Who knows how these things evolve?

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.❤️

Heaven on earth

  I think I finally found the Garden of Eden. 

It’s on the Chobe river in Botswana.

 Omg, what beauty!

The river starts in Angola, separates Namibia from Botswana, flows into the Zambezi River which cascades over Victoria Falls then empties into the Indian Ocean. 

I tell you I have never felt greater peace and tranquility than during the few hours I spent meandering up and down the exotic River at the National Park in Botswana, looking at the animals in their natural habitat.

Hippos cooling off

There are hundreds of species of birds and exotic animals around and soldiers on patrol to deter poachers.

Here we saw a slew of hippos, baboons, wart hogs, elephants, buffalo etc. 

Even the crocs seemed at peace while different types of fleet-footed antelopes grazed on the banks, always on the look out for dangerous predators.

If this is not the best that nature has to offer, please tell me where. 

I now understand why the white man has been trying for centuries to steal African land!

We had taken a one day safari in the Chobe National Park in Botswana from Livingstone, Zambia.

 To get to  Chobe is around an hour drive on good roads,  through Mosi-park-Tunya National park, (which is where you find Africa’s greatest world wonder, Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi river. This river separates Zambia from Zimbabwe.)

At this bridge, you have 4 borders ; Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia.

The Chobe Park is a UNESCO world heritage site. 

Our guide/driver was one of the most focused young men I have ever met, so  I have to do a separate blog about him!

His name is Mwangelwa. (Pronounce it nuh😊)

Remember how careless and unthinking you were at 21?

Not him!

He is a great asset to Cherish Travel and Tours which organized this safari.

Botswana and Zambia share one building for immigration purposes so you just walk from one side of the huge hall to the other, for entry and exit. 

I loved that.

Botswana is one of the most progressive and well run democracies on the continent. It has less than 3 million people and according to a BBC study, “Botswana is “one of the world’s six best countries to live in”.

Their currency is the Pula and unlike Zambia which has strict currency control, you seem to be able to take in and bring out as much as you want.

Zambia’s border is full of signs warning you not to take in or leave with more than 5000 Kwacha.

You don’t learn much about a country in a day, but I was impressed Botswana’s attention to detail.

For example, wherever you drive, there are huge posters encouraging consumer awareness and civic pride.

Protection of their peoples health is of primary importance too, so before you enter their country, you must sanitize your feet! 

Motorists must drive through this sanitized trench to make sure the vehicle’s tires were also treated..

This our guide said was imposed when they had a breakout of ‘foot and mouth disease ‘ some years ago , but it became a permanent feature. 

Yup, lots of countries could learn Link;a lot from Botswana. 

Me, I just saw beauty all around.

Our safari had two components. First on the Chobe River which separates Namibia from Botswana.

Afterwards, we had a great lunch before starting the land tour through the Park.

This safari is by far the best value for money I have ever experienced anywhere.  Link; https://youtu.be/UeNtc_zDrq0

L to right: Some of our group: from Ireland, Tanzania, Latvia, USA.

The black and white bird is called ‘sacred ibis’

A hotel on the Namibia side

We didn’t see any zebras in the park, but when we returned to Zambia and drove into a hotel to use an ATM machine, these were wondering peacefully around.

And, we saw no lions either although we did see this lone buffalo with a huge wound just above his right leg  and the guide said it looked like he had survived a lion attack.

We did however have the great experience of taking cubs for a ‘walk in the park’ and as long as we stayed behind them, we would not be considered prey, the trainer said.

We did and we weren’t. 😊

That’s why we are still here😂😂