South Luangwa

Yes?

"Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures." --Alexander Dumas

Alexander Dumas speaks the Showell language, that's for sure.  Our latest "hazardous adventure" included loading my parents, kids, husband, and me into the car for a 10-hour trip to South Luangwa National Park*.

I mean, what could be more quarrel-inducing than being confined in a small space with the following?

• a 4-year old who sure-as-heck wasn't going to sit still for more than 5-minutes;
• a driver (ahem, Eric) who refused to pull over, because all of the trucks he had passed would overtake us; and
• a set of grandparents hacking up some sort of TB/pneumonia/bronchitis-like plague (courtesy of my siblings in America!).

It's all about the journey...Or is it?

When we reached our destination the weather was a cool 108 degrees F.  The fans in our chalet made it feel like 106.  I would have given away my 4-year old for some air conditioning. 

(Should you find yourself in this situation, I have some advice:   wrap yourself in a soaking wet sheet and sleep next to the fan.  It works wonders.)  

During the day we stayed submerged in the pool.   That was no easy feat, because hundreds of wasps buzzed around the edges.  My mom and I declared a holy war on the little buggers, but we failed to make a dent in their population.  Thank goodness my kids aren't allergic to bees, because everyone got stung.

On day two all of my kids spiked fevers, and Oliver threw up several times.   "I surrender!" I cried and furiously waved my figurative white flag.  

Fortunately I wasn't able to go home, because I would have missed these gems:   

1) Wild animals walking though our camp.  The only boundary separating our chalet from the National Park was a river--that was nearly dried up.  In other words, wild animals wandered right by us.

It's exhilarating to find an elephant meandering next to the pool.  I've never seen swimmers evacuate the water so quickly!

A visitor to our chalet

On Isaac's 7th birthday, a giraffe paid him a visit.

Isaac and his birthday visitor

One of these bad boys came for a night visit.

2) Safari drives.  My highlight was seeing my first leopard. Our guide found her resting her weary bones in a pile of dung.  "Alice" was a mother of young cubs.  She had stowed them somewhere so she could catch a few minutes of shut-eye before her evening hunt.  A mother's work is never done.

Sweet dreams.

We found this LEOPARD meters away from this spot on the river where we drank sundowners.  Why, yes, we did exit our vehicles and admire the view, and, amazingly, we lived to tell.  

Killer view.

3) Touring Tribal Textiles.  This shop, employing 90 people with living wages, creates gorgeous batiks. 

Tribal Banner

Here's a quick tutorial on the entire process.

Step 1: Using a flour paste, make a design on the fabric.

Flour paste design

Step 2:  Allow the paste to dry.

Step 3: Match paint colors to swatches by mixing primary colors and black/white.  

Fabric paint

Step 4: Paint the textile.

An artist at work.

Step 5: After paint has dried, scrape off and discard the dried paste.

Scrape.  Scrape. Scrape.

Step 6. Cure textile in oven.

At the end of many hours of work you will have a gorgeous piece like this.

Bed spread.  I can't imagine how many hours this took.

I have to admit, I missed the animals when we got back to Lusaka, and it was sad to say goodbye to my folks.  After a hazardous adventure in the scorching dry heat, my mom promised herself that she wouldn't complain about Seattle's rain when she returned home.

She lasted five days.

*South Luangwa National Park in eastern Zambia, the southernmost of three national parks in the valley of the Luangwa River, is a world-renowned wildlife haven. (Wikipedia)