Safari!

Meg and I went on safari to Chaminuka Friday and Saturday. The lodge is about 45 minutes north of Lusaka. Don and Jane were a very interesting taxi for us; I don't want to leave them!

Within an hour of arriving, we'd had a glass of wine and were off to find out horses for a horse back safari. We quickly discovered how much like the Hill Country Zambian bush looks. It's a bit eery. However, the animals are completely different. We saw several types of antelope as we rode along, and three herds of zebras. I rode Champion and Meg rode Edward.


After lunch and some time just watching the wind blow by, we loaded up for a game drive. Our first big find was this guy:


and three of his friends. What a sight! We saw the antelope species again and found this new friend:

and his small family of wife and two kids. Three male giraffes found us and we watched them teach the youngest of the group how to fight. It really was play fighting, so it was very entertaining. Moses, our guide, dropped us off for our cheese tasting where he and our cheese expert Isaac engaged us in a lively conversation discussing current American politics. Wow.

After dinner, I ended up on the balcony of our room mesmerized by the stars. I'd never seen THESE stars before!!! It's an interesting concept to think I've lived 25 years and only seen one half of the constellations visible from Earth. I found a few of the big ones and just stared. Gracious, there sure are a lot of stars out there! God knows every one of them because He made them. Even better!

After breakfast on Saturday, Meg and loaded up for another game drive where we found the elusive cape buffalo. Score!!!

We also found more giraffes and the wildebeest we'd been itching to see. There aren't words to describe what it's like seeing these magnificent species in their own habitat instead of the zoo. On our way back to the lodge, we talked our guide John into taking us by the horse stables to meet Matches:

His mommy died as she was having him, so some of the staff pulled him out and made him a cozy hay pen to keep him warm and safe as he grows big and strong. He's a 3 day old kudu (antelope species) and just precious. Granted, he'll be tame, but they are fairly certain he will be accepted by a herd when he's big enough. Awesome!

Thank You, Lord for Your amazing creation and the opportunity to bask in it!