After a year of planning the morning to set out for our trip to Luiwa Plains finally arrived. This trip was one year in the making - the timing designed around the second biggest wilderbeest migration in the world.
We travelled with Mel and Jayden (unfortunately Neil had to work), Anne James Helena and Julia, Duncan Jill and Ellie, their friend Simon and Andreas - my travelling companion of old, who flew over from Germany to join us on our adventure!
It was an amazing trip of a lifetime - we saw lion, wilderbeest (luckily), zebra, antelope, hyena (could have done without them!), lots of birds and also lots of wild flowers.
The trip is best summed up in the photos which I have posted below. They are not in any logical order but at least they are published! Enjoy!
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| Lady Luiwa and her friends |
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| Cameron, Julia and Jess |
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| A storm coming in across the plains |
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A desert rose -
a beautiful flower that is out for 1 week every year and we nailed it! |
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| Our Campsite |
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| The boys night at the waterhole |
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The wildebeest were everywhere and were
as interested in us as we were in them |
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I am not sure the wildebeest were actually keen to actually
to move on from Luiwa |
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| A big storm coming in |
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| Cameron doing a weather report |
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Two women we spotted walking across the plain in the
middle of nowhere |
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| A family night by the waterhole |
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| Toasting marshmallows |
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Villages on the plains which are slightly elevated on hills
and in a few weeks will be inaccessible due to flood waters |
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| The Zebra and the wildebeest are good freinds |
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The hyena were plentiful - raided our campsite each night
and took anything not packed away including plastic containers,
a tub of margarine and a loaf of bread! |
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| The crested cranes were amazing |
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| A sleeping wildebeest |
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| The prize winning photo! |
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The girls night at the waterhole - not much animal action
but lots of chatter and fun! |
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| Men and boys near one of the villages |
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A "cafe" on the outskirts of the national park.
The poor lady did not know what had hit her - trying to sort
out 15 soft drinks in less than 30 minutes! |
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| Fish for sale....Yum |
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Roadworks on the way to Luiwa - apparently this is the second attempt
at constructing this road. The first failed miserably. |
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The river is still 25km away but the water will easily reach this
village in the wet season |
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Some school girls fundraising for their school in Mongu -
as Musungus (white people in Zambia) we were very popular! |
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| Local transport at Luiwa |
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The locals have adapted to the roadwork which has
been going on for years |
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| A bike repair shop |
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| Housing at Mongu |
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| The view of Luiwa plains from Mongo |
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A very relevant sign for Jessica's latest unit at school -
"A house is a home" |
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| Anyone for a new computer or a haircut? |
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| A typical grocer |
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This is the most common type of hut we see on our
travels around the country |
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| The market in one of the towns we passed |
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| Friends plotting! |
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| Jill studying in the middle of nowhere |
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| These women are a long way from any town or village |
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| The girls on the pontoon |
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| Boys at the river crossing with sweets from Andreas |
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Julia, Jessica, Cameron, Jayden, Helena and Ellie
waiting to cross the river |
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| The river crossing! |
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A sign at our campsite -
Shovels are always useful! |
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| The well which was nearly empty where we got our washing water |
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| A local lady who we paid to do our dishes (good for the economy!) |
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| A lion at Kafue National Park where we stopped on the way to Luiwa |
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| Some typical villages we passed |
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Our car and Mels car reversed onto the ferry
(the back unloader did not work) |
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| Moving from one village to another |
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| The big pontoon ferry |
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| We made quite a parade |
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| Local farming |
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| The smaller pontoon |
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The locals waiting for the ferry - they have to wait for a
car to cross which is not very common |
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| We had to pull the pontoon by hand |
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| Luiwa Plains |
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The water tank at the camp which typically had no water in it
as the it had to be filled from the well by buckets |
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| Sibling love |
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| The campsite - with the playroom in the foreground! |
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| Out on a drive looking at animals |
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| A busy waterhole |
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| Jess keeping an eye on the hyena |
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| The hyena on the move - we kept well away |
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| Cameron thought the campsite was one big sandpit |
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| The lounge |
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| A storm on the horizon |
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| The views of the sky during the day and night were also spectacular |
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| We enjoyed a few games of banagrams! |
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| The family night by the waterhole |
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| We set up the play tent to protect the kids from hyenas and mosquitos |
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Getting dinner for the kids at the waterhole
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| Cameron and Ian surveying the wilderness |
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Apart from when hyenas came a bit close -
Andreas was permanently relaxed
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| A concert on the middle of nowhere - spot the clown! |
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| Ian and our guide for Luiwa |
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| Villagers by the river |
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| Anyone interested in buying anything? |
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| Doing the washing and taking the shopping home |
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| Simon and Mel making everyone some lunch on the road |
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| A local bathing watering hole |
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| There were lots of baby zebras |
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| Getting dinner ready at camp |
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| The wildflowers were beautiful |
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| Cricket at Luiwa |
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| The dirty foot competition |
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| You can always rely on Andreas to do the dishes! |
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| Can Cameron get anymore dirty? |
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| We never did find the school |
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After getting off the pontoon on the National Park the
locals headed off towards what looked like the middle of nowhere |
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| Local Pharmacy |
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| Women carrying the building materials to build a new shelter |
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| A local transport company? |
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| Luiwa Plains is in the Western Province which is also known as Barotse Land |
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