MAY 19, 2019 - CHONGWE LODGE (Afternoon)

5/19/2019 - Late Afternoon/Evening

I forgot to mention that it is our anniversary today, 12 years already. What a wonderful place to celebrate! Our afternoon activity of choice was a canoe ride down a nearby small shallow channel amongst the hippos and crocs. We have survived close encounters with predators so far so why not push the envelope? We were accompanied by 2 guides, one in each very sturdy flat bottomed canoe. We volunteered for the lead boat and being lighter than John (believe it or not) they put me in the front. Wait a second, I am first contact with hippos and crocs? What am I thinking?! But...have to trust your guides. So off we went a’paddling, actually the guide would do all the paddling unless you wanted to paddle which I opted not to but John assisted. Our guide advised us not to put any of our limbs in the water unless we were willing to volunteer for amputation, or worse. So I sat stiff armed and on high alert, hey...isn’t this supposed to be relaxing? One with nature and all that happy stuff? I did eventually relax, while still remaining on guard as we glided past hippo pods, always sticking to the shallow water, as they favor the deep water where they can submerge and hide. A few times we run across a really shallow spot and high center which makes the boat tippy, but I remain calm. It was a really beautiful and peaceful ride through the jungle where we saw elephants and impala feeding down at the waters edge, many hippos and crocs, but crocs are so shy they go under if you get near them. Just don’t fall in the water! The most interesting and strikingly beautiful thing we witnessed was a barren high bank of red soil where the bee eater birds had dug little holes for nests and there were hundreds of them coming and going, some sitting in their little dugouts facing outward chatting away with their neighbors. They are bright green with other colorful markings so really stood out against the red clay and especially with the late afternoon sunlight on them. My camera battery died before I could get a picture. It was one of the prettiest sights I have seen on this trip. Towards the end of our paddle we briefly glimpsed a herd of Cape Buffalo before meeting back up with Tom the boat driver for our ride back to where the jeep was waiting for us for our evening game drive. We soon stopped in an expansive wide open dirt field at sunset to have our usual sundowners and our guide whips out a bottle of champagne for us for our anniversary, including real glass champagne flutes! We all had a little bubbly (none of us are too keen on champagne but we had it anyway) as the sun slowly set on the horizon. After it was down we then explored the stars and constellations enraptured with our magnificent surroundings. As we were packing up the jeep for our night drive back to camp, the full moon began to rise casting an orange glow on the horizon, so pretty. Tom shined the floodlight on the surrounding landscape while Hugo did his usual wild and crazy driving through the bush as we once again looked for the nocturnal animals. We were lucky to find two new animals, a Verreaux Owl and a Civet - a cat-like, mongoose sort of creature with beautiful markings. We also saw the hyena again who was on the move, and as you can see I barely captured a picture of him albeit blurry. Finally as we are thinking “gee, it’s late, shouldn’t we be getting back to camp?” we come screaming around a corner to a surprise bush dinner, a beautifully set table surrounded by lanterns and string lights in the trees, a bonfire, a full bar (of course) and the chefs cooking our dinner on charcoal grills. Surprise! All the other guests were also there and it was yet another feast beneath the stars. After dinner plates were cleared, a chorus of voices began from behind the bushes and the native guides and staff performed singing and dancing for the group. Unbeknownst to us until they were through, it was all in honor of our anniversary. The lead guy explained the meaning of each dance and chant after they were done and basically said we were to always remain together and never divide. It was so incredibly sweet and meaningful, we will always remember this anniversary. They also presented us with a cake that said “Happy 20th Anniversary” (haha) moving right along!