Zambia Safari Diary - Day Eleven

Tena Tena to Luangwa River Lodge

Tena Tena is a tented camp, rather like Kakuli, and although there is running hot and cold water provided in the bathrooms attached to each hut, the bush tradition of supplying a fresh bowl of hot water on a stand outside the tent, first thing in the morning, is still adhered to, and it seems only polite to make use of this for a wet shave out in the open.

Luangwa River Lodge
Our final day then took us to the very newly created Luangwa River Lodge (previously known as Tamarind), and which was exciting considerable interest in the South Luangwa Valley owing to its striking departure from the conventional design of safari lodge. However there was more excitement to come along the way when we encountered a belligerent looking male elephant immediately ahead of our vehicle. Normally the elephant would move off into the bush after a while, unwilling to continue the confrontation. However on this occasion it merely backed off away from the road, remaining facing us from just within the bush. Thankfully our guide took us a wide sweep into the opposite bush in order to avoid any further confrontation.

Zambia PhotoPerhaps best described as ‘Modern African Bush Chic’, Luangwa River Lodge is stunning. Although only local materials have been used, as elsewhere, the structure incorporates elements of North African (Moorish) design, with a water garden feature and modern infinity pool. The latter was eagerly seized upon, overlooking as it does the Luangwa River itself (camera icon), with (unusually) a plain area on the opposite bank, full of game. To lie in a pool similar to what we might be accustomed to in a Spanish villa, watching giraffe across the way is a strange experience indeed.

The attention to detail that Barry and Tara Van der Maas have brought to the lodge is quite exceptional. Each ‘hut’ is actually a luxury suite, with its own shower, sunken bath and so on, and with its own private decking extending out towards the river. The exquisite personal touches reflect Tara ’s past experience in interior design (camera icon), and her influence can also be found in the food – which is just superb. No better host could be found than Barry, and Luangwa River Lodge provides the perfect location for the last night or two on safari, as the transition is made between the profoundly natural environment provided by living in the bush, and the ‘real’ world back home.

After an afternoon spent lazing in the pool, we took what turned out to be our final game drive, back in the Park itself, with the usual suspects – giraffe, hyena, bush tailed mongoose, genet, civet and lots of buffalo - being sighted. The evening meal – a culinary delight in itself – was enlivened by a small herd of elephant choosing to march their way through the grounds just in front of where we were dining, and our hosts finally chose to drive us around to our huts the back way, rather than risk our walking back.

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camp fire tales

It isn’t often that the conversation over dinner turns to matters of deep intellectual content. However on one occasion a guest had his button pushed, and spoke eloquently for over an hour and a half on his favourite subject – cheese. In order to try to head off part two of this fascinating saga, the stratagem was adopted of asking each guest to nominate people (current or historical characters, but excluding Nick Hornby) who he would like to invite for dinner. “Oh Christ” exclaimed the cheese freak, and was allowed this as his first choice. Other candidates included (in alphabetical order) the inevitable Winston Churchill, JFK, Nelson Mandela, Joseph Stalin and Margaret Thatcher.

Slightly less obvious choices (in no particular order) included Bill Shankly (this from a lifelong Liverpool FC supporter), Billy Connolly (before he stopped being funny), Lenny Henry (who still is), Pamela Anderson (although for obvious reasons), Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Stanley Kubrick, Paul McCartney, Genghis Khan, Patrick Moore (to explain the stars at night), Tutankhamen, Michelangelo, Salvador Dali, The Dalai Lama, Quentin Tarantino (in order to explain what the gold light in the suitcase was at the end of ‘Pulp Fiction’), and David Livingstone (so that he could be asked whether Zambia had changed much since he journeyed here).

Faced with an imbalance of men over women, Kathy Burke, Nigella Lawson, Reba McEntire and the young Elizabeth Taylor were then added to the list. Possibly the most creative answer was ‘the unknown soldier’, so that he could be asked who he was, and how he died. Back to cheeses of the world.


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