House Boat Party

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House Boat Fun

So we had journied through Malawi and had rubbish weather, but as we crossed the border into Zambia, quite literally the sun was shinning on the other side. We did have an awful journey to get to Lake Kariba- our truck sunk into loose stones and ruble near a building site and had to be towed out by a JCB and then the road that followed was only like 60k but took us 4 hours along all the pot holes and bumps in the road. We arrived just in time to watch the stuning sun set over the Lake, orange and pink colours scattered across the sky and then the full moon coming out in the dark.
The house boat was a bit like a floating hotel only compacted onto a boat with rooms at the bottom and a sunbathing deck right at the top. On the second level, a big square table occupied the majority of the space and just behind that a circular bar and right at the front a jaccuzi. Meals were prepared for us which was a welcome break from campsite cooking and washing up.

The boat started to pull away from the shore at 6am, i know this because the roaring engine woke me up, very annoyed BUT i did get to watch the sun rise which was peticularly beautiful, and i was the only one awake apart from the two africans in the canoe fishing in the distance. It was probably the most tranquil hour of my life. Silence, the gentle rocking of the boat and the breeze on my face whilst i lay at the top of the boat on a sunlounger admiring the clouds being to be lit up by the sun.
For alot of the day we spent sunbathing on the roof or in the jaccuzzi. Whilst staying on the boat I got to fish with the men on the truck lol I wasnt very good but it just added to the relaxing atmosphere, enjoying an ice cold cider whilst holding a rod. We were also taken on a safari in a smaller boat around the shores of Zambia. Elephant herds were dotted here and there just metres from the water, and some monkeys made an appearance. Right by where our house boat had mored a herd of elephants grazed all day, a few coming very close to us. We watched from a distance as mother and baby in tow would walk down to the water and clean, or when 2 big male elephant came charging from the bushes to the group waving their head and ears making loud noises that we could even hear some distance away. The time when an Elephant chased 2 men in a canoe was quite scary, elephants are incredible swimmers and can swim up to 40k at one go, so when this elephant kept running into the Lake I was seriously worried for the guys.

One night we all decided to celebrate, nothing in peticular but we played a massive game of Ring of Fire and Roxanne which turned out to be quite a killer, no one was sober but at least I wasn't drunk enough to try and jump off the boat into the black waters- IAN! Alli was feeling it but i was just up for dancing lol. We partied hard and as I woke up at 6am only having a few hours rest- Alli came in and curled up around the toilet.

The house boat was fun, it was a welcome relaxing time with no chores to do and amazing scenery. It was such a relief to get out of the truck and have a real bed if only for a few days, and some of it was exhilirating and humbling like the elephants and jumping off the top of the boat into the crocodile and hippo infested waters. It was all good preparation for what was to come next!

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