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May 23rd
The morning wasn’t so bad even though I got about 4 hours asleep. The whole group was milling about the camp eating breakfast and talking about the plan over the next few days. A few of the Dragoman group weren’t around for a final goodbye but we wished them all well and hoped they would get on schedule soon.
Before we left we did add one to the Southbound Six, a girl named May from Amsterdam would be getting a ride with us down to Livingstone, Zambia. It was nice to add a fresh face to the group and someone more to talk to and hear stories from. We got on the road on time and after a stop and the gas station we were headed for the Malawi/Zambia border.
We got there after about an hour and it took us a while to get through. It was another pretty drive but I wasn’t able to keep my eyes open and I fell asleep intermittently. That coupled with low batteries and not a whole lot of pictures were taken. We stopped about 30 minutes after the Zambian border and the entrance to my 28th visited country,
in a town called Chipata. The seven of us got our shopping done, avoiding any purchase of citrus foods or items that would attract elephants or hippos.
Since we would be camping across the Luangwa River at a place called Croc Camp. On the other side of the river is the national park so it’s not uncommon for hippos and elephants to come and graze by the tents at night. So after buying groceries and lunch for the next couple days we headed for the campsite. The road wasn’t in great condition but somehow I got to sleep for a while.
We got to Croc Camp a few hours before the sun went down. The campsite is phenomenal. It’s hard to even call some of these places campsites. It doesn’t give it the right feel, they basically have lots of space for us to park the truck and set up our tents and kitchen. Most of them have facilities and bathrooms and showers, actually all of them have. But this place was a cut above the rest, with a bar and a pool and the location right on the banks of the river, we could hear and see
hippos from the tent. Awesome.
Wendy and I were on dinner duty and we made a great shepherds pie for the group. It was a huge success and one of the few meal that was polished off after everyone had seconds. After dinner we had our teas and beers, but I had to excuse myself and write for the blog and you dear reader!
My pillow and sleeping bag beckoned so after listening to some tunes with Nicio and May I headed to bed. A full day at the campsite was on the agenda for the next day and I looked forward to it.
Hope you like the photos! Enjoy!
Until next time, Pura Vida and Hakuna Matata!
-Brendan
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