Pottering

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Don’t do much. The temperature is hot, hot, hot at 36 degrees, still tolerable as it’s not humid. Still I sleep and potter around the doc’s lodge.

Sundowner with Palo and Haz, we go to a brilliant site to watch hippos and drink wine and G&Ts.

Back to Flatdogs for dinner. Friday nights, though by all accounts this is a quiet one, attracts the ‘valley people’ - permanent or semi-permanent residents; hosts, directors from other camps, volunteers (e.g. carnivore perseveration society) and other residents. It’s a very small circle, everyone knows everyone’s business. It does feel like conversation revolves around gossip about each other. A lot of the conversation goes over my head but I'm intrigued by the 'valley people' especially; they've made their home here, given up their lifestyles in generally more developed places for life in this small corner of Zambia. Granted, it's an incredibly beautiful place, and for them it must outweigh the lack of conveniences, the limited social sphere (they don't seem to socialise with Zambians extensively), and frustrations of doing business where nothing gets done in a hurry and not without some grease to smooth the way.

There are quite a lot of people in there 20/30s especially acting as hosts or volunteers. There’s some cynicism of the short term hosts who are employed from 2 weeks to 3 months on minimal or no salary though they get an allowance and all expenses paid. Their job is to make guests comfortable, socialise and the like. Quite a number come from well-to-do families who have stayed as guests and subsequently arranged for their son/daughter to return to get some work experience.

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