Advertisement
Published: July 21st 2010
Edit Blog Post
“Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings”.Hodding Carter.
Thankfully our parents have bestowed these two essential ingredients and being able to travel and spread those wings adds an intriguing dimension to life.Towards the end of last week our numbers swelled by two with the arrival of Charles and Sue Summers.Close friends of the Birketts,they had driven up to the Caprivi from Beira on the Mozambique coast where Charles is Financial Director for one of Tongaat Hulett’s sugar mills.Daily life at Island View Lodge must rank highly in the oft quoted clichéd statement…..”it doesn’t get much better than this”.Firstly,the weather is sublime….warm,windless days with golden sunlight contrasting superbly with silvery water and riverine growth.It does not rain here from April to November so no chance of the weather turning things pear shaped.Early mornings are blissful with the sun’s light constantly changing foliage and water colours and contrasts.The bird calls are something to hear as they all kick in cheering on the new day and busying themselves in that endless survival routine searching and foraging for food.The lodge site has many indigenous trees which the birds flock to and then,adding all the water side birds,it is
an impressive range of calls one hears.We have kept a detailed bird list which presently stands at about 130 and it is normally the case to add a couple of new “sightings” on a daily basis.Animals are scarce although Bruce and I have previously experienced elephants standing outside our rustic cottage with stomachs grumbling.Two factors probably account for not seeing elephants to date;firstly,a metal fence now circles the lodge and,secondly,good rains and flooding have ensured a good supply of nosh for them.Now,talking of elephants….I have just completed reading a marvelous book “The Elephant Whisperer” written by Lawrence Anthony.In a nutshell,he agrees to take on seven seriously traumatized elephants from a park up in Limpopo Province which are relocated to his game farm,Thula Thula,which adjoins the Umfolozi Game Reserve.Sounds simple enough?Well,not quite and it is a fascinating story about how he calms these wonderful animals using their mystical intelligence and his human psychological skills.Through talking to them he gains their acceptance but there are some harrowing moments along the way.In a subtle way I have used a bit of reverse psychology by constantly quoting relevant bits to Sue whilst reading this book….my motivation being to convince her that they are clever
and gentle animals.A sort of calming methodology before we get to Botswana and all those elephants.But I digress…..back to the daily routine at Island View Lodge.Having witnessed the early part of the day unfolding,the boys jump on a tender boat and shoot off in pursuit of tiger fish.Back at the lodge the girls settle down to those things they do so well……nattering and chattering interspersed with card games and reading.All three are very involved in book clubs so there is no shortage of reading material.By mid day it is time to gather for munchies and thereafter further chill out time reading or napping….no particular order.The tigers are targeted again from about 15h00 until sunset….which is prime time for those sundowners whilst watching a bright red sun sinking slowly beyond the western horizon.Bliss!Meals around the campfire provide time for reflection about the day…all the while hearing splashing and plopping sounds in the river a few feet away.Anyone planning to do a trip of this nature needs to engage Megan Birkett as a consultant…..her and Bruce are seasoned campers and,apart from having all the right kit packed in all the right containers,Megan’s meal planning is top class ensuring good gourmet dinners every
evening.Stinging Durban curries,seriously tasty potjies….each evening throws up another gastronomic delight.For good measure we have had freshly caught bream on a few occasions…general consensus being that it is the tastiest fish on the planet.On the subject of fish……for reasons beyond our collective understanding the tigers have all but disappeared.Much discussion amongst us as to what could be the reasons for such poor fishing…water levels(doesn’t seem to be a problem),weather(couldn’t be better),right flies(well,between us we have covered every colour and pattern known to man),time of year(July generally regarded as one of the best months).The best tiger to date is one of 5.3kg caught by Charles with Bruce and I weighing in with a few just around the 2kg mark.We have three days left here at IVL…no time will be wasted trying to find these,so far,elusive fish.Fortunately we have caught a few really good sized bream with the best being a Humpback of 2.9kg.No trip is devoid of a moment,or perhaps moments of mishap and ours occurred a few evenings ago.It was early evening so there was no way too many glugs of whisky could be blamed…Sue Elliott got up and walked to the kitchen and somehow managed to trip going up a small step.She fell very awkwardly and in the process did a fair amount of damage to the ligaments in her right shoulder.Fortunately Sue Summers is a highly qualified and trained nursing sister who travels with a mini pharmacy…..various pain killers have been administered and,whilst there is still pain,Sue is on the mend.Sitting around a glowing fire after a fine meal there is much discussion on a wide range of topics but importantly no mention of “the news”…it is quite interesting how none of us have expressed the slightest interest in what may or may not be happening back home.This is what happens when one isn’t exposed to newspapers,radio or television and for my money it’s not a bad place to be.Late in the evening the fire dies down,there is a slight chill in the air and normally a good time to snuggle into a warm and comfortable bed drifting off into a Zambezi River induced sleep………
Advertisement
Tot: 0.215s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0838s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
anonymous
non-member comment
hope you okay mom!! hope you can find a doc somewhere, keep us posted! (stay off the whiskey for a while!)