We are sad to be leaving Chitabe, but excited to get to our next camp, “Little Vumbura” (LV) just a short plane ride away. LV is a water based camp, meaning only accessible by boat. We have no idea how that works, but sure we will find out in short order. Our plane is doing the milk run, picking up and dropping off passengers at a couple of camps along the way……..the pilot doesn’t even shut down, just waiting until the transfer is made and then off we go again. The airstrip is what we have come to expect, and our guide Emang is there to greet us. He is a jolly sort with a deep voice, and a combination accent with quite a delivery………a public speaker if I ever heard one………quite entertaining. The ride to camp is twenty minutes or so, and along the way we spot elephants, hippos, baboons, and more birds that you can imagine. We park next to a dock with three or four tin boats, eight seats each, canvas top……….our bags are transferred over, and in no time we are skimming along between the tall grasses (everglades?) arriving at camp in about three minutes.
Camp is truly on a small island in a very wet part of the delta, and we are greeted by camp managers Lisa and Anton, who live here nine months per year……..3 on, 1 off repeating…….and they love it. We are very surprised to find out we are in cabin/tent #1, closest to the open air lodge and bar, as for all previous camps we have had a pretty good hike to and from the lodge………..very convenient, and close to the small pool which is next. on our agenda as it is +40 outside. Our suite is superb, but very hot………Anton shows us something the camp provides as a way to beat the heat….called a “kikoi”, essentially a very wide cloth scarf, to be soaked in water, wrung out, and then worn around the neck, or laid on top of you while lying down, and the relief factor is amazing. I didn’t waste any time and tried it out right away……..works like a charm…….will have one in the golf bag this year.
Given that we have been on numerous game drives the past week or so, we asked Anton if we could change it up for our evening session and go for a cruise, which is one of the activities the camp offers………..he agrees to convert the other group joining us, and all should be good. The cruise is a blast……..zipping around through long grasses and papyrus………stopping along the way to view birds or listen to Emang give one of his speeches about the flora, fauna, and wildlife. This is a very cool place. It is almost time for sundowners, and we spot another boat a short distance away………from our sister camp, and they are in need of some ice for cocktails. Low and behold Stuart and Susan, who we met at Chitabe are on board, so we do the small world thing, and promise to contact them when we are in Victoria Falls in a few days. Sundowners go down well, and we meet the lovely German couple who will be our game drive buddies for the next two days, and their pilot Helmut, who is a guide himself and full of great info.
Our cruise ends just in time for cocktails at the bar, before we are called to dinner…….communal dining again which we have come to like very much. Another couple has arrived at camp…….a very interesting Swiss couple, who are self driving their way around Africa after having their Mercedes truck shipped to Cape Town……..the stories that will come out of this pair over the next two days would blow your mind. They plan to get back to Cape Town soon, store the vehicle, head home for a short time, before returning to Africa, and driving all the way home to Switzerland……..just wild.
The schedule at LV is the same as at previous camps……..up early, grab a coffee and a snack….into the trucks/boats…….coffee break on the road somewhere, then home in time for brunch………siesta……..back in the boats around 4:30 sundowners…….home by 7:30, and dinner at 8pm. Grabbing a nap in the afternoon is hard because of the heat, but a dip in the pool cools things off nicely…….I think Jutta and I are the only ones using the pool. It is freakin hot out, and the humidity is over the top. No rain is expected, but the clouds are sure gathering in the distance.
Time for some shut eye as our game drives start early tomorrow.
HUGEBLOGSITE 