Wasn’t squished

I’m writing this from our accomodation in Lusaka on the last day before we head off again.  We’re staying at a place called Nena’s Guest House and Restaurant, which is quite nice, particularly in that their campsite rentals includes a tent, much bigger than the one we’re carrying with us.  We head up to Kapiri Mposhi tomorrow morning early, there to catch the Tazara train to Dar es Salaam.  I’m really looking forward to this train journey - I’ve heard very good things about it.

Wednesday to Saturday of this last week was given over to our canoeing safari.  I can’t do justice to how wonderful the trip was in the few minutes I have to update.  Apart from one too-close call with a hippo who took umbrage at our canoe and decided to try to tip us over (it didn’t quite succeed, but I can say with first-hand honesty that a hippo at six feet away is a remarkably large animal), everything was easy and beautiful.  Seeing my first wild elephants was (though it may sound cliched to say so) aboslutely magical.  I had no real conception of how wonderful it would be because I had no real conception of just *how* different elephants in a zoo are from elephants in the wild.  I mean, I knew that they were different, but not how different.  And we saw so many!  One group of five bull elephants cut us off from our canoes during a lunch break and came close to drowning my camera with their splashing around; I wouldn’t really have minded if they had, because it was so incredible to see them so close.

I’m sorry that I can’t give a more complete update right now, but the last few weeks have been too packed to do justice to in a short sitting.  I will write more when we get back, obviously.  Only two or three more countries to go!  Actually, I can’t believe how much time we have left.  I had expected the seven weeks to fly by, but they haven’t.  They’ve progressed at quite a normal rate, possibly because we’ve spent so much time crammed into uncomfortable minibuses.  :-) Anyway, I hope that everyone is doing well, and I look forward to hearing how your summers have gone when I get back!

P.S.  I haven’t been able to find postcards anywhere except in South Africa, where I only bought two because I thought I’d be able to find them everywhere.  So if you haven’t received one yet, that’s why!  I’m hoping that there will be more to hand in Tanzania.