Claire & Tabitha at home.

17 Jul Today we are off to Buffalo Camp in North Luangwa, this property is also owned by the Harveys and is one of the oldest camps in North Luangwa. I have a friend Claire Lewis who is based in North Luangwa, she works for the Frankfurt Zoological Society and is involved with the black rhino introduction into the park – we are hoping to be able to call in and see her on the way. We are leaving the trailer at Kapishya as the roads are bad and we are using the full board facilities at camp. Still it is a bit of a squeeze with luggage and we also take Hannah with us who will be our cook whilst in camp. Depart Kapishya at 9.15am and arrive at Mano Gate at 11.45am. Beautiful park with loads of potential and only hope they can stop the poaching soon. An elephant had been poached a few days before we arrived. We got to control on the hill which is smack bang in the middle of the rhino sanctuary and see the ranger. He tries to radio Claire, but no reply. He gives directions and we head on down to see her. Arrive at Marula Camp at 1.15pm and find her working away – how awesome to catch up with Claire, I think it has been about 5.5 years since we last saw each other. We have drinks and a big catch up – Tabitha finally wakes up (Claires 5 month old daughter) and I get to meet her as well, what a little sweetie and so good. Ed Claire’s partner is away – whilst sitting looking over the river we see buffalo and elephant – what a stunning spot. We hear all about the rhino programme and hope all goes well with the next introduction. There are heaps of tse fly here in North Luangwa and are a real pain in the butt. Too soon we have to carry on and make our way to camp. We get to Buffalo Camp about 4.20pm and settle in. Total in miles 95 today. We go off on a small game drive as you have to be back in camp before dark. Seems like a lovely region with loads of lion, buffalo and hyena around. We manage to see an elephant shrew which is really cool. Have a lovely dinner and head off to bed – the staff had to put another bed in our room with no end to it and a huge mozzie net for Martin – too big for normal beds. Wake up during the night alot due to the noise of the lions who have killed a buffalo down the road – at one stage they are around the back of the camp and are loudly calling to each other – awesome! I love the sounds of Africa.

18 Jul Early start and we are off with our ZAWA Scout for a walk. We see the Cooksons Wildbeest whilst walking which is very cool. They are very different with a salmon coloured underbelly and out of all the wildebeest are the prettiest – if you can call them that. It is lovely to get out and stretch the legs for a couple of hours. We start back to camp and stop close to the river to have a small walk along the banks of the river – it really is a stunning park. Back to camp for breakfast and we are asked what eggs we want – Garth & I opt for poached. About 10 minutes later Hannah comes and apologies as no one in camp including herself knows how to poach an egg – we go for fried! We are going for a game drive this afternoon with sundowners by the river. We are hoping to get to the confluence, but it is too far so are content with a nice spot by the river instead. We see an elephant come to drink and then crosses to the other side – fabulous. On the way back we see 3 genets which is pretty cool. Get back for a lovely dinner and a few drinks watching the stars.

We should be starting out on the next part of our journey on about 2nd August and it should be about 10-12 days. I am really looking forward to seeing South Luangwa to see if it has changed much - it has been years since I last went there and Martin has never been. Also really excited about Lower Zambezi as I am hoping to be able to try my hand at Tiger fishing ... watch this spot!

On Thursday we will be going across to Zimbabwe for the day to catch up with friends on that side. We won't be taking the car as it is UK registered, but will just walk across the bridge and see whoever is around. I am looking forward to seeing if there are any changes that side as well.

We will have a few days here in Livingstone catching up on washing and getting fresh supplies on board before taking off on the next adventure.

Love and kisses to you all xxx