Awoke before dawn(!) and did a runner to the bank to film sunrise. Then saw some hippos in the river and an elephant drinking way upstream with a hundred or so impala in the background.
We did a game walk which was pretty futile with seventeen people clumping through the forest. However, we dug up an ant lion, tried to tease a baboon spider out of its hole, saw a pied kingfisher and a fish eagle. A couple of elephants appeared for a drink while we were waiting for the speedboats to take us back up the Zambezi to Gwabi.
When the boats arrived a yellow billed kite kindly soared immediately overhead. The journey back on the boats was good. Two hours but plenty of hippos and elephants, crocs and herons.
Marshall, our "easy on the Zambezi" river guide took us to the upper end of his village (adjacent to Gwabi camp). Pretty despaerate stuff, it must be said. Mud huts in some disrepair. One room fits all. But the people seem happy enough -- even US$200 per child per three months schooling doesn't seem to faze them too much (the kids can work in the fields [instead] after all).
The kids were really pleased to see us and broke out into song and dance by their new water pump (installed 5th May 1998). Half a kilometer away and we wasted water in showers and the pool etc. etc.. The bush is desperately dry and the sun beats down. We could barely survive two hours and they live there. The kids did run rings round us at tennis ball football, obligingly pose for photographs and clamour for sweets.
After dinner Marshall was still slogging away behind the bar and when he finally left he seemed to have been grateful for the meagre tip we handed in -- he shook everybody's hand.
Gwabi camp S15.95156 E28.85964 Elev. 377m.
Copyright 2002 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.