On safari...a dream come true

Hippos!!

It was a bumpy road into the safari camp but once we arrived at Bushman's Baobab's we were amazed at our surrounding for the next night.  It was brilliant.  Mary and I had our own tent with an awning with two chairs out front  and two comfy beds.  It was already set out with candles, towels, and a lamp and when you walked through to the back of the tent, there was  a flush toilet, sink and a hot shower!!

We got our bearings then found the owner to find out what the best thing would be to do. Within the hour we were in a canoe being punted down the River Shire listening to and then watching lots of beautiful animals including hippos!  Because we were in the canoe, we got really close to some of the birds etc. It was brilliant!  All in all we were out for about two hours.
Back at the camp we got showered and headed over the main pavilion where we sat and chatted with some of the other guests including two girls from Glasgow who were travelling through Africa and Asia before ending up in Australia. not an ounce of sense between them but lovely. The camp ran an honesty bar where you could help yourself to wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks so we all sat as the sun went down and as dinner was prepared. Dinner itself was great, four courses....chicken livers (yuch), soup (yummy), chicken kiev (lovely) and torte (yummy). We were stuffed and headed to bed soon after that.
The next morning we were woken at 6am with tea and coffee at the front of the tent. What a life!  We headed out in the most ancient land rover (I personally think it was left over from the war!) towards the park.  It was FREEZING and took about 25 minutes.  The two guides we had were excellent and kept a careful eye out for the signs of elephants. Again, we saw lots of different animals and eventually...elephants. We were so excited. I ended up having tears in my eyes as it was a dream come true for me!!  The elephants weren't too happy to see us but we got some great shots.  After returning we had lunch and then started the long (4 hour drive) to Lilongwe.  Unfortunately, I got zapped by the police for speeding and had to pay a fine (£10 as opposed to the £22 thanks to Father Matthew talking them down!!  We arrived in Lilongwe at around 5:30 and were shattered.

Comfortable  bed!

Canoe safari- so quiet and traquil

One of the amazing birds we saw

You looking at me?

Water buck

Hand carved canoe used by locals

Kingfishers

This is the life!!

African baobab tree

Hello Mr. Elephant

We are cold, very cold!!

This guy isn't so happy with us!!

Communal area in the camp