Marula Lodge on the South Laungwe River was the highlight of the trip. There are tiers of accommodation from your own tent and make your own meals to a cabin with full and delicious meals, game drives and other excursions. Sitting on the riverbank, facing the
As close as I want to be
setting sun we watched countless hippos submerged, coming to and from the river and most excitingly fighting for their staked out piece of water. Enormous Nile crocodiles bask with their jaws open – usually about 10 of them of varying sized. The largest being about 4 meters. The elephants come down and even a leopard was spotted just before we got their – drat! But we saw lots later. One gentle evening as Bill and I were enthralled by the grunts of the hippos a huge bull
My favourites
elephant crossed the river. I called to the guard, he called everyone and we sat very still and quiet as this bull elephant rose up the bank beside us like a prehistoric horror show and meandered through the grounds about 15 feet away. No pictures of that – no one moved a muscle.
On the game drives we saw all the usual animals the great parks provide plus twice we say
Thorndicraft Giraffes
the rare honey badgers and once a porcupine. And lots of pink hippos. The pink is due to a secretion that protects them from the sun. Thorndicraft giraffes abound and they are so cleanly marked. The soft golden become dark brown with cream demarcations in the older ones. There is also a different species of zebra with even more striking markings than those further north. In all we had three night drives, two morning drives and a walking safari. National Geographic has the best photos so I’ll just show a few.
This lodge is also involved in community outreach. We visited a school with Jenny, our hospitable host, to see the reading program she has started. As we participated in the outdoor class, many mothers walked by with buckets for water. Jenny explained that the parents were building a new latrine for the girls. And I thought – wow, these mothers realize their daughters will not attend school when they have their period if they cannot use a toilet privately and they want their daughters to have an education and a better life than theirs. This is their priority. So impressive! In the village of mud huts and straw roofs we saw solar panels hooked up to a boom box! I hope they have some lights too.
Mothers getting water to make bricks
All the best 